Local professional club, Terminix La Horquetta Rangers, will continue preparations for the Normalisation Committee-led T&T Football Association (TTFA) T&T Premier League with a five-match tour to neighbouring Grenada, and St Vincent and the Grenadines from Sunday to March 20.
This means the Richard Ferguson-owned La Horquetta Rangers will not play their first two matches as scheduled in the Elite Football League having accepted the invitation by the Grenada Football Association, and St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation to play five practice matches against Caribbean nations, St Lucia, Grenada, and St Vincent and the Grenadines who are all preparing to resume their respective Concacaf Nations League campaign at the end of March.
Rangers, who ended in second place in the 2019 Ascension Tournament Football, behind the Defence Force before going all the way to the title last year will leave Sunday with a 24-man squad for the tour, the second such tour for Rangers, having made a tour of Grenada and St Lucia, in 2019.
Among the notable players selected by coach Dave Quamina are national senior team wingers Real Gill, and Ross Russell Jr, along with Tyrone Charles, Jevon Morris, Jamal Creighton, Ataulla Guerra, Kaihim Thomas, Tarik Lee, and Daniel Cyrus.
For the first stage of the tour in Grenada, the Quamina-coached Rangers who had their first couple of matches in the new T&T Elite Professional League rescheduled to accommodate the tour will kick off their campaign against St Lucia on March 7 before facing Grenada on March 10, and again on March 12.
The second and final phase of the tour will see Rangers coming up against St Vincent and the Grenadines in two encounters, firstly, on March 15, and then three days later on March 18, both in St Vincent.
Speaking at a training session earlier this week ahead of the team's departure said the tour is structured to help the players, both young and old as well as to provide them with a chance to gain experience ahead of the upcoming campaign.
"These kinds of tours can only help us have a firsthand look at how our players cope at this level of football as well as for us as a club to take in how things are done at an international level, and in general we intend to represent ourselves and the country to the best of our ability.
"We have a good core of young players, and this is a great opportunity for them as well to stake their claims for selection on the team and we expect them to snatch these opportunities with both hands, as we intend to build on our recent past successes.
"In general, our preparations for the season have been good and we are anxious for the return to professional football in T&T to secure silverware high on our agenda," said Quamina.
Ferguson also welcomes the chance to expose his team to some international level of competition ahead of the start of the new local season saying: "It's always a pleasure and challenge to play teams that are much better than us because it will also help us a team to improve and as individuals."
Tour schedule:
Grenada:
March 7: La Horquetta Rangers vs St Lucia
March 10: Grenada vs La Horquetta Rangers
March 12: Grenada vs. La Horquetta Rangers
St Vincent and The Grenadines:
March 15: St Vincent and the Grenadines vs La Horquetta Rangers
March 18: St Vincent and the Grenadines vs La Horquetta Rangers
La Horquetta Rangers for Caribbean Tour:
Goalkeepers:
Jabari St Hillaire, Antonio Cole, Jabari Brice
Defenders:
Jesus Perez, Jevon Morris (captain), Leslie Russell (asst coach), Caleb Sturge, Emmanuel Thomas, Tarik Lee, Daniel Cyrus
Midfielders:
Real Gill, Daniel David, Kaihim Thomas, Adica Ash, Giovanni Warner, Jamal Creighton (captain)
Forwards:
Isaiah Lee, Ataulla Guerra, Tyrone Charles (captain), Josiah Edwards, Isaiah Raymond, Jaheim Joseph, Junior Assoon, Ross Russell Jr (vice-captain)
Technical staff:
Richard Ferguson (administrator), Dave Quamina (head coach), Christopher Byn (physiotherapist), Anthony Marcano (technical manager)
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