Soca Princesses arrive in Kansas

They checked in at downtown Crowne Plaza Kansas hotel and were due to share Lee Summits’ Fields with Guatemala and Haiti for two training sessions, yesterday. Tournament favourite USA train at a seperate venue, Swope Soccer Village.

The tournament will see eight teams vying for three automatic qualifying spots to next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup to be held in Canada, while the fourth-placed finishers can also reach the World Cup via a two-match playoff against Ecuador, the team finishing third in the South American region.

The CONCACAF Championship is being contested by teams from the Caribbean and North, Central and South America. Guatemala open the tournament tomorrow against Haiti from 6 p.m., while at 8 p.m. T&T take on the US, the world’s highest-ranked women’s team.

Both games will be carried live on ESPN. Competing are USA, Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala and Haiti in Group A, while Group B consist of Jamaica, Martinique, Costa Rica and Mexico. On Thursday, Jamaica open against Martinique, and Costa Rica face Mexico.

Settling in after much publicised funding issues, T&T have been working on some defensive strategy to be used against the mighty Americans. T&T’s chance of reaching the final four, the World Cup qualifying round, could come by way of having a reasonably good result against the USA, then trying to beat Haiti and Guatemala, teams they have winning records against.

The last week has seen the Soca Princesses engage in ‘scrimmages’ against FC Dallas Boys under-16 and women teams. Since then, head coach Randy Waldrum has been working on strategy.

“Another great session this afternoon, and productive team building activity tonight,” Waldrum relayed via twitter. He added: “Great defending session with the T&T WNT this morning!”

Having publicised its funding issues recently, the T&T women are enjoying a celebrity status never previously enjoyed. The T&T women have been embraced by USA-based fans and have enjoyed many perks such as complimentary dinner at the Hutchins BBQ and Cici’s Pizza organisations.

A large crowd also turned out at their Dallas camp for a scrimmage match in which Dallas FC donated match proceed of over US$1,500 towards the T&T women, who could play in as many as four US cities: Kansas City, Chicago, Washington and Pennsylvania.

Waldrum said: “A huge thank you to FC Dallas for going above & beyond for T&T WNT. Gave us facility, game proceeds, meals, etc. Front office is top class.”

Team gets clean bill of health.
T&T Express Reports.

Twenty-eight members of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) senior women’s football team were given a clean bill of health after undergoing medical screening prior to their departure for Dallas last week.

Team head coach Randy Waldrum and staff and captain Maylee Attin-John and her teammates underwent several medical tests as part of the MyCard Sport TTFA medical screenings which is part of the relationship between the TTFA and Healthnet Caribbean.

This was the first occasion for any national women’s team receiving such medical examinations and treatment prior to an international tournament.

All medical reports were reviewed by a medical panel at HealthNet Caribbean Clinics and minor medical and optical issues rectified.

The TTFA and MyCard Sport partner GNC provided all players with GNC Loyalty Gold Cards and will provide supplements to the players.

This would assist them as four girls were mildly anaemic (low blood count). Another MyCard Sport partner Optometrists Today were generous in offering a couple of players complimentary contact lenses.

The TTFA through its MyCard Sport partners will continue these sessions with all T&T national teams as they prepare for various games and tournaments.

The men’s senior team underwent similar screening sessions before their match against Dominican Republic last week and the men’s Under-17 and Under-20 teams are scheduled to receive the same in coming days.