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Tue, Mar

Trinidad and Tobago Women's Head Coach, James Thomas
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Recently appointed women’s senior team coach, Welshman James Thomas is in T&T to officially take up duty.

He arrived in the country last week and is currently in quarantine but he has been on the ball over the past few weeks, drawing up plans for the programme with T&T Football Association's (TTFA) Director of Women’s football Jinelle James and Technical Director Dion La Foucade.

A release from the TTFA on Tuesday said the Welshman also met with a group of senior team players to introduce and outline his vision for the team's programme.

According to the release: "The players to form the provisional squad list will undergo medical screening at the FA’s partner Healthnet Caribbean Limited this week and will then undergo fitness assessments to provide Thomas with the necessary data as to how he would proceed in mapping out the cycles of training schedules and wider calendar, taking into consideration that the players have been inactive for a considerable length of time.

"In consultation with public health advice and relevant officials, a start date for the official training will be determined shortly."

On Monday, the Welshman, talk speaking to the TTFA Media, said: "I’m delighted to be in T&T finally. Obviously, there have been a few delays because of restrictions and COVID.

“But I’ve been here for a couple of days now and I’m currently reviewing and analysing players and really kind of fine-tuning the game plan going forward. I’m really looking forward to getting out on the field and working with the players and staff and kick-starting the programme as soon as we can do that. It’s about getting us ready for the next World Cup qualifying campaign.”

Thomas, a former Welsh women’s team coach added: “It is about really making sure that every single person in the staff, when appointed, first and foremost, is fully aware of the standards expected of them in terms of the content of delivery but also the way we deliver it and how we deal with the players to really ensure that it’s an environment that the players want to be in, and it’s an environment where the players would be challenged to learn. It has to be one that they will be happy and comfortable in, which is really important as well.

"Following on from that I will, over the next couple of weeks, be speaking to some of the players again. I want to get their thoughts on areas where maybe they feel as a playing group, we’ve been lacking as a nation previously. It’s also for me to start putting information across from my perspective as to what I think should be added. Hopefully, with my thoughts and theirs, we can really hit the ground running as soon as we get on the field and ultimately try and win football matches which is why we are here.”

The football association will be accepting applications for other positions on the senior women’s team staff in the coming days. The specifications for these positions will be released in due course, the release stated.


SOURCE: T&T Guardian