f Paria - Ins and Outs of Trinidad & Tobago 2013
f Paria - Ins and Outs of Trinidad & Tobago 2013
f Paria - Ins and Outs of Trinidad & Tobago 2013
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The <strong>Trinidad</strong><br />
experience<br />
Anthony Harris<br />
Women’s Footballby Sheldon Waithe<br />
Nine years after successfully hosting<br />
the FIFA Under-17s Men’s World Cup,<br />
<strong>Trinidad</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Tobago</strong> will once again host<br />
an international football competition.<br />
This time it is the Women’s Under-<br />
17 tournament that will take place<br />
in the football-frenzied nation. From<br />
September 5–25, 2010, the world’s best<br />
young women will compete at the stadia<br />
in Arima, Bacolet, Couva, Marabella<br />
<strong>and</strong> Port <strong>of</strong> Spain. These same venues<br />
were built or refurbished for the 2001<br />
men’s tournament, highlighting the<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essionalism <strong>and</strong> seriousness with<br />
which T&T has approached the regular<br />
hosting <strong>of</strong> international competition.<br />
The World Cup also allows the chance <strong>of</strong><br />
a lasting legacy for the women’s game<br />
in the Caribbean, something that FIFA’s<br />
<strong>Trinidad</strong>ian Vice President, Jack Warner,<br />
remarked upon at the September 2009<br />
Hyatt Regency gala unveiling <strong>of</strong> the eyecatching<br />
Women’s Under-17 logo, which<br />
incorporates the steelpan, tassa drum<br />
<strong>and</strong> a football. Ironically, the infectious<br />
rhythm <strong>of</strong> the tassa drum has long<br />
been the instrument <strong>of</strong> choice <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Trinbagonian football fan.<br />
As stars <strong>of</strong> the traditional powerhouses<br />
in the women’s game such as Brazil,<br />
Canada <strong>and</strong> the USA lent support at<br />
the logo launch, it was evident that<br />
the expertise <strong>of</strong> both FIFA <strong>and</strong> the<br />
Local Organising Committee (LOC) were<br />
working together to ensure that this<br />
World Cup continues the success <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Under-17 Cup in New Zeal<strong>and</strong> in 2008.<br />
When the New Zeal<strong>and</strong> representative<br />
passed the baton to the T&T Federation<br />
it was more than a physical gesture, for<br />
their own LOC are on h<strong>and</strong> to assist with<br />
the expertise gained from hosting that<br />
very first World Cup.<br />
North Korea lifted that 2008 trophy<br />
by beating the favoured U.S. squad, but<br />
with the world’s teams still in regional<br />
qualifying competitions for the T&T<br />
World Cup, the final sixteen teams will<br />
not be known until March 2010. What<br />
is confirmed is that T&T automatically<br />
gain a place as hosts <strong>and</strong> with the need<br />
for a strong host-nation team to garner<br />
further interest <strong>and</strong> feed the passion<br />
<strong>of</strong> the T&T fan, no stone has been left<br />
unturned to ensure local success. Even<br />
Pellerud, who coached the Norwegian<br />
senior team to a World Cup triumph,<br />
is now charged with getting the T&T<br />
team ready for what will undoubtedly<br />
be the hardest competition <strong>of</strong> their<br />
young careers thus far. He exudes<br />
confidence about their ability to cope<br />
with expectation <strong>and</strong> that the hard<br />
work being put in a full year before the<br />
tournament, will reap rewards come<br />
September 2010. Linfa Cox, the T&T<br />
goalkeeper epitomised their outlook to<br />
not just win matches but truly change<br />
the view <strong>of</strong> a region <strong>and</strong> world that is<br />
quickly appreciating the joys <strong>of</strong> the<br />
female game. “We want to change<br />
history, <strong>and</strong> to change the way we look<br />
at women’s football,” he emphasised.<br />
Should the women’s counterpart <strong>of</strong><br />
the famous Soca Warriors deliver in<br />
September, there is little doubt that the<br />
sport will replicate the successful T&T<br />
men’s teams, which has led to strong<br />
grassroots programmes in turn creating<br />
further progress such as the under-20<br />
men’s team qualifying for their version<br />
<strong>of</strong> the World Cup in 2009.<br />
What is certain, given the spectacular<br />
precursor that was the emblem launch,<br />
is that T&T will put on a vibrant <strong>and</strong><br />
brilliant tournament. The LOC will<br />
provide the sporting world with the<br />
unique Carnival atmosphere that<br />
pervades all that happens in T&T, but<br />
especially so when we watch sport.<br />
So, just as in 2001, pick your favourite<br />
players <strong>and</strong> enjoy the show. All together<br />
now, “I’m a Soooooca Warrior…”<br />
86<br />
The <strong>Ins</strong> & <strong>Outs</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Trinidad</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Tobago</strong>