Brian Gracia, coach of the T&T senior women's hockey team says the door is open for the return of experienced duo, former captain Alanna Lewis and Samantha Olton to the team for the FIH World League round two qualifiers in West Vancouver, Canada from April 1 to 9, next year.
The duo was controversially axed from the team for disciplinary reasons for last month's first round qualifiers in Salamanca, Mexico, where the local squad, led by Teresa Lezama, ended second to the host to secure their ticket to the second round.
T&T had wins over Guatemala 13-0 and 14-0 while they were beaten by Mexico, 3-0 and 4-1 to end second with six points. Mexico also crushed Guatemala, 18-0 and 21-0.
In the second round, T&T will do battle with highly rated India, Belarus, Mexico, Uruguay, Chile, France and hosts Canada.
With a need to strengthen the team for what is expected to be a much tougher challenge, Garcia has invited the two players to training and expects the team to be boosted by the return of no fewer than seven Collegiate players.
Commenting on the pool, Garcia said it will be very tough but a challenge to relish.He explained: "India is ranked 12th in the world and participated in the last Olympic Games and will be the favourites, while Canada and Belarus at 18th and 19th should be contenders as well."
"In Mexico we were deprived of a few of our top players due to school commitments in the USA, but with the qualifiers outside their Collegiate season and exams as well they should be available," said Garcia.
Players include Tamia Roach, Amie Olton, Dana-Lee De Gannes, Stephanie Whiteman, Brianna Govia, Kayla Brathwaite and Kristin Abreu.Former captain Patricia Borneo Wright-Alexis and Brittney Hingh are also expected back in the fold after taking some time off for personal reasons.
T&T's last run in the FIH World League was in 2014-2015 which saw them winning round one, held in Kingston, Jamaica with wins against Puerto Rico (5-1), Dominican Republic (3-1), Jamaica (2-0) and Barbados (2-0) to end with maximum 12 points.
In round two in Montevideo, Uruguay, T&T managed wins over Kenya (5-0) and Dominican Republic 3-2 while losing to Azerbaijan (5-1), France (3-0), Italy (3-0) and France again, the fifth to sixth playoff, 6-1.
Back in 2012, the "Calypso Stickwomen" were third in Round One at home, courtesy victories over Guyana (5-0), Venezuela (5-1) and Barbados (7-0) after losing to pool winner Canada (4-0) and runner-up Uruguay (2-0).
The second round was then held in Rio de Janeiro where T&T ended in fourth spot behind Argentina, South Africa and Chile.
The first 2017 round two qualifier will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from January 14 - 22 with Ireland, Italy, hosts Malaysia, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Singapore, Fiji and Wales aiming for qualification for the Hockey World League semi-finals and a shot at 2018 Hockey World Cup qualification.
A couple of weeks later, a further eight women's teams will take to the field in Valencia, Spain between February 4-12 where hosts Spain will compete against Scotland, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Ghana and a yet to be confirmed team.
Apart from the top two teams in each tournament advancing to the semifinals, the two highest placed teams in the FIH Hero world rankings of the teams that finish third will also move on.
Taking place next June and July, the semifinals offer teams the chance to qualify for the Hockey World League Finals later in the year, plus the ultimate prize of 2018 Hockey World Cup qualification.