As the count­down be­gins for the Con­ca­caf Un­der-17 Women’s Qual­i­fiers in Cu­ra­cao, head coach Ayana Rus­sell has of­fi­cial­ly named her fi­nal squad on Sun­day (Jan­u­ary 18), sig­nalling a new chap­ter for the na­tion­al pro­gramme.

With the tour­na­ment set to kick off on Jan­u­ary 24, Rus­sell is lean­ing on a blend of lo­cal grit and in­ter­na­tion­al ex­pe­ri­ence to nav­i­gate a chal­leng­ing group fea­tur­ing Bar­ba­dos, El Sal­vador, and the host na­tion.

​This year’s ros­ter fea­tures a no­table shift in com­po­si­tion with 11 play­ers from T&T-based clubs and the in­ter­na­tion­al call-ups in­clude eight play­ers from the USA and two from Cana­da.

"We have a lit­tle dif­fer­ent flavour this time around," Rus­sell not­ed, point­ing to the in­clu­sion of 10 over­seas-based play­ers. This "in­ter­na­tion­al flavour" is in­tend­ed to in­ject a high­er lev­el of com­pet­i­tive­ness in­to the squad. How­ev­er, Rus­sell is quick to em­pha­sise that suc­cess hinges on more than just tal­ent; it re­quires chem­istry.

​To bridge the gap be­tween the lo­cal core and the new ar­rivals, the tech­ni­cal staff has pri­ori­tised a pre-tour­na­ment camp.

"It’s very im­por­tant that we are to­geth­er to build that team chem­istry," Rus­sell said. "The men­tal prepa­ra­tion is vi­tal, es­pe­cial­ly for young women in sport who of­ten feel like they are just a 'check­box.' We are fo­cused on holis­tic de­vel­op­ment."

​While the staff has worked tire­less­ly on tech­ni­cal foun­da­tions, par­tic­u­lar­ly with the lo­cal con­tin­gent, Rus­sell’s phi­los­o­phy ex­tends be­yond the pitch. She has brought in spe­cial­ists like Dr Cheryl-Ann Boodram and the play­er well­ness de­part­ment to ad­dress the men­tal rigours of in­ter­na­tion­al foot­ball.

​On the field, fans can ex­pect a dis­ci­plined but ex­pres­sive style of play, ac­cord­ing to the head coach.

"I won't say we're a pos­ses­sion team, but we have ob­jec­tives in dif­fer­ent ar­eas of the pitch," Rus­sell said. "You won't just see them try and kick the ball away. In cer­tain ar­eas, we give them free rein. It’s an ex­cit­ing bunch."

​For Rus­sell, suc­cess in Cu­ra­cao is mea­sured by more than just the score­board. "Wins and loss­es are how coach­es keep their jobs, but suc­cess for me is see­ing every­one deal with the pres­sures on and off the field," she said. "I’m very con­fi­dent in this group. If we use the chem­istry we’ve built through our chal­lenges, it will be our biggest strength."

The com­pe­ti­tion runs un­til Feb­ru­ary 2.

T&T squad

​Goal­keep­ers: ​Saiya Smith (DPS­FC, USA), ​Alex­ia Dol­land (Pro Se­ries), ​Zofia Richards (Pro Se­ries)

​De­fend­ers: ​Jes­si­ca Nes­bitt (Pro Se­ries), ​Lay­la Gre­goire (Down­town Unit­ed Soc­cer Club, USA), ​Hac­k­eemar Goodridge (Trend­set­ter Hawks Acad­e­my), ​Alia Tou­s­saint (Pe­ters Fields Unit­ed), ​Mate­ja Leben (Pro Se­ries, TRI), ​Gyasi Lewis (Com­bine Ballerz)

​Mid­field­ers: ​Gi­an­na Changar (Unit­ed Fut­bol Acad­e­my, USA), ​Chelsea John (Pick­er­ing FC, Cana­da), ​Rori Git­tens (Club San­do), ​Jade Jones (FC Stars Blue, USA), ​Zye­sha Potts (Jew­els SC, TRI), ​Khloe Kir­ton (Pro Se­ries)

​At­tack­ers: ​San­ni Wil­son (Flori­da Unit­ed, USA), ​Giu­liana Mey­er (Philadel­phia Ukrain­ian Na­tion­als, USA), ​Shiyah Matthews (LA Surf, USA), ​Syd­ney Pol­lard (Pro Se­ries), ​To­rie Jean-Jacques (Pick­er­ing FC, Cana­da), ​She­ma­iah Tou­s­saint (Cox Foot­ball Acad­e­my)

​