For reasons good and bad, 2014 will be remembered as quite monumental in T&T's football annals. What a year, what a chain of events, from Guerra's bowing to Messi that caught worldwide attention, to the famous tweet to the so close but yet so far ending to the Women's Qualifying campaign.There were several events that were astonishing. There were many memories at home and abroad which confirmed football's capacity to not only dominate the sports agenda but become an ever more important part of society with much hyped discussions either at the bar, the restaurant, in the office or around the savannah.
The first major outing was the much anticipated friendly international against eventual World Cup runners up Argentina in Buenos Aires on June 8th. Missing out on the Fifa international date in February meant that there was not much action for the national team, or any national team as a matter of fact for the early part of the year. But that was certainly made up for as flurry of activities followed in the latter half of the year.
The Stephen Hart-led Soca Warriors were afforded an excellent opportunity to taste a bit of the World Cup fever in Brazil, as after putting on a fairly good display in a 3-0 loss to the Lionel Messi star studded Argentina team, T&T faced off with Iran in Sao Paulo and absorbed a bit of what Sao Paulo had to offer a week before the World Cup kicked off in that very same city. All the while, the national women's team was quietly preparing for their qualifying campaign, first up the Caribbean Championship. Hardly a soul, except for very few local journalists and the close friends or family of the team members, cared to even know if this team existed at that time. But that would change in a matter of five months or so.
Despite the customary media reports, there was an average crowd attendance of 1500 at the four matches played by captain Maylee Attin-Johnson and her teammates during the tournament in Trinidad. The team completed the final round with a perfect 4-0-0 record, winning Group B while scoring 20 goals and conceding none. Mariah Shade, the tournament "MVP" would snatch a first half winner to give T&T a much deserved 1-0 win over Jamaica in the final. But their struggles would continue. Insufficient support meant newly introduced head coach Randy Waldrum and the efforts of the TTFA would see training camps in the USA as the best option for the team, first in Houston and then in Dallas. However, even at their lowest point no one could ever validly claim they lacked motivation.
The team laboured on and after the TTFA agreed to send the team to a training camp in Dallas, at Waldrum's request, mere days before the Concacaf opener against USA, a five-second tap of the keyboard and a quick hit of the tweet button led to the Women Warriors becoming one of the most popular women's sporting teams globally for 2014 . Waldrum's plead for assistance was the start of, according to him, "A Hollywood movie". The international football community, particularly those based in the Dallas/Houston area rallied to ensure the T&T team had everything it required and suddenly the T&T faithful took notice.
More importantly, the women rose to the occasion. They knew it was now up to them to show their worth. A valiant effort against the Americans followed with the required shut outs of Haiti and Guatemala and the 2015 Women's World Cup began to stare them right in the eye. High drama followed and there were stand-out performers such as Kennya Cordner, Ahkeela Mollon and Arin King to name a few, every member of the team played their part. But penalty misses saw the first chance go missing against Costa Rica and then giving up a 2-1 advantage in the final 14 minutes to Mexico meant T&T now had the dreadful home and away playoff with Ecuador.
The country was now behind the team like never before and there were hints of the kind of spirit that took over the nation in 1989 and 2005/2006. A courageous effort in Quito with the 0-0 draw meant there was everything to play for on December 2nd. The Hasely Crawford Stadium was filled to capacity for the first time since 2008 when David Beckham touched down for the friendly international with the England National Team. The city and the country at large was filled with an air of great excitement and expectation. But it was not to be as the football goddesses felt it was not just time for the Women Warriors to enter the big stage. A late goal spoiled the party and the dream was over.
But the run of events there will open new doors and there is already a growing interest in women's football with one of USA's top academies already expressing interest in offering full scholarships to upcoming players in 2015 and the TTFA has set out on putting the proper structures and systems in place to enter a new era of football development from both an administrative and technical standpoint. The task is immense but not impossible. President Raymond Tim Kee and his team are prepared to take it on and 2015 promises to see a new chapter.The Ministry of Sport and the Sport Company were the major benefactors for the T&T National Teams and their support played a significant part during the football calendar. The TTFA also introduced the first part of the merchandise campaign which is part of the Fifa Income General Programme afforded to the association and this will see an increase in activity in 2015. The FA also introduced for the first time, a medical programme for all national team players through a partnership with Healthnet Caribbean Limited.
�2Shaun Fuentes is Director of Communications, T&T Football Association