The quartet of captain Krystle Esdelle, Renele Forde, Sinead Jack and Channon Thompson are among a group of senior national players who will all miss the upcoming 18th Pan American Volleyball Cup in Peru from July 4-15.
The four players, along with Darlene Ramdin, Kelly-Ann Billingy, Kiune Fletcher, Afesha Olton-Humphreys, Jalicia Kydd, and Taija Thomas, were all part of last year's team which competed in the Dominican Republic.
However, Esdelle and Thompson are currently competing for Motolite in the Philippines Premier Volleyball competition while Forde and Jack have opted out for personal reasons.
USA-based Dalicia Pierre is also unavailable while Ross-Kydd is out injured, leaving Ramdin and Olton-Humphreys as the two key senior members of the team, which will feature mainly Under-23 players and those on the fringes of the senior team.
A welcome sight for the team, however, is the return of Cuban-born coach Francisco "Panchee" Cruz for the tournament during his time-off from the FIVB Developmental Coaching duties in the Caribbean.
Cruz was at the helm of the "Calypso Spikers" for nearly a decade and led the team to seven straight CAZOVA titles, as well as debut participation at the FIVB World Grand Prix and FIVB Women's Championship before stepping down at the end of last year.
In Peru, the "Calypso Spikers," who won the senior Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Women’s Championship title for an unprecedented eighth triumph and seventh in succession last year in Suriname, will come up against champions USA, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Chile and Mexico in Pool B. Host Peru will entertain the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Canada, Cuba and Guatemala in Pool A.
In 2017, T&T had its best-ever finish in the competition in Peru, ninth, after beating two South American teams.
Firstly, in the round-robin phase, T&T beat Chile 26-24, 25-22, 25-15 and then battled past Venezuela 25-22, 25-17, 19-25, 25-18 in their ninth-place playoff.
Today, Cruz and his squad, which includes Jack only for the training sessions, will continue their preparations for Peru at the Central Regional Indoor Sports Arena, Saith Park, before holding a final session Thursday at the Eastern Regional Indoor Sports Arena, Tacarigua, both from 5 pm to 7 pm.