Akim Toussaint will lead T&T’s ten-member team which features two newcomers for the inaugural 16-nation FIH Hockey 5s World Cup in Muscat, Oman, from January 28-31.
In addition to Toussaint, the team selected by head coach Darren Cowie and assistant coach Dwain Quan Chan includes seven other players who were members of the team which qualified for the World Cup after a second-placed finish to the USA at the Hockey5s Pan American Cup in Kingston, Jamaica last June, losing 3-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in regulation time.
They include Jordan Vieira, Mickell Pierre, goalkeepers Andrey Rocke and Malcolm Baptiste, Shaquille Daniel, Jordan Reynos and England-based Teague Marcano of Southgate Hockey Club.
Marcano was the top scorer in the qualifiers with a tournament-high 17 goals while Toussaint and Pierre both finished with ten goals as the joint second-highest scorers for the T&T men, who netted a tournament team-high 48 goals. Marcano also copped the “Most Valuable Player” accolade.
Forcing their way into the final ten are Teague’s older brother, Tariq Marcano, and Tarell Singh with Shawn Phillip and Nicholas, both part of the squad last June in Jamaica, being left out.
The other members of the technical staff include Keshen Johnson (videographer), Sharon De Freitas (manager), Derek Ashby (trainer), Karielle De Bique (physiotherapist) and Cindy Martin-Faustin (head of delegation).
In Oman, this country’s men’s Hockey5s team will flick off their participation against Australia on January 28 while New Zealand and Kenya will clash in the other first-round match in Pool C on the same day.
T&T will also face Kenya on the opening day of the men’s competition before completing round-robin pool play against New Zealand on January 29.
New Zealand and Australia meet in the other pool match on January 28, while on the second and final day of round-robin play, the Aussies meet Kenya.
At the end of the round-robin stage, the top two teams in each of the four Pools will advance to the quarterfinals on January 30, from which the winners move on to the semifinals on the same day ahead of the final day of playoffs for the top spots on January 31.
The bottom two teams in each of the four pools will also be involved in playoffs for positions ninth to 16.
The other groups will see the Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, and Nigeria in Pool A; India, Egypt, Switzerland, and Jamaica in Pool C and Oman, Malaysia, USA, and Fiji in Pool D.
Prior to their departure for Oman next Tuesday (January 23), the local squad will continue their preparations at the Woodbrook Youth Facility, Hamilton-Holder Street, Woodbrook from Tuesday and Thursday, with warm-up matches against locally-assembled line-ups, both from 7.30 pm.
Team
Malcolm Baptiste (goalkeeper), Jordan Vieira, Akim Toussaint (captain), Tariq Marcano, Teague Marcano, Tarell Singh, Mickell Pierre, Shaquille Daniel, Jordan Reynos, Andrey Rocke (goalkeeper).
Coach: Darren Cowie (coach), Keshen Johnson (videographer), Sharon De Freitas (manager), Dwain Quan Chan (assistant coach), Derek Ashby (trainer), Karielle De Bique (physiotherapist), Cindy Martin-Faustin (head of delegation).