I sort of agree on the soca princesses point- our U-17 girls proved to themselves to be warriors and if that's our brand, then it should apply to all ages, and sexes...not just the senior men's team.
About Schmidt being the captain, the writer's response is not surprising... and there are probably alot more people out there thinking the same thing (regardless of whether or not there is reasonable basis for the decision to make her captain). One can speculate that if she weren't white, there would be no fuss... but one can also speculate that if she weren't white or foreign she may not have been given the respect needed to retain captaincy. It cuts both ways...and it's not a matter of divisive racism, but sometimes it just helps to be different - and it's not always rational or logical...Her accent, her skin colour, among other things may very well help her to stand out, and gain more respect or mere attention.... It's not far fetched to speculate that her being foreign (and possibly white), had an influence on her decision to be made the replacement captain. The coach was also foreign and white...I worked in a T&T-based multinational company and I can tell you that the white expats by mere nature of their accent and skin colour garnered more respect when they spoke/made a point...and it had significant effects on issues of career advancement and designation of leadership.... It's not always logical, and it may have deep roots in slavery, colonialism, racial discrimination etc... nothing wrong with questioning that- I don't think the writer was being political or divisive- ultimately she commended Lauren on a job well done, and I think the take away at the end of the day is that she served us well as the skipper. Questioning her future allegiance to T&T football is also reasonable... Changing allegiances in football between youth and senior levels is common all over the world, and it's natural to think that a smaller program such as ours will often suffer a blow in that department....
About Rehana, let's not question her ability just because of the overexuberance of one poster... She's probably a very good player, and under a different coach she might have gotten a better chance to prove it- different coaches see different things- that's the game...