90 minutes away from glory
By Andre Baptiste (T&T Guardian)
The senior women’s footballers are possibly 90 minutes away from history, and most importantly ensuring that Christmas will be one of the best for those of us who love sport and country.
On December 2, at 6 pm, our Soca Warriors women’s team face Ecuador at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, with the winner moving on to the Women’s World Cup Finals in Canada in June 2015.
Already, there is the expectation and belief that this country, which has disappointed sportsmen and women in the past, will collectively rise to the occasion and pack the stadium to capacity upwards of 25,000.
Ecuador played the first leg of this match in a stadium with around 16,000 supporters, so what one may ask will incentivise the population of this country to throw their fate behind the team.
We only need to look inwardly and discuss what we see. This country’s image has suffered over the years mainly because of off the field behavior and questionable monetary transactions, not least—Life Sports and E Beam, for which many have still to be held accountable.
T&T needs something to hold on to, something or in this case someone, or some group that make us all smile again because smiling is healthy and suggest less stress.
In captain Maylee Attin-Johnson’s team, I have noticed a desire and determination that would appear to have no boundaries, and no hurdles that are too steep.
This young lady reminds me of the former England captain Byran Robson, who was called Captain Marvel, because he never gave up and would run from penalty box to penalty box at tremendous speed.
Against Mexico, when it seemed certain that she would have to be replaced after 35 minutes, Attin-Johnson said “No” and changed her gear and returned to play, not only for 90 minutes, but lasted until 120 minutes. This sort of selfless act can only inspire a team, and it should be utilised to inspire a nation into what true leadership means and what representing your country means.
These brave, disciplined, focused and skillful young ladies have not only found a leader in Attin-Johnson, but also found a mentor in coach Randy Waldrum and full credit has to go to Lincoln “Tiger” Phillips for this.
Waldrum is a man on a mission.
Like most of our coaches, he has not been paid and is working for free. When we interviewed him after the first leg in Ecuador, his opening remarks to the FIFA media stood out.
When asked if he was willing to be interviewed again by the T&T media, he quickly replied: “Yes, they are from home. They are from home; I will talk to them,”
Home for Waldrum was not Dallas where he coaches, but rather our beautiful twin island republic of T&T.
It is this sort of charisma that can inspire others and listening to him and speaking with members of the team, it is easy to understand why some of these players would “give their all for this coach.”
However in a country, such as ours, where there always seems to be efforts to destroy, let us all attempt to stay positive and support these young ladies. Unfortunately, even though it is women’s football, there are several men with large egos involved, each believing that their contribution, their involvement may have been forgotten. This is a time, when we must believe that the entire picture should be analysed and not merely a specific event. We cannot afford any disruption to the program that is moments away from allowing us to qualify.
And while dissension is common in sports, one should not fuel such to achieve personal points at the expense of the young ladies, because there are many who will find this very discomforting and perhaps may turn away their support and in the future not trust such individuals.
There is no doubt that president of the Football Association, Raymond Tim Kee, is not popular and whether that is because of his personality or competence, there are too many unanswered questions which naturally allows football to become unsettled.
Despite all of this, we need to fill that Stadium with a sea of red as the word is that Ecuador will travel with a contingent of 100 supporters, much more than the magnificent 15 that attended in Quito on November 8.
Red is the colour for that day. Everyone should wear “red,” even in your office. It must be a rule, and we must ensure it is done.
I hope that those sections of the media that ignore women’s football at the expense of men’s football apologise and restore some sort of equity to the coverage.
Let us unite and believe. We must forget old talk, ticket prices, the coach, the Association, Tim Kee, the time of the match and be at the Hasely Crawford Stadium for the 6pm kick off. These are moments in time that do not necessarily come around frequently, so let us all be part of the celebration, and be part of the joy of sports.
Be there to support, our players: Maylee Attin-Johnson (captain), Kimika Forbes ( goalkeeper), Liana Hinds, Lauryn Hutchinson, Arin King, Rhea Belgrave, Patrice Superville, Brianna Ryce, Karyn Forbes, Ayana Russell, Dernelle Mascall, Janine Francois, Mariah Shade, Ahkeela Mollon, Kennya Cordner, Tasha St Louis, Tinesha Palmer, Khadira Debesette, Anique Walker, Sandra Baron, Afiyah Matthias, Khadisha Debesette, Jasmine Sampson.
