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Posted - Dec 05 2002 : 12:21:04 PM
T&T Women's TEAM!
Charmin
Article by Jamaal Shabazz
Thursday, December 05, 2002, 6:14:05 AM
IP:172.134.97.140
This article was copied from Flex's football site.
Our national coaches must restart what Rene use to do, communicate their experiences with the supporters.
It would also be nice to hear from our NPL coaches also, from time to time.
Here goes...
fleX
Jamaal Shabazz: Narrowing the gap,
Thu Dec 5 07:47:04 2002
...Narrowing the gap, Never again!
By Jamaal Shabazz.
Finding myself back full-time with the women’s team was not without its hiccups and share of problems. We were going into a major tournament without any international warm-up matches. Weather conditions promised to be cold in Los Angeles and we would be getting there only two days before the first game, with a four hour time difference.
Again lack of funding hampered the programme, but to compound it all you got the feeling there was a lack of belief in the capabailities of this women’s team to do anything at the Gold Cup.
Despite this the staff focused the players on the importance of Attitude over Resources.
The major headache was getting our foreign-based players. We wanted Patrice Rose, April Reyes, Teleshia Joseph, Dawn marie Alfred, Jinelle James, Rae Ann Elder and Kesi Ann Francis to join the team in Los Angeles.
Jinelle James had graduated and was playing semi pro in the USA so she was not a problem. Rae Ann Elder’s school, Lindsey Wilson College, did not give any problems. But the rest of the schools did.
These kids were on full scholarships in the US and their schools were in the middle of their season. Ttheir schools had no problems with them playing for T&T, before or after, but not during there college season.
The athletic directors of these schools gave the girls a choice: Go and play for your country and you lose your scholarship. For the sake of the players’ futures we advised that they forego the Gold Cup.
Most of the players wanted to walk out on their scholarships. Both April Reyes and Teleshia Joseph told me if I could get them into another school they would leave right away. Kesi Ann Francis cried on the ‘phone and vowed to transfer at the end of her first year.
While these players would be accepted in any school, we advised them to be patient because our aim in the Gold Cup was not qualification..we were not ready yet. It was for exposure, and Allah had given us an opportunity to widen the pool of players that would receive international exposure.
We were able to get Dawn marie Alfred at the last moment, but had to agree for her to come on the day of the first game. Needing another striker we gave the opportunity to New York-based Keisha Prescott because of her heart and experience.
To add insult to injury we had to leave out Nicole Mitchell who was an outstanding goalkeeper due to disciplinary reasons and went into the tournament with our defender Germian Gordon as a back-up ‘keeper.
Though we were lacking in international match practice every player in the squad had represented T&T at CONCACAF level either at Under-19, Under-21 or senior levels. This would be helpful later on.
The squad contained seven players who represented T&T during the CONCACAF Under-19 tournament held here in May; five players under 23 years, who represented T&T during the Pan American Games (Under-21) in 1999. Of the remaining six players only skipper Izler Browne and her deputy Ricarda Nelson were over 30 and all six had played in the last Gold Cup Tournament.
So on arrival and before going to bed we spoke about our goals and what to expect in the tournament. While we came for the experience, we were going to be as competitve as ever and avoid some of the pitfalls that had plagued national men’s and women’s teams in the past.
The main pitfall being lack of focus on the football and more attention on off the field issues, like shopping, sight-seeing, partying and even drinking.
The thinking of the staff and myself going into the tournament was that we were on par with Pananma, at least seven goals below USA and five goals below Mexico. In this regard we spent a lot of time doing defensive work, but with no international warm-up matches we had to rely on and playing against W-Connection and Marcas United Under-17 boys’ teams.
Despite being in the USA, players accepted the confinement to their rooms during the tournament only leaving for meals and the team duties. At the meal table we had our usual problems of getting the players to eat because most of them were not accustomned to what we call athletes’ food–lots of carbohydates, vegetables and proteins. All of the younger ones tried to shun the vegetables and the mashed potatoes making constant beelines to the dish with chicken. Our trainer/physio Zeph Nicholas, on my insistence, had to stand by the buffet and ensure all of the youngsters take their serving of vegetables and carbohydrates.
In one of our many meetings we discussed with the players how sick Dr. Iva Gloudon was at home in Trinidad and it was important to play for her because she was a god-send to women’s football. Indeed, hockey’s loss was women’s football gain and Dr. Gloudon must take great credit for the acceleration in the development of women’s football in Trinidad and Tobago.
When Jack Warner had given her the mandate to help the women’s game, her first goal was to get us in a strategic plan to narrow the gap that existed between us and the likes of USA, Canada and Mexico. How much we have narrowed the gap will be revealed in the coming days... we thought.
The temperature was in the 50s and very cold for the players who had never before travelled to the USA so I had to shout at a couple of the youngsters to stop making the coldness an issue.
This first match against Panama turned out to be a nightmare, but gave the staff and players excellent lessons as to the importance of mental preparation when one had to play at this level.
It took 30 minutes for us to settle down into the game and by that time we were two goals down and had a player, Leslie Ann James, sent off for retaliation.
Poor defending, nervous goalkeepeing and having to play 60 minutes with only 10 players took its toll and although we scored twice and enjoyed more possession we limped off with a disappointing 4-2 loss to the weakest of the three teams that we were to face in the Gold Cup ‘02.
Heads were bowed, shoulders dropped and everyone, including the staff, were angry with Leslie Ann James for picking up what we thought was a stupid red card. My last instruction, going into the game, was to watch out for the off-the-ball blows of the Central Americans. Take your blows. Do not retaliate. Call on the referee, was my advice. As we sat and watched the USA play Mexico we chatted with about 10 Trinidadians who had co0me to the support the team clad in their red, white and black.
My mind was racing... thinking a million thoughts: what would the prophets of doom in T&T say, the team will be ridiculed, we face the USA next, my God.
Because the Panama game wasone o’clock in the afternoon we had a lot of time before dinner when we returned to the hotel so the players were advised to relax. But those were just words, in my heart I could not relax.
In my room a battle was going on in my own mind: you are a warrior. Two weeks ago you were coach of the T&T men’s senior team. You must be able to provide leadership to this unit. This is the time to lead from in front. Look for solutions. Do not dwell on the problems.
My conscience was urging me not to drop my head and not bringing out the warrior spirit in me. I could not lift them if I was down.
I jumped of the bed, went downstairs and asked for a VCR at the front desk and took it back upstairs where alone in my room I watched the tape we had gotten of the game as soon as the match had ended.
After watching the first 60 minutes, I smiled and I knew I was growing in maturity as a coach because before that night I could never stomach watching a game that my team had lost. Not even when I watched games as a fan, I remember it took me 10 years before I watched the tape of the November 19, 1989 game.
When I lost with Caledonia, at home in club football, I went to bed, pulled out the ‘phone and refused to eat ,especially if it was against the Defence Force, Joe Public or Jabloteh. But this was not club, this was country, and I forced myself to watch the tape.
I went and called the assistant coach, Marlon Charles, and we watched the tape again. This time I pointed out to him all the good points that I thought we did in the game. Forget the bad, let’s focus on the good, was our mindset. In the end we found so many positive things in the game that we were very excited and uplifted. “This we must pass on to the players,” I told Marlon, “we must now motivate them for the next game”.
At the dinner table, I could see the fear on the faces of the younger ones in anticipation of some harsh words from me. The seniors could hardly look me in the eye. After eating, I told the group to make a circle and let us talk a while and then we would watch a major part of the tape before going to bed.
I congratualted the team and started to point out the good points in the match and asked to players to look for them in the game, I mentioned how we outpossessed our opponents and the goals they scored were nervous errors that we committed at the back. I lied and told them how some of the harshest critics in local football believed we had done well and that I had at least 10 calls from T&T congratulating us.
It is here we started to work on the players’ mind and in their responses. We realised that many of them were very, very nervous going in to the game.
Many players were scared of failing, and because of our last Gold Cup in 2000 focused on what the critics woud say back home if we did not do well. We advised the players that the external pressures of having to play in the cold weather, away from home, without international warm-up matches were enough external pressures. They added to it by giving themselves too much internal pressure. Watching the game, on tape, proved it.
After that exercise you could see a lift in the spirits of the players: tomorrow is another day.
The approach for the USA game was to decrease the internal pressures by focusing on the goals we had set indivually and collectively and accepting what we agreed would be a huge challenge. We could either fight or run away. This game will show us where we were in women’s football today. For playing the USA in the women’s game was like T&T playing Brazil in the men’s.
I reminded the players that the last two occasions we met the USA we were mauled 11-1 and 11-0 and while in my heart I believed we had narrowed this gap, it was up to them to go out there and prove it.
“Never again would a team beat us by double figures and embarrass our country and our people. Never again,” I shouted and beat my chest with emotion.
To my surprse some of the players shouted back: Never again. So I repeated my statement with more boldness and vigour: “Never again,” shouted back the whole team.
This team is ready to play. I will save my last weapon for the dressing room, I thought.
After outling the roles in our ultra defensive 3-5-1-1 plan with only the speedy Ahkeela Mollon up front , we left for the game, with everyone knowing we would have a long night defending with little opportunity to attack.
In the dressing room after the warm-up I pulled out the ace. “Do you sisters know what is natural pride?” I asked. No one answered, nor did I want them to. I said, “National pride is when you are a small country like T&T the only place you can compete with a giant like the USA is on the sporting field. National pride is fighting to give your people an opportunity to beat their chest and say we are as good as them. National pride is those 10 Tinidadians who live up here and have come out with T&T flags to cheer you on. You are the only semblance of their beloved country that they can relate to at this moment... right here and right now. And although they do not normally go to soccer, coming here tonight is there way of demonstrating that they are still loyal to their country and to their people. You ladies are what connects those people home and abroad. The dignity and the committment you display in representing them, is national pride.”
That was it, the rest is history. The USA team were shocked at the determination and the spirit of our girls. At the end of the first half the score was 1-0 in favour of the USA. The halftime talk had little technical/tactical points...more words of encouragement. “Our country is divided along racial and political lines. Let us unite them with our performance.”
The second half saw another committed performance and the final whistle saw the USA winning 3-0. Our girls shouted: Never again, never again, never again.
In the press conference after the game our goalkeeper Lisa Jo got so carried away when asked about her great performance, she said:
“We always knew we would win this game, because we focused”.
I had to kick Lisa on the shin and remind her that we had in fact lost the game, but were happy with our performance. Even the media personnel laughed and they applauded our performance. Fox Sports World and USA today followed us around for private interviews. The word on everybody’s lips–has the gap being narrowed. The USA coach April Heindrichs said in the press conference, that if she were T&T’s coach she would be proud and that it was the best bunker defence the USA team had ever played against.
The team were on a high and although we came down to earth with a 2-0 loss to Mexico in the next game, even that was an encouraging result. We mounted many attacks and gave the Mexicans quite a scare.
Mexico had gone to the last World Cup. Unlike us they had an ongoing programme. They had played 10 international games before this tournament when we had played none. Half of our team were under 19.
While all this was good, I thought we still did not produce a result that would make politicians wait for us in the VIP Lounge at the controversial Piarco Airport. Winners put themselves in a strong position to compete, not as we were doing, glorifying slim margins of defeat.
I came up with the answer, our logo “Never Again” must be extended to include, the Government, the business community and the Football Federation.
“Never again must a national team leave this country without any international warm-up matches.
“Never again must so little resources be put into this women’s programme.
Never again must this technical staff be asked to make bread out of stone. These young women have earned the right to assistance in their efforts to serve our country and represent their people.
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