Charles to cut TT U-15 girls squad

TT Under-15 girls football team head coach Marlon Charles will reduce his roster to 25 players on Friday as he approaches the final selection of the squad to participate at the CONCACAF Under-15 Girls Championship at IMG Academy, Bradenton in August.

Charles has been overseeing the preparations of the squad through the TTFA/NLCB Elite Youth development programme.

This time around, TT will come up against Caribbean opposition having previously suffered heavy losses to United States, Mexico and Haiti, pulling off a 4-0 win over Dominican Republic at the 2016 CONCACAF U-15 Championship.

“This time we will be in one of the lower tiers which was actually a suggestion put forward and not because of our previous performance,” Charles told TTFA Media. “We will be playing against Curacao, Bermuda and Barbados. It’s actually better for us as I think it will give our girls who are still relatively new to the game and early in their development, an opportunity to compete against teams of a similar level.

“At this stage I am happy with where we have progressed to from a technical standpoint and at present we are working more on their tactical awareness and understanding. We have 35 players in training at the moment and I will be cutting the squad to 25 on Friday before really working towards the final selection of 18 players for the competition in August,” Charles stated.

In terms of the competition itself, Charles is eager to take the team into action.

“This competition is really about development and I am pleased that CONCACAF has maintained it. They realise the importance of it as it really is a feeder into the Under 17 Women’s Qualifiers that takes place again in two years. We have to be more on time when it comes to early development and this competition will help us to get the girls out there in terms of the much needed exposure and experience that is necessary,” Charles said.

The TT squad currently includes four players from the previous Under-15 team and will also see Spain-based Hayley Richards joining the contingent next month. She was born in Spain to Trinidadian parents and is currently playing at school level there.