Trinidad and Tobago confirm squads for RAN Sevens tourney

The TT Rugby Union (TTRU) announced the three squads which will represent TT in the 2024 Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens tournament at the Larry Gomes Stadium in Malabar from November 22-24. This will be TT's first hosting of the RAN Sevens tourney since the 2016 edition.

TT will be represented by two women's teams in the competition, with a 12-member men's team set to be skippered by Shakeel Dyte. The teams were confirmed via social media posts from the TTRU on November 15. A total of 12 countries will be represented across the men's and women's categories, with 18 teams competing in total.

Dyte will lead TT's men's team into tier one which will also feature Barbados, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, Guyana, Jamaica and Mexico. The men's tier two competition will feature Curacao, Dominican Republic, St Vincent and the Grenadines and the Turks and Caicos.

TT's women's "A" team will be captained by Leah Kintiba, with TS Davis leading the second team. TT's women's teams will be joined by Barbados, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Mexico.

TT's men's team will be bolstered by the presence of the UK-based pair of Ruairi O'Farrell and Keon Sylvester as the Larry Mendez-coached team look to make their mark on their regional counterparts. The women's team will be coached by Richard Staglon.

There will be a lot of incentives for TT and the visiting teams, as the first-placed teams in the women's category and the men's tier one bracket will qualify for the 2025 HSBC World Sevens Challenger Series. Also, the top two Caribbean teams from the male and female categories will qualify their Under-20 teams for the 2025 Junior Pan American Games.

The TTRU expressed its excitement to welcome the region's best to these shores for the flagship tourney.

"The TTRU, in collaboration with The Sports Company of Trinidad & Tobago (SporTT), is excited to level up the production and capitalise on tourism, for which rugby fans from all around the world are well known," the TTRU said, via its website.

"In addition to the revenue that will be generated for local businesses by the tournament, hosting the region's premier tournament helps the TTRU to align with the stated goals of the Ministry of Sport and Community Development, SporTT and the TT Olympic Committee..."

The top team in the men's tier-two competition will be promoted to tier one for the 2025 edition, with the cellar-placed tier-one team being relegated to tier two.

TT's men's team for RAN Sevens: Shakeel Dyte (captain), Ruairi O’Farrell (vice-captain), Nigel Ballington, Keston Earle, Jahreem George, Donte Hazzard, James Phillip, Agboola Silverthorn, Isaiah Small, Keon Sylvester, Jonathan Taylor, Keishon Walker.

Reserves: Atiba Rodney, Damian Wilkinson.

TT's women's team: Leah Kintiba (captain), Aqiyla O’Brien (vice-captain), Latifah Carliste, Teresita Dillon, Alyssa Fields, Apphia Glasgow, Akila Lowman, Thea Marrast, Ketara Munroe, Nicolette Pantor, Kyiala Simon, Kanisha Vincent.

TT women’s second team: TS Davis (captain), Ornella George (vice-captain), Abigail Adams, Kalena Burke, Nathalia Cadiz, Aaliyah Davis, Elektra Dennis, Chaneisha John, Fay-Ann Johnson, Quaneisha Oliver, Shenika Paul, Special Ryan.

Reserves: Rebecca Dickson, Onica George, Marika Mendez, Julene Thomas.