Shabazz confident in TT U-17 women team ahead of qualifiers

The squad is currently training up to four days per week under coach Jamaal Shabazz.

TT will face US Virgin Islands in their opening Group A match on August 23, then take on Curacao on August 25 and close off the group phase against Grenada on August 27.

All TT matches will kick off at 7.30 pm.

Other teams involved are Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Anguilla and Bahamas in Group B; Guyana, Barbados and Cuba in Group D; St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Kitts and Nevis and Jamaica in Group E.

“It’s been a very interesting three weeks with these youngsters since I took over the preparations,” Shabazz said.

“From dealing with men’s team at the beginning of the year to now working with the Under-17 girls is a most humbling and rewarding lesson in my career as a coach. ” Shabazz commented on the shape of the team at the moment, saying they were in a good state ahead of the forthcoming matches.

“I am happy with the way that the players and staff responded to my entry into the programme.

We were slaughtered a year ago at CONCACAF U-15 as then they were a bunch of beginners entering the world of football for the first time. One year later we shall approach this CFU Qualifiers with courage and confidence,” he added.

Shabazz said it was evident that the preparations undergone by the team over the past few months prior to his appointment, has had a positive effect on its outlook and he was anticipating that the current preparations will aid in pushing them past the forthcoming preliminary stage.

TT are vying for one of eight places at the 2018 CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship which will be the sixth edition of the CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by CONCACAF for the women’s under-17 national teams of the confederation.

The top three teams of the tournament will qualify for the 2018 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup in Uruguay as the CONCACAF representatives