Sports
Jonathan Ramnanansingh
NEWLY appointed Trinidad and Tobago women’s football co-head coach Damian Briggs said the team remains united and fully focused ahead of their October 28 international friendly against Jamaica, despite the recent omission of playmaker Asha James.
James was left out of the 23-member squad named on October 24, just days after she made a critical Facebook post directed at team captain Kennya “Yaya” Cordner.
The social media post came on October 20, one day after former head coach Angus Eve resigned from the position after just 20 days in charge.
Asked directly whether James’ omission was disciplinary, Briggs clarified that the matter had already been addressed internally before his appointment.
“I don’t want to comment on something that happened and I wasn’t in this position I’m in now,” he said in the pre-match interview at Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva on October 27.
“It was dealt with by the relevant people. There were discussions around it and the general consensus was, it’s not that she’s left out forever.”
According to Briggs, James was informed of the outcome and both parties “came to an amicable sort of solution.”
He confirmed that she is expected to be rejoin the team after the Jamaica game.
“Going forward after this game, we should see her reintegrated within the team and then we take it from there,” he added.
Speaking ahead of the friendly, Briggs — who replaced Angus Eve in the role — said the squad has moved past the distractions and is intent on performing well against their regional rivals.
“We’ve bonded and we’ve gelled together. We sat down and we had conversations — staff and players together — and everyone’s singing from the same hymn sheet. I know the players are excited and they all want the best for the country.”
He added that the group is aiming to “start creating a legacy in women’s football” for TT, and hopes their performance against the Reggae Girlz will reflect the “progressiveness and unity” that have developed over the past few weeks.
The incident involving James had drawn public attention, but Briggs said the technical staff has worked to minimise any distractions within the camp.
“We’ve spoken about putting measures and structures in place to limit things like that happening. As staff, we just wanted to take away that noise from around the players. Rest assured the board and the FA are working hard to get things like that solved.”
He stressed that his main focus was preparing the team for the Jamaica fixture and the upcoming Concacaf Women’s qualifiers, which begin on November 30.
“My thing is the immediate focus is the team and the staff on the Jamaica game and then the bigger picture at hand for when we start the qualifiers.”
The Jamaica test will be Briggs’s first assignment as head coach of the Women Warriors.
