After a valiant effort in the just concluded CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifiers in Trinidad and Tobago over the last two weeks, the Sugar Girls returned home on Monday night. The Senior Women’s Team did not lose a single match in all their encounters. However, they did not progress to the next round as Trinidad and Tobago had a higher goal difference and was the team to move on from that group. The St. Kitts and Nevis women’s team scored 20 goals and conceded only two goals in the entire competition.
At the Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport Monday night, General Secretary of the SKNFA Stanley Jacobs lauded the girls for their accomplishment on the regional stage. He also brought greetings on behalf of the President of the SKNFA Anthony Johnson who was away on football business. “Even though we did not advance to the next round, I think what you would have accomplished over the next few days is historic and we want to encourage you to continue to build. It is only the beginning of something new,” Jacobs said.
He noted that more competition is coming for women’s football and he encouraged them to be prepared. “We have the Olympic qualification and of course come 2019, FIFA will be bringing on stream the World Women’s League. So there is a lot of competition still in store for women’s football and we at the St. Kitts Nevis Football Association, we are going to ensure that we keep this group together because I believe you to represent what it means to be an icon in women’s football,” he said to the girls.
Meanwhile, Coach of the SKN Women’s Team Earl Jones commended the spirit of the women who make up the team and said that these crop of players are special. “There is something good happening in St. Kitts and Nevis with our sportsmen and women. Being out there and experiencing all this, I must say we have something good and we must take care of it,” he said. “Even though we didn’t advance to the other round, I must say we did not lose a game. The girls represented with heart,” he declared. “It’s only going to get better. From here on we are going to continue training,” added Coach Jones.
One of the Sugar Girls, Phoenetia Browne said she is proud of her teammates. “I am very proud of my teammates. We had a tough challenge put in front of us and we took care of it. We put forward a great effort, we played our hearts out, didn’t lose a game. It’s just unfortunate that we didn’t go through based off goal differential but I am very proud of my teammates,” Browne said after she and her team disembarked from the airport terminal building. She, like Mr. Jacobs thanked the coaching staff for their work in preparing the team.
Meanwhile, Team Manager Judith Gumbs was full of praises of the Sugar Girls’ performance in Trinidad. “We are so glad to be back home…we played four games in all—undefeated. Trinidad got away by 11 minutes,” she said. “We stood there to the end. Did not give up. Congrats to the team and they must be congratulated.”
The Sugar Girlz played three matches in Group D of the CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifiers in Trinidad this month: defeating Dominica 2-1, Grenada 10-0 and the US Virgin Islands 7-0. On May 25th, they drew to Trinidad and Tobago 1-1, which proved decisive in determining the winner of the group that progressed to the next round.