As it looks to revive its women’s soccer program in the country, the Bahamas Football Association (BFA) has confirmed a 20-member squad to represent The Bahamas at the CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football) Women’s Under-20 (U20) Championship Qualifiers, and is anticipating great results. The qualifiers are set for September 13-17 at the Ergilio Hato Stadium in Willemstad, Curaçao.
Representing The Bahamas are Alexis Williamson, Brianna Capron, Rokesia Sands, Nia Hall, Shasta Saunders, Jade Thelmour, Jada Thelmour, Gabrielle Murphy, Julia Raine, Giselle Laing, Angel Williams, Janeka Edey, Kendi Outten, Malia Kinger, Hadassah Knowles, Rachel Rolle, Samina Moss, Sellene Johnson, Mia Williams and India Davis.
The head coach of the team is Cherlindria Thompson and her assistant is Jodei Clarke. The goalkeeper coach is Gina Stubbs. Karen Wert is the physical trainer and Philencia Harris is in charge of the kits and logistics.
The head of the delegation is Daria Adderley. Charmaine Smith is the team manager.
The team was selected from the BFA Women’s Development Program that runs at the Roscow A.L. Davies Soccer Field. The development program is a part of the year-round training exercise that the BFA puts in place to make it easier to select players for competitions such as the CONCACAF qualifiers.
The Bahamas was placed in Group B along with the Cayman Islands and Anguilla. The competition consists of 13 teams playing in four different groups. Three groups have three teams and one group has four teams.
The other 10 teams in the tournament are host nation Curacao, Bermuda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, the US Virgin Islands, St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Suriname and Belize.
The group stage will be in a round-robin format, and the winners from the four groups will advance to the knockout stage. The knockout stage is set for the first quarter of 2022.
The winners from the four groups will join 12 other teams and they will be divided into four groups. After round-robin play in that portion of the championships, the top three teams in each group will advance to the round of 16.
The entire knockout stage which includes the round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, third-place and final matches, will be played in a single elimination format.
The winner, runner-up and third place team will qualify for the 2022 FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) U20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica, set for August 10-28, 2022.
All but six of the young ladies were on The Bahamas national women’s squad that played in the Football Festival in Provo, Turks & Caicos, which began in late July and ended in early August. The Bahamas finished as the runner-up in that competition. In the final they lost 4-0 to the Cayman Islands.
Outten, who was the goalkeeper at that competition for The Bahamas, walked away with the Golden Glove Award that was given to the best goalkeeper in the tournament.
This upcoming tournament will give Head Coach Thompson a chance to work on the areas that the team fell short in at the Football Festival, and strengthen the areas that the young ladies excelled in.
As a result of inactivity, The Bahamas’ women’s soccer program is globally unranked. This will be the first CONCACAF competition in several years for any women’s soccer grass team from The Bahamas.
The team trains on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the Roscow A.L. Davies Soccer Field.
Jump Line – The team trains on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the Roscow A.L. Davies Soccer Field
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source https://thenassauguardian.com/the-bahamas-set-for-concacaf-qualifiers/
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