Trinidad and Tobago’s Under-17 women’s head coach, Ayana Russell, has called for more robust preparation, including more practice matches and international exposure for national youth teams, following her side’s exit from the recently concluded Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship on home soil.

Despite a promising qualifying campaign earlier in the year, Russell’s team struggled in the final round of the tournament, suffering heavy defeats to the United States (0-7) and El Salvador (0-4) before a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Honduras in their final Group C match at the Ato Boldon Stadium.

Russell believes her team possessed enough talent but stressed the need for better competitive readiness.

"Out of the tournament, we definitely need more games,” she said.

"We never got a practice before the test. Their first real test was the US. It’s just a matter of giving them the best chance. We could train as much as we can, but we need to play a little bit more, especially against these kinds of teams. That’s the only way we can improve," Russell added.

Trinidad and Tobago finished bottom of the group with zero points and a goal difference of -10. They conceded 13 goals while scoring just one. Against Honduras, the hosts fell behind after just three minutes when Alexandra Merriam converted a penalty.

However, Trinidad and Tobago found a bright spot in first-half stoppage time when attacker Diem Sealy capitalized on a defensive error and slotted home from close range to score the Twin Island Republic's only goal of the final round.

Though Russell found positives in her team’s development throughout the tournament, she is well aware that bridging the gap will require strategic investment in consistent match experience.

"I’ve seen them grow from high performance and moving up the ranks. The brightest thing has been the growth and chemistry I’ve seen every day in them, individually and as a team. That’s very encouraging as a coach,” she said.

"From a technical, tactical, and fitness standpoint, we set certain measurement points, and I’ve seen steady improvement throughout the campaign. I've seen improvements all along," Russell noted.