THE Trinidad and Tobago Under-14 tennis players are currently training in Florida, USA, for two leading junior tournaments.
The four boys and four girls will travel to Guatemala tomorrow to compete in the leading junior tournament in the Central American and Caribbean Confederation (COTECC).
This competition, known as JITIC, will be contested from Saturday until next week Wednesday, and the players will then be flying the Red, White and Black flag three days later in the North/Central America and the Caribbean pre-qualifying tournament for the Mayan World Cup.
The girls’ Under-14 quartet contains three players ranked in the top-ten in COTECC as well as the Brianna Harricharan, the Under-14 runner-up in the Catch National Junior Championships in April.
“Catch” Under-18 runner-up Cameron Wong is at the top of the COTECC rankings, while “Catch” Under-14 and 16 champ Jaeda-Lee Daniel-Joseph and Jordane Dookie are listed at No. 7 and No. 7, respectively.
At No.5, Zachery Byng in the only male player in the top-ten. James Hadden is ranked 11th, but he was unavailable and has been replaced on the team by Kayden Siewrattan.
The 28th-ranked Isaiah Boxhill has come in for Tobagonian Jaylon Champan. And Kale Dalla Costa, who like Siewrattan is only 12 years old and unranked in COTECC, rounds out the quartet.
Still, the “Catch” national Under-14 champ, is considered the brightest local prospect in many years and is the trump card here. The boys arrived in Florida last Friday, but the girls have been training there since the Friday before.
Top coach Jerome Ward is in charge of the boys, while multiple national and Tranquillity Open champion Carlista Mohammed is coaching the girls.
