Barbados Women's National Football Team Aims for Success in 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup Qualifying Campaign

The Barbados senior women’s national football team hopes to improve on the performances of their male counterparts when they commence their 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup qualifying campaign against regional rivals St Vincent and the Grenadines in their opening game on Friday night at the Wildey Turf.

The Lady Tridents have been preparing over the last six weeks for the campaign where they will compete in Group C of League B along with the Vincentians, Dominican Republic and Bermuda. The team’s second match will be away to the Dominican Republic next Tuesday with further group games in October and December.

Following their moderate success in the Concacaf W Championship qualifiers early last year, the team played two friendly international matches earlier this year against St Lucia with a 5-1 victory on March 31 followed by a 6-0 win on April 2.

“This is the best group we could have asked for. I believe that we will get to challenge ourselves and go after some wins,” women’s head coach Mario Harte told MIDWEEK SPORT after Monday’s training session.

“Coming out of the series of games earlier this year, I think we are prepared as a team to function in all phases of the game and the ladies will put up a good fight. We are working on being resilient so, if nothing else, we will be fighting to the end.

“On Friday night we are at home, so we are going for the victory to start off the campaign. Three points are always good to start off any tournament. Against the Dominican Republic, we will be going for the win, but we will be cautious and prepare for all circumstances.”

Harte identified general fitness as an issue for the team from their last two series of games and, along with assistant coach Tazieo Riley, he has paid greater attention to the team’s physical preparation ahead of the upcoming stretch of games.