The Trinidad & Tobago Rugby Football Union (TTRFU) has sent congratulations to the National Association of Athletics Administrations of Trinidad & Tobago (NAAATT) & the Trinidad & Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) on the great performances by its relay teams, especially the Men’s 4×4 Team which won Gold at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Relay Finals in Yokohama, Japan over the weekend.
TTRFU’s President, Mr. Colin Peters says that it does not matter if you come from a country with a population of 1.3 million or one with over 300 billion, preparation and dedication along with talent are the key elements to success.
These athletes have shown that once provided with the necessary equipment and resources before competition, they can produce positive results.
Trinidad & Tobago’s sports men and women are generally amateurs and depend on the generousity of employers to grant them necessary time off from work without loss of earnings and status to train and compete for the country they love.
We as administrators, are required to strive to ensure that our athletes are afforded all of these facilities in their training regimen. I can say, on behalf of rugby, that we are very greatful to the officers of the High Performance Unit (HPU) of The Sport Company of Trinidad & Tobago (SporTT) and by extension, the Ministry of Sport of Youth Affairs.
We are also thankful to the Management of the Raw Fitness Health Club in Gasparillo for all their assistance with the TTRFU’s National Teams.
The TTRFU has broken new ground by having four (4) separate National Teams training simultaneously for international competitions.
The Senior Men’s & Women’s 7s Teams are currently preparing for the 2019 Rugby Americas North (RAN) 7s Tournament / 2020 Tokyo Olympics Qualifier in the Cayman Islands on July 6 & 7, 2019, while the Men’s Under 19 and Senior Women’s 10s National Teams are training for the 2019 RAN Men’s U19 & Senior Women’s 10s Tournaments in Barbados, from July 18 to 21, 2019.
The Senior Women’s 7s Team will also be participating in the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru on July 27 & 28, 2019, having qualified by placing second in the 2018 RAN 7s Tournament / 2019 PanAm Qualifier.
The National Teams train several days a week, but all of them train at the Queen’s Park Savannah in Port-of-Spain on Wednesday afternoons.
Mr. Peters continued that the media is most welcome to visit the National Teams’ Training Sessions and speak with the players and technical staff to get a first hand perspective of the teams’ level of preparation and confidence for success at these competitions.
