As we celebrate women's contributions on International Women's Day on March 8, their contributions to sports on and off the field must be recognized. Today's column highlights sportswomen in several disciplines who have represented T&T with distinction, paving the way for others as athletes, coaches, administrators, commentators, officiators, and other areas of modern-day sport.
Badminton- Dr Debra Ann O’Connor represented T&T at the 1996 Games of the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, USA. She won the singles title at the CAREBACO Games 10 times, doubles nine times and mixed doubles, three times.
Boxing - Ria Ramnarine was world champion in two classes: WIBA/WIBF minimum weight and WIBA light flyweight. National coach 2013-2018. Appointed secretary general, European Boxing Confederation in 2022.
Jiselle Salandy was an undefeated unified light middleweight world champion, holding the WBA and WBC, as well as the IWBF, WIBA, WIBF, and GBU female titles, from 2006 until her untimely passing in 2009.
Cricket - Gertrude Ann Browne-John, former West Indies women's captain who played 11 ODIs, coach, and now lead selector West Indies women's team since 2019.
Anisa Mohammed, former West Indies off-spinner who debuted at 15 years. She took 180 wickets in ODIs and 117 wickets in T20. She was named a member of the ICC Women’s ODI team for the decade 2010-2020.
Merissa Aguilleira debuted in 2008 for the West Indies and was captain from 2009-2015. She played 112 ODIs and 95 T20s. She has the record for the most dismissals by a West Indies keeper of 104.
Stacy-Ann King was a West Indies all-rounder who played 75 ODIs and 86 T20s. She is the first international female commentator from T&T and the 2nd from the West Indies after Barbadian Donna Symmonds in 1988.
Cycling - Teniel Campbell, a professional road cyclist, is the first female cyclist to represent T&T in road cycling at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Riding for Team Jayco Alula, Campbell debuted in the Tour de France Femmes (women) Avec Swift 2023.
Football - Maylee Atthin-Johnson, Kennya Cordner, Lauryn Hutchinson, Arin King, Ahkeela Mollon, Natasha St Louis, Tasha St Louis. Nadia James- former national defender, captain of the national Under-20 in 2004 and manager of the national U-17 team in 2020. James is the sport coordinator at the UWI, St Augustine Academy of Sport.
Golf - Maria Nunes represented T&T in golf regionally and internationally over a period of 20 years. She is the recipient of a National Award, the Hummingbird Medal, Gold, was awarded the WITCO "Sportswoman of the Year" 1980, and the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs "Athlete of the Millennium Award 2000.” Nunes is a photographer and 2018 published “In a World of Their Own: Carnival Dreamers and Makers, Photographs by Maria Nunes. She was also a general manager of the St Andrews Golf Club.
Hockey- Stacey Siu-Butt, a former national player and coach. She was twice selected to the Pan American Hockey Federation elite team, in 2009 and 2011. She led Magnolias to several indoor and outdoor titles in the local circuit.
Netball - Eugenia ‘Jean’ Theodosia Pierre, Peggy Castanada, Althea-Thomas-Luces, Sherril Peters, Ingrid Blackman, Angela Burke-Brown, Heather Charleau, Cyrenia Charles, Marcia Dimsoy, Jennifer Nurse, Veryl Prescod, Jennifer Williams - the national team "Calypso Girls" who were joint World Champions with Australia and New Zealand in 1979.
Samantha Wallace is a goal shooter and professional player having played in England [Hertfordhsire Mavericks] and Australia, [New South Wales Swift]. MVP 2019 Super Netball Final for the Swifts with 40 goals from 44 attempts.
Rowing - Aisha Chow is the first athlete to represent T&T in rowing at the Olympics. She debuted at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and repeated at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 in the women’s single sculls.
Rugby - Maria Thomas, former national player became the first female president of the T&T Rugby Union in 2021.
Swimming- Shantol Ince- is a Paralympic Swimmer is a double Parapan American bronze medallist - 100M freestyle (S9) and 100M backstroke (S9) in Guadalajara, Mexico 2011. She also competed in the London 2012 Paralympic Games, Great Britain, and Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, Brazil.
Taekwondo- Cheryl-Ann Sankar represented T&T in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. She also represented T&T at the World Taekwondo Championship in 1993, 1995, 1997 and 1999. She was a silver medallist at the Pan Am Championship in 1996 in Cuba and a bronze medallist at the 1995 Pan Am Games in Argentina.
Table Tennis- Rheann Chung is a France-based player currently ranked 441 by the International Table Tennis Federation. Her highest ranking was 260 in 2015. She has represented T&T at the Pan Am Games Table Tennis Tournament and Caribbean Championship. In 2009, Chung and her late step-father, Dexter St Louis led T&T to a historic first-time win of the men’s and women’s team titles in the same year.
Dr Shellyanne Wilson became the second female to be elected president of the T&T Table Tennis Association in 2023. The former national player replaced another national player and first female president, Merle Bachoo who resigned from the post months into office after being elected in April 2021.
Tennis- Lystra Lewis, Beverly Corbie, Elizabeth Gibson, Olivia Bennett, Anneliese Rose, Shenelle Mohammed, Solange Skeene, Emma Davis, Emma-Rose Trestrail, Emily Lawrence and Carlista Mohammed.
Track and Field- Michelle-Lee Ahye is a sprinter who won the gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast Australia. Other notable track athletes are Kelly-Ann Baptiste, Semoy Hackett, Khalifa St Fort, Ayanna Hutchinson and Kai Selvon.
Cleopatra Borel has represented T&T at four Olympic Games (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016) in the shot put. She was the "Sportswoman of the Year" 2014.
Administrators, policymakers, sponsors, and other key stakeholders must continue their work to effect change and achieve a level playing field for women and girls in sports.