AMANDA RECOUNTS HER
TRINI EXPERIENCE
When I was first asked about playing an exhibition in Trinidad
back when Ryan approached me in January, I immediately jumped on
the opportunity. I knew nothing about the place, other than the
fact that it was in the Caribbean. But hey, who doesn’t want to
go to the Caribbean?
As we were approaching the date, the plan went from only me
going down for two weeks to my dad, brother, and sister going
down for ten days. As the trip was approaching sooner and
sooner, I started to get a little hesitant. Is ten days too long
for an exhibition? Would I be able to maintain my training
regimen? And lastly, was this exotic island that I knew nothing
about going to be safe? Heading into this trip, I didn’t know
what to expect.
What I got out of it, however, was an experience of a lifetime!
A few things I learned within my first few days there:
humidity was around ninety percent (I think I said, “It’s
hot today” everyday), understanding a Trini accent is
like trying to understand another language, and mosquitoes
love American blood.
 Unlike
most Caribbean islands, Trinidad has a life of its own with lots
of vegetation, culture, and mountains. Ryan was a great host
through out the entire trip treating us to local foods and
drinks, infamous Shark N’ Bake (or Bake N’ Shark), visits
to Maracas Bay (scariest drive I have encountered),
having a steel band perform for us, encountering the nightlife,
and a boat trip down the islands of Trinidad. Between the heavy
two sessions of squash a day, junior clinics in between and
Poppa (drill Sergeant) Sobhy cracking the whip on our training,
Ryan and the rest of the crew were able to entertain us to the
max.
As far as my concern for not being able to train down there,
well let’s just say that by the end of the trip I had no life
left in me.
Starting from day one, the drill sergeant (as he was known for
the week) had us in the courts by 9:30 doing fitness in the and
squash until around 1:30 pm, only to come back at 6:30 pm to
play our exhibition matches against top Trini and Caribbean
players.
 Yes,
us means my siblings Sabrina, aka Beans, and Omar, aka Omar, and
I, and our means that we all had exhibition matches. I liked to
think of them as my openers for each night. Whatever doubts I
had had about this trip, oh, how I was so wrong. Between the
warmth of the people, the set up of the event, the huge crowds,
and the excitement of each night’s matches, this will be one of
my most memorable trips, even if I was called “Amazing Amanda”
all week and got to sign kids shirts, shoes, and rackets.
Each night people were shoving for seats, stocking up on drinks,
and cheering for the players, which created quite the
environment. The crowd was broken up into three sections. We had
the crowd who would cheer for the Trini players, the crowd who
would cheer for girl power, and lastly, the crowd who would just
shout out BEEAANNSSS!!!! (Sabrina’s nickname) whenever she was
around.
Then there was the occasional booing towards the ref (they need
to take a refereeing course), and the arguments coming from my
old man (he needed to catch his breath in between points, so
arguing with the ref seemed like a good way to stall).
I had some brutal battles myself just falling short to Colin
Ramsara 13-11 in the fifth one night and then pulling out a five
game win on the last night against Shawn Simpson to take the win
for Team Sobhy in the end.
 Of
course, I need to say a few shout outs to the people who put
this event all together. I want to thank the Knaggs family
for hosting us for the entire trip, all of the sponsors of
the event, the Trini people who I met through out the trip and
made my stay so spectacular, and the three main people who made
this all happen: Anton, Jacko, and Ryan.
You guys truly do know how to exceed people’s expectations, and
we will for sure be back soon.
Carnival anyone?
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RYAN'S WRAPUP
It's back to work in Greenwich this week, but first I would like
to say a few closing words.
First of all, I am very happy that the Sobhys were willing to
put their trust in me from the beginning even though they had
never been to Trinidad & Tobago.
I had a vision and I knew that I would be able to produce a
mutually beneficial event both to the T & T squash community and
for the entire Sobhy family and was honoured to have been
allowed the privilege.
However, I also needed capable co-chairs to produce a successful
event. I would like to thank Anton and Jacko for agreeing to be
a part of this.
There is only so much I was able to do via e-mail before
arriving in the country, and when I asked Anton and Brian to
join forces, together the B.A.R. (Brian, Anton, Ryan) team
turned out to be the perfect trio.
And of course the family element played a major role throughout
the week, so big thanks to the Knaggs and Jackson family for
their unrelenting support.
Although it would be impossible to show the Sobhy family ALL of
the great culture and history that T & T has to offer within one
short week, we strove our hardest to pick and choose the best
and most practical sides, including food, music, and of course,
the beach!
Perhaps next time they visit, they can see what a Trini
Christmas is like... or as Amanda proposed... CARNIVAL!
And if it's meant to be, then...
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