Hutchinson sees rare opportunity on Trinidad and Tobago national team

Jim Swing
Sports Editor
Commonwealth Times’ Sports Twitter

Nearly a month ago, Lauryn Hutchinson received a call requesting her to come to Trinidad and Tobago to try out for its national team.

The junior forward had never been to Trinidad, but her father is a native of the southern Caribbean republic so she was eligible for the team.

On the morning of Aug. 26, Hutchinson was named to the country’s squad in preparation for the upcoming Pan American Games in October.

In her first two years at VCU, Hutchinson has scored two goals and produced 27 shots in 38 games played.

FOCUSING ON SOCCER

Hutchinson was just five years old when she discovered soccer.

Sitting by her father at a baseball game, she looked over and saw a couple of kids kicking a soccer ball around.

“I was like, ‘I want to do that,’ and he was like, ‘OK, we’ll sign you up, cool,’ and ever since then I haven’t stopped.”

From then on, she continued playing soccer, but in her freshman and sophomore years at Dominion High School in Sterling, she picked up the sport of basketball, playing for the school’s varsity team.

“Basketball was my love,” Hutchinson said. “It was everything to me.”

While juggling the two sports in high school, she began being recruited by colleges to play soccer. The recruiting got serious until one day, Hutchinson tore her ACL playing basketball.

Her parents then decided enough was enough and cut her off from basketball to begin focusing fully on soccer.

“They were like, ‘you’re done you’re not going to throw all your hard work away from soccer and all the recruiting,’” Hutchinson said.

After recovering from the ACL tear, Hutchinson was playing travel soccer at the Disney Showcase Tournament in Orlando, Fla. when VCU coaches Tim and Tiffany Sahaydak asked her to come play for their program.

“I didn’t even know about VCU,” Hutchinson said. “Then I came here, I loved it and I signed, and that was it.”

Hutchinson knew she found the right fit with a coaching staff that’s always looking out for its players.

Tiffany Sahaydak knows one of the Trinidad and Tobago coaches and contacted them about Hutchinson playing for their team.

Sahaydak put the coach and Hutchinson’s father in contact and the two emailed back-and-forth. Luckily for both sides, it was something they all wanted.

The squad just happened to be looking for players from other countries who were at least half Trinidadian to come play.

AN EMOTIONAL VISIT

Nigel Hutchinson hadn’t been back to Trinidad in over 30 years.

So, returning after three decades to watch his daughter try out for the national team of his native land reigned in a bundle of emotions.

“It was really emotional for him,” Lauryn said. “Watching me play for his country, where he is from and me seeing it for the first time, it was just great.”

The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago has long been associated with the term “Third World Country,” also known as a developing country with a low state of well-being.

“It’s way different from here,” Hutchinson said emphatically. “I just learned that I’m pretty fortunate here at VCU to have such a great facility, great coaches and great teammates.”

A GLOWING ASSET

On a windy Friday afternoon at Joseph Bryan Park, practice winds down and finishing stretches are being held for the VCU women’s soccer team.

The group is wound together in a wide circle as the joys of practice coming to a close can be seen on nearly every face, including one in particular.

There’s a beaming sense of jubilee that surrounds Hutchinson.

She’s seen dancing, singing and joking around with nearly every player on the team, bringing a touch of brightness to a squad that began the season on a 2-5-1 downspin.

“She’s really a goofball,” teammate and friend Bre White says. “She’s really fun to hangout with, she’s very outgoing, she’s always making someone laugh, and when it comes to soccer is the only time I can really see her being serious.”

White and Hutchinson met nearly five years ago when the two teamed up on the Loudon Hotshots club soccer team.

The two friends roomed together in their freshman and sophomore years at VCU, giving them a chance to get to know each other further on and off the field.

“She’s tough,” White said. “She’s a hard worker, and she’s just a very reliable person.”

MAKING THE MOST OF A RARE OPPORTUNITY

If anyone one on VCU’s campus knows what it’s like to play at a national level, it’s Tiffany Sahaydak.

She starred on the United States women’s soccer team from 1995-1999 including assisting the team in claiming the 1999 World Cup title.

So when asked about the importance of an opportunity like the one Hutchinson has been given, Sahaydak holds the key to the lock.

“It’s a huge opportunity to play for your national team,” she said. “So it’s going to be great exposure for her to play against international players and go to a great tournament like the Pan American games. I think it’s going to give her great experience so I think it’s so positive.”

Opportunities to play for a national team don’t always knock more than once. If players don’t perform at a high level, their first chance can easily be their last, and to that, Sahaydak tossed a bit of advice in Hutchinson’s direction.

“She needs to take advantage of it,” Sahaydak said. “Because a national team, doesn’t matter what country you’re from, is very competitive, and a lot times you get one opportunity and if you don’t make the best out of it, it could be your last.”

But Hutchinson knows the gravity of the situation. She knows that playing at a national level is no joke.

And with that, she also knows what it’s worth.

“It’s worth more than life probably,” a lighthearted Hutchinson said. “Most of my teammates don’t get this opportunity, and it made me really thankful for everything I have, and I wouldn’t give it up for the world. It’s scary, but it’s going to change my life.”

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Photos by: Chris Conway