The Georgetown Cricket Club’s under-21 indoor ladies’ hockey team surprised all by taking the gold medal at the Magnolias Indoor hockey tournament played in Port-of-Spain Trinidad over the weekend.
Despite being the underdogs to Raiders, winners of the opposing pool, the GCC girls came from one goal down to pull off an exciting and well-deserved 2-1 victory.
Raiders, fielding a strong line-up littered with under-21 national players who recently competed in the Pan American Junior Championships in Mexico, had the advantage of experience and age on their side.
The young GCC team however, fielding four players under the age of 17, managed to weather the nervous opening five minutes to bring the game onto even keel.
Raiders would go up first through skilful forward and eventual MVP Krezia Layne.
But GCC’s captain Trisha Woodroffe and Dominique DeGroot scored to pull off the victory for GCC.
While Woodroffe’s goal was a well placed penalty, it was DeGroot’s goal in the dying minutes that brought the house down.
DeGroot received a pass from Gabriella Xavier high in the left corner and swiftly guided the ball past the retreating Raiders right back before slamming it through the narrowest of spaces to beat the advancing goalkeeper.
- We have done it! The Victorious GCC female team. Back row from left to right: Dominique DeGroot, Thalia Fiedtkou and Ashley DeGroot.Centre Row from left to right: Briawna Gordon, Trisha Woodroffe and Gabriella Xavier.Front from left to right: Marzana Fiedtkou and Alysa Xavier
Earlier in the tournament the GCC girls drew 2-2 and then defeated tournament favourites Carib Magnolias by 2-1 in their pool round clashes and defeated Harvard Maritime Checkers by 2-1 and 5-0 scores.
Gabriella Xavier received a prize for the best forward of the day on Friday’s opening day play while her sister Alysa received the best goalkeeper award.
Marzana Fiedtkou was adjudged the most promising player of the competition.
Coach of the team Philip Fernandes was proud of the team’s performance and said that he knew that he had a strong young team and that tilted the balance in favour of deciding to participate in the tournament.
“There were many factors however, that stacked the odds against us, not the least of which was Trinidad’s reputation of being the strongest regional nation in indoor hockey. The lack of adequate training facilities always tops the list whenever preparations of this nature are required also as time on the country’s only quality indoor facility, the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, is dominated by basketball and table-tennis,” said Fernandes.
Fernandes feels that the win will show that development was possible.
“Our girls showed that hockey is still alive and well in Guyana and continues to maintain the pace of the international game. I hope that with the Guyana Hockey Board’s intended development programme for schools in 2009, children will be encouraged by results like these to come out and give hockey and sport in general a try. It is important to note that sport is not only for the elite and gifted athletes but, especially in team games, everyone can take part and enjoy the success,” said the elated coach.
He said the need for adequate training facilities remained the primary obstacle for the development of hockey in Guyana.
