Overseas correspondent for the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Colin Baker says that preparation of the overseas team which will compete in the Women’s International Goodwill Tournament is heightening and the ladies are more than raring to go.
The tournament, which is set for December 17-20 will feature a North American-combined team (Canada and USA), Suriname and host Guyana.
Matches will take place at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence, the Enmore Community Centre ground, the Mackenzie Sports Club ground and the Blairmont Community Centre ground.
The visitors will open their title hunt against their local counterparts.
Baker, the CEO of the US-based Guyana Sports Development Foundation (GSDF), was instrumental in having a representative Guyana team play in the Turks and Caicos Open tournament earlier this year.
He noted that Technical Director, Mark Rodrigues, will be in charge of the squad and said that he was enthusiastic about the revival of women’s football in Guyana.
“Mark is very passionate about this programme and has put a lot of time into bringing this programme to where it is today. He has carefully surrounded himself with a very supportive, highly technical and professional coaching and administrative staff, who are all voluntarily contributing to this programme’s success,” Baker said.
He pointed out that Rodrigues has appointed ‘Satellite Coaches’ throughout North America to assist him in seeking out new talent, whilst also performing training and player assessments.
“Some of these coaches are NCAA Division One coaches who have opened up their college facilities to Coach Mark for future training camps,” Baker said.
He added that “training and assessment sessions were recently held in Toronto over the Thanksgiving weekend. Sixteen players from various parts of North America attended. Feedback on their level of play was then supplied to Rodrigues by that region’s Satellite Coach, Tony De Rosario.”
Baker pointed out that the GFF has been very supportive of the programme from day one when the plan was presented and opined that the only way the programme will succeed is by having everyone work together.
A committee was created under the GSDF with representatives from the GFF, and Baker said that everyone can be a witness to what has been achieved in just under a year and they are looking forward to the GFF’s continued support as they identify a collective Guyana team to participate in Women’s World Cup Qualifiers which begin in January next year.
Baker said that it is taking awhile to get businesses to buy into the programme, but a huge positive step is that they are aware of the team.
“More people are asking questions, taking an interest and watching our progress. That’s why it very important for us to continue growing the programme in a very professional manner. You only have one chance to get it right. This is a goal that we are always very conscious of and are always striving towards,” Baker said.
The pool of overseas Guyanese players, Baker pointed out, has risen by 200% ever since they won the tournament in Turks and Caicos.
According to a release from the GFF, one of the main objectives of having the tournament is to showcase the Guyanese girls, both local and foreign, and for the coaches to have a firsthand look at the ladies in order to select a team to represent Guyana in World Cup Qualifiers, and other tournaments scheduled for 2010.
The local squad will be encamped from tomorrow for twice daily training sessions commencing from Monday.
The scheduled fixture is as follows:
Foreign Guyana vs. Local Guyana – Thursday, December 17 – 17:00 hrs at the National Stadium.
Foreign Guyana vs. Suriname – Friday, December 18 – 16:00 hrs at Enmore ground.
Local Guyana vs. Suriname – Saturday, December 19 – 16:00 hrs at MSC ground.
