After months of preparation, the Guyana Football Federation’s (GFF) Women’s International Goodwill tournament will kick off today at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence.
The tournament will feature two Guyanese National teams, one locally based and one comprising overseas-based players, along with arch rivals Suriname.
The aim of the tournament is to jump start Guyana’s Women’s World Cup Football qualifiers.
The Surinamese and the overseas-based players arrived yesterday but, for the North America team, who will clash with their local counterparts in today’s lone fixture, the game represents the culmination of a journey many of them have been dreaming of ever since joining the training programme earlier this year.
The match tonight bears a lot of significance for both teams.
For coach of the local ladies team, Wayne ‘Wiggy’ Dover, it is the time for his players to execute what he has drilled into them over the past few weeks.
For the players themselves, it is an opportunity for them to showcase their skills in an effort to advance their chances of selection on the Guyana team for the tournament next year.
The core of Dover’s players come from the Rupununi/Lethem area which is said to be the female football centre of Guyana.
The local squad includes three of the four players from Lethem who were a part of the pilot national female team which had a successful run in the Turks and Caicos International tournament earlier in the year.
An excited-looking bunch of female players yesterday told Stabroek Sport they were anxious to play at home.
All of the players are of Guyanese descent and play at the collegiate level in the USA and Canada.
The overseas-based team will be led by 21-year-old Ashley Rodrigues and Brianna De Souza.
Rodrigues is a former Canadian national U – 15 player and she was captain of Team Ontario during their trip to Peru to play the national women’s team in 2004.
Both players confessed that they were excited to play in Guyana for the first time and to meet the local players.
Rodrigues said she has just completed her senior year in College at Eastern Michigan University and was voted the offensive player of the year for the Mid American Conference, en-route to setting several goal scoring records.
“Well actually this is my second time in Guyana, I came here when I was four and I started playing soccer as long as I could remember through my father. But I’m more than excited to be here today.
“We have been working hard overseas and ever since the Turks and Caicos tournament where we met like four of the ladies, we are all excited to meet the locals at home here and go out there and do our best tomorrow; you know and put on a good show,” she said. “I never picture my self being captain. Right now it’s a big task, but like Ashley said, we are all just glad to be here to help a cause of Women’s’ soccer for it to grow in this country and go out there tomorrow and have fun,” said co-captain De Souza.
For defender Alison Heydorn, playing in Guyana is right at the top of what she has accomplished in the game.
The 25 year-old was voted Most Valuable Player of the Turks and Caicos tournament and she recently completed a stellar career in the sport at Central Michigan University in 2008 winning numerous honours.
“For me it’s like oh my God. Because I never knew I would have represented my country you know. I’m more than happy to be here for the first time because I want to know more about the country of my parents and why they talk and act the way they do and more importantly, I want to help the ladies in the game here and go on to World Cup one day,” Heydorn said.
The tournament schedule is as follows:
Foreign Guyana vs. Local Guyana – Thursday Dec 17 at 17:00 hours- National Stadium.
Foreign Guyana vs. Suriname – Friday December 18 at 16:00 hours- Enmore Ground.
Local Guyana vs. Suriname – Saturday December 19 at 16:00 hours – MSC Ground.
The team with the most points will be declared the winner
