With just three months remaining before the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games, the Guyana Hockey Board (GHB) this week trimmed the national women’s squad to 19 players in preparation for the regional event.
National coach Philip Fernandes disclosed that the squad is a blend of youth and experience, although a lack of regional exposure has meant that the Guyanese have been seeded at the bottom in the eight-nation tournament billed for July 22-31 in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.
“So far the Pan American Hockey Federation (PAHF) has confirmed a full complement of eight nations in the women’s competition with Guyana seeded at the bottom in eighth place. The other seven nations signalling an interest are Trinidad, Mexico, Barbados, Jamaica, Bermuda, Dominican Republic and hosts Puerto Rico,” said Fernandes.
According to Fernandes, who is also president of the GHB, the deadline for entry into the CAC Games is June 17, and all participating countries were requested to submit their squads by the specified date. Therefore, the local squad was reduced to a manageable number from the initial 30 players who were called up for training last year.
This will be Guyana’s first appearance in women’s hockey at the CAC games and their ranking has suffered as result of their lack of participation in regional games over the past several years. With their recent return to international hockey, the relatively young hockey side has competed in Venezuela in 2005 and Trinidad in 2007.
“Our ladies are still very inexperienced at this level,” coach Fernandes remarked.
He said most of the other competing teams take part in multiple tournaments each year while the local players can only afford to do so twice in a four-year cycle. Plans are in train for the local squad to travel to neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados for two warm-up tournaments in June.
“The Board views these expensive trips as necessary in order to expose the players to the conditions of hockey on an artificial pitch, which is quite different from the grass fields to which they are accustomed,” the official noted.
These overseas stints will involve morning training and afternoon matches against top clubs and national selections in the respective host countries.
Training will continue at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) ground, Bourda, and the national gymnasium four days per week with Fernandes
in charge and Rawl Davson as assistant coach.
According to the GHB, one more overseas-based player, Janella Munroe, was being considered and will undergo an evaluation at the first available opportunity. Three goalkeepers have been retained in the team so far, which only requires two.
As a result of these two factors, the selection of the final 18 players to go to Puerto Rico will be made some time in the coming month.
Team: Alysa Xavier, Natalie Hing, Jonelle Webster, Trisha Woodroffe, Tiffany Solomon, Vanessa Pires, Vashema Bourne, Tricia Fiedtkou, Marzena Fiedtkou, Marisha Rodrigues, Sonia Jardine, Chantelle Fernandes, Cora Towler, Amanda Garnett, Ulrica Sutherland, Gabriella Xavier, Dominique DeGroot, Kerensa Fernandes and Avonda James.
