Approximately 100 junior hockey players turned up last weekend at the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue for the second annual hosting of the Guyana Hockey Board (GHB) Youth Initiative Schools and Age Group Junior Hockey Tournament.
According to a press release from the Board, the event was attended by students from four schools, namely Ruimveldt Multilateral, Queen’s College, Marian Academy and St Stanislaus College, and it turned out to be a day of very keen competition.
The schools were represented by eight teams, which were split into two groups of four to contest in a round robin phase of the competition, the release said.
It was here that Marian Academy ‘A’ emerged as the top team from ‘Group X’, with St. Stanislaus College ‘A’ second, while St. Stanislaus College ‘B’ emerged victors of ‘Group Y’ with North Ruimveldt Multilateral ‘A’ second.
In the crossover semi-final St. Stanislaus College ‘B’ overcame their ‘A’ team by a 4-0 score through a well-rounded performance that saw the goals well diffused with four of their five players scoring.
However, it was not as simple for North Ruimveldt Multilateral ‘A’ who won their semi-final match-up against Marian Academy ‘A’ on a penalty shoot out after the game was tied at one-all on the full-time whistle. Multilateral ‘A’ made their way to a 4 – 3 victory over Marian.
In the finals young Hilton Chester scored all three of his team’s goals as St. Stanislaus College ‘B’ romped to a 3-0 victory over North Ruimveldt Multilateral ‘A’.
St. Stanislaus College ‘A’ then edged Marian Academy ‘A’ by a lone goal from Shamar Mittelholzer to capture third place.
And in the age category competitions, players from all schools and clubs were split into different teams to allow for maximum participation by all.
The most captivating category was the under-13, where boys and girls played together on mixed teams. And it was the amply named Super Mix team that dominated the competition, playing unbeaten in the round robin phase, and taking the final by a 3-1 margin over Wild Cats.
In the under-16 and under-21 categories the boys and girls played separately, and competition was on the high. In the under-16 girls category team Azul got the better of their other colourfully named opponents Rojo and Negro. And for the boys, Fearless showed that they were the team to be feared when they upset tournament favorites Space Patrol Delta 2-1, with goals coming from Shamar Mittelholzer and Mortimer Stewart for the champions while Kevin Hamilton scored a consolation goal for the losers.
The under-21 girls were the most evenly contested category, with only two points separating all four teams after the round robin phase. The final however was a blowout, where Renne James playing for the Red Necks scored a hat trick to give her team a 3-0 victory against the Avengers.
The under-21 boys final had to be decided by penalty shootout after top teams Robin and Bulls played to a scoreless draw. Khalid Gajraj became the hero of his team when he scored the winning penalty to gain a well deserved victory.
The first to third place teams in each category were awarded medals while the most valuable players of each category were give new hockey sticks. Andrew Stewart of Hikers was given the unique honour of being named MVP for both the boys under-16 and 21 categories. The MVPs were chosen by the coaches of each category.
Complete results for all categories played are as follows:
Schools Competition
Champions – St. Stanislaus College ‘B’ (Yonnick Peters, Kevin Edwards, Renee James, Hilton Chester, Alston Alleyne)
Second Place – North Ruimveldt Multilateral ‘A’ (Stefan King, Mark Fraser, Bharrat Samaroo, Fitzroy Leitch)
Third Place – St. Stanislaus College ‘A’ (Marlon Roberts, Shamar Mittelholzer, Briawna Gordon, Rebecca Xavier, Paramanand Dindial)
Boys MVP – Yonnick Peters (St. Stanislaus College)
Girls MVP – Athena Seenanon (Marian Academy)
Under-13 Competition
Champions – Super Mix (Akheame McDonald, Rebecca Xavier, Brandon Fiedtkou, Daquan Campbell, Suriah Khan, Sanasha Corlette)
Second Place – Wild Cats (Hilton Chester, Makeda Harding, Andre Stewart, Dominique Woodroffe, Treyon Gittens, Rayshawn Forde)
Third Place – Shorties (Aliyah Gordon, Reon Bacchus, Akeem Wilson, Samuel Woodroffe, Maria Sardinha, Carolyn Deane)
Boys MVP – Hilton Chester (St. Stanislaus College)
Girls MVP – Rebecca Xavier (St. Stanislaus College)
Under 16 Girls Competition
Champions – Azul (Ashley deGroot, Annastacy Sardinha, Rebecca Xavier, Athena Seenanon)
Second Place – Rojo (Macaela Harding, Aliyah Gordon, Kellyann Latchman, Mia Pierre)
Third Place – Negro (Briawna Gordon, Dacia Woodroffe, Suriah Khan)
MVP – Ashley deGroot (GCC)
Under-16 Boys Competition
Champions – Fearless (Andrew Stewart,Shamar Mittelholzer, Mortimer Stewart, Alex Fiedtkou)
Second Place – Space Patrol Delta (Jamarj Assanah, Khalid Gajraj, Hilton Chester, Kevin Hamilton, Dennis Basdeo)
Third Place – Titans (Mark Sargeant, Leavell Petty, Matthew Xavier, Leroy Jack)
MVP – Andrew Stewart (Hikers)
Under-21 Girls Competition
Champions – Rednecks (Gabrielle Xavier, Briawna Gordon, Renee James, Rebecca Xavier)
Second Place – Avengers (Macaela Harding, Ashley deGroot, Kellyann Latchman, Aliyah Gordon, Athena Seenanon)
Third Place – Skittles (Talia Fiedtkou, Alysa Xavier, Sade DeVeaux, Dacia Woodroffe, Suriah Khan)
MVP – Briawna Gordon (St. Stanislaus College)
Under-21 Boys Competition
Champions – Robin (Rayon Branford, Mark Sargeant, Yonnick Peters, Reginald Harper,Khalil Gajraj, Rodrick Bowen)
Second Place – Bulls (Jamarj Assanah, Kevin Melville, Dennis Basdeo, Antonio Seenanon, Akeem Thompson)
Third Place – Anything (Stephen Xavier, Aroydy Branford, Marlon Roberts, Anton Duke)
MVP – Andrew Stewart (Hikers)
