The Western Union-branded Hikers Hockey Club Junior Programme will host its first annual indoor junior tournament at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue this weekend as part of its fund-raising drive.
The tournament which will be contested tomorrow and Sunday will feature six categories.
The schools category and under-13 categories will feature mixed teams (boys and girls on the same team), while the other four categories will be the under-16 and under-21 categories for both boys and girls teams.
The tournament is a “Four-A-Side, Small-Goal” competition that is open to all teams from both schools and clubs.
St. Stanislaus College, who won the Guyana Hockey Board’s school tournament last year with their ‘B’ team are expected to receive stiff competition from newcomers, School of the Nations as well as Queen’s College, North Ruimveldt Multilateral and Marian Academy teams.
Meanwhile, the other category will see hosts Hikers matching their skills against the likes of GCC, Old Fort and Western Dragons as all clubs are expected to field several teams in each category.
The Hikers under-13 attack is expected to be led by Makeda Harding and Akheame McDonald, with the outstanding talents of Macaela Harding, Aroydy Branford and Andrew Stewart pressing for glory in the under-16 category.
The under-21 challenge will be led by Hikers standouts Renee James, Jamarj Assanah, Rayon Branford and Travon Younge and the GCC teams are expected to be led by the Woodroffe siblings Dominique and Samuel in the under- 13 division.
The under-16 teams will be led by Aliyah Gordon, Dacia Woodroffe, Mark Sargeant and Mortimer Stewart, while the Xavier siblings of Alysa, Gabriella and Steven and the Fiedtkou sisters, Marzana and Talia are expected to lead the under-21 challenge. Old Fort is expected to be led by under-21 standouts Kevin Melville and Richard Heyligar.
The action begins tomorrow morning at 10 am with the James Service Centre sponsored under-13 category, which will be followed by the Global Technology sponsored schools tournament.
On Sunday the under-16 events start at 10 am, with the Woodpecker Products sponsored under-21 competitions immediately following.
There will be a special “SKILLAXE” Challenge before the two under-21 finals on Sunday afternoon.
Individuals will have one minute to demonstrate any freestyle hockey skills and the winner will be chosen by the crowd.
Food and drinks will be on sale and the presentation ceremony is scheduled for 4:30 pm on Sunday.
