Following their arrival on local shores yesterday, the provisional Lady Jaguars squad will officially commence training today for their upcoming for the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Olympic Qualifier tournament.
Under the watchful eye of Head-Coach Mark Rodrigues and his assistant Sheron Abrams, Guyana is currently placed in group four which will be hosted by the Dominican Republic with the likes of St. Kitts and Nevis and Cuba also competing.
They will open their campaign against St. Kitts and Nevis on August 21st before ending their campaign two days later against the Cubans.
The Lady Jaguars rose to prominence in 2010 after becoming the first national team from Guyana to feature in a CONCACAF tourney which was the Gold Cup held in Mexico.
According to an official press release from the GFF, veteran player of the 2010 program Donna Joseph “We had the experience from the last time, we know what to expect. This time we are more confident in ourselves, and trust each other and the programme and the coaches to do better this time around”.
Another player from the 2010 program Justine Rodrigues, according to the release further said “I would only hope that the people can put their trust in us to do well and be confident in us as well. We really wouldn’t want to let our fans down. A lot of people are supporting us; family, friends and we’re carrying a nation as well, so we will welcome the pressure”.
Group one of the qualifiers will be staged in Puerto Rico and fields the hosts, Aruba, Haiti and Grenada while Group two will consist of host Trinidad and Tobago St. Lucia, Antigua & Barbuda and the Cayman Islands.
On the other hand, group three will be contested in Suriname and will feature the likes of the Dominican Republic, Dominica and Jamaica.
Unlike the u-23 age limit of the male version for individuals born on or after January 1st 1993, the women’s event does not has such a stipulation. The top three teams from the CFU Qualifiers will progress to the CONCACAF Women’s Summer Olympic Tournament in 2016.
