President of the Guyana Hockey Board (GHB) Philip Fernandes says the focus of 2016 will be on youth development at various levels and international competition such as the impending Boys and Girls Pan American Junior Championships.
In an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport, the hockey stalwart said “The GHB has two major international events to which it has committed for the year 2016. Both events are for junior competition at the Pan American Federation level and are significant measures for Guyana if we are to keep pace with the regional nations”.
He noted “The first event is the 2016 Pan American Junior Championships for girls under the age of 21 years being held from 29 March to 10 April in Tacarigua, Trinidad & Tobago. The second international competition for Guyana will be the 2016 Pan American Junior Championship for boys under the age of 21 years being held from 20 – 28 May in Toronto, Canada”.
According to Fernandes “The boys’ competition faces a huge challenge since those dates conflict with the CSEC examinations and several of our top players therefore cannot commit to the competition”.
He posited “These competitions will be receiving great focus from the GHB and the hockey –playing community as they are considered vital to sustain the game at the level where Guyana is competitive in the region. They will require a substantial investment and all effort is being made to secure the necessary funds to make them both possible”.
Fernandes further said “In addition to these competitions, the GHB is going to make an effort especially to further develop its youth programmes including the coaching of hockey in schools as well as have more tournaments for various age categories ranging from under 13 right through to under 21”.
“In addition to the local calendar of regular competitions, early plans are being made to expand the Diamond Mineral Water Hockey Festival to attract teams from a wider range of nations. Indications thus far are positive and we expect substantial foreign attendance in 2016”, he added.
Asked about the high-points of 2015 for the association, Fernandes noted “The high point of the year 2015 would have been the outstanding performance of our men’s national team during the 2015 Pan American Challenge held from 3 – 11 October in Chiclayo, Peru”.
He further said “Guyana finished in 4th place out of eight teams but could have finished in any of the three top spots based on their performance on the field. After playing unbeaten in the pool round, including a 2-2 draw with eventual winners Brazil, Guyana had the misfortune of losing both of their final placement matches by sudden death penalties leaving them in 4th place by the narrowest of margins”.
According to Fernandes “In addition to the international competition, Guyana hosted another successful Diamond Mineral Water Hockey Festival in November which attracted teams from as far away as Canada. This festival once again came in for high praise from the visiting teams from Canada, Barbados and Trinidad and continues to be one of the major competitions for clubs on the regional calendar”.
Questioned about the challenges faced during the year of 2015 and what were some of the goals not attained, he declared “Due to the rigorous training schedule of the men’s national team in preparing for international competition in October, the local hockey season was severely affected and several outdoor competitions were left incomplete”.
Fernandes noted “The GHB needs to expand its base of officials, coaches and players to ensure that national teams preparing for competition do not impede the progress of local competitions. In addition, the National Gymnasium, in which all indoor hockey has been played recently, had insufficient lighting to stage hockey competitions for most of the year”.
According to Fernandes “Over the years the amount of working lights in the gymnasium kept reducing until this year where less than 1/3 of the lights worked. This matter was however raised with the Director of Sport and he was able to rectify this situation enabling the GHB to stage two very successful competitions in October and November being the GT&T National Indoor Championships and the Diamond Mineral Water Hockey Festival”.
“We hope to return to a full schedule of events for 2016 now that this facility has been greatly improved”, he added.
