Nine local players were shortlisted by the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) as part of the 26-member provisional squad for the CONCACAF Caribbean Women’s Group-E Qualifiers, to be staged from May 23rd-27th.
The local ladies are Natalie Nedd (Goalkeeper), Sasha James, Odessa Romeo, Collette Hope (Defender), GFF Female Player of the Year Tiandi Smith (Midfielder), Lakeisha Pearson (Midfielder), Horicia Adams (Midfielder), Annalisa Vincent (Forward) and GFF Junior Female Player of the Year Jalade Trim (Forward).
The overseas born and based players comprise Taylor White and Aneesa O’Brien (Goalkeepers), Nikkita Persaud, Sydney Cummings, Brianne DeSouza, Alicia Zaban, Allison Heydorn (Defenders), Brittany Persaud, Mariam El-Masri, Jade Vyphius, Ghilene Joseph, Brianne Desa and Hannah Baptiste (Midfielder), Calaigh Copland, Ashlee Savona, Cameo Hazlewood and Otesha Charles (Forward).
Technical Director of the GFF Ian Greenwood, declared that he has high hopes for the squad, adding that he is very confident of the team producing good performances and admirably representing the nation.
He added that the team is preparing under the new management and the performances of the team will be analyzed throughout the campaign to ascertain their progress.
The team is headed by recent Canadian recruit Dr. Ivan Joseph, while Kevin Sherry, Akilah Castello, Filip Postran, Alex Hawkins, Jessica Pragg, Brian Finniss, Kasy Kiarash, Paul Beresford and Andrea Johnson act as Lead Assistant Coach, Assistant Coach, Goalkeeper Coach, Team Doctor, Physiotherapist, High Performance Manager, Performance Analyst, International Team Coordinator and Operations Assistant respectively.
The Guyanese will host Bermuda, Barbados and Suriname in the 23-team tournament at the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora.
Guyana will oppose Bermuda in the opening match at 19:00hrs, before opposing Suriname in the second clash on May 25th. The Lady Jaguars will conclude their group campaign two days layer against Barbados.
The event features a round-robin format, with the respective winners advancing to the final round of group action in August.
The top three teams from the final group round will then qualify for the CONCACAF Women’s Championship, slated for October in the United States of America.
