The 23rd edition of the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games scheduled for July 19-August 3 in Barranquilla, Colombia will be a historic one for Guyana.
During a press briefing yesterday at the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) headquarters in Liliendaal, it was disclosed that the Golden Arrowhead will be represented in 10 disciplines by 79 athletes. According to GOA’s President, K. Juman-Yassin, this is largest contingent of athletes to ever represent Guyana on the international stage and he was more than pleased at the fact that with the exception of swimming, all the athletes had to qualify for the Games.
Guyana will be represented in the disciplines of Rugby, Track and Field, Badminton, Squash, Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Boxing, Cycling and Hockey.
Said Juman-Yassin, “I believe that this represents the best athletes in the various disciplines and it is expected that they will do Guyana proud.” He also pointed out the team is fully funded by the GOA.
The coaches and managers present at yesterday’s press conference also spoke profoundly of their charges chances of returning with hardware from Colombia. Along with the athletes, 19 officials will also travel to the Games. The full list of athletes and officials who will be attending the quadrennial fixture is:
BADMINTON: Gokarn Ramdhani (Coach), Priyanna Ramdhani, Narayan Ramdhani and Johnathan Mangra.
BOXING: Terrence Poole (Coach/Manager), Keevin Allicock and Colin Lewis.
ATHLETICS: Sham Johnny (Coach), Winston George, Troy Doris, Jenea McCammon, Leslain Baird and Emmanuel Archibald.
CYCLING: Joseph Britton (coach) and Romello Crawford.
TAEKWONDO: Roland Thomas, Mark Choy, Adrian Spellen and Justin Choy.
SQUASH: David Fernandes (Manager), Juanita Fernandes (Official), Ramon Chan-A-Sue, Mary Fung A Fat, Ashley Khalil, Taylor Fernandes, Sunil Seth, Jason Khalil and Nyron Joseph.
TABLE TENNIS: Matthew Khan (Coach), Godfrey Munroe (Coach), Priscilla Greaves, Trenace Lowe, Christopher Franklin, Natalie Cummings, Shemar Britton, Nigel Bryan, Joel Alleyne and Chelsea Edghill.
HOCKEY (MALE): Robert Fernandes (Coach), Anthony Cole (Manager) Jamarj Assanah, Aroydy Branford, Rayon Branford, Jerazeno Bell, Hilton Chester, Marvin Dannett, Jason DeSantos, Robert France, Randy Hope, Kareem McKenzie, Mark Sargeant, Meshach Sargeant, Medroy Scotland, Andrew Stewart, Steven Xavier and Dwayne Scott.
HOCKEY (FEMALE): LaToya Fordyce (Manager), Damon Woodroffe (Coach), Shebeki Baptiste, Vanessa Pires, Min Sodia Culpepper, Ashley DeGroot, Ulrica Sutherland, Dominique DeGroot, Dacia Woodroffe, Trisha Woodroffe, Nicole Eastman, Marisha Fernandes, Princess Wilkie, Samantha Fernandes, Alysa Xavier, Marzana Fiedtkou, Gabriella Xavier and Bushani Kaladeen.
RUGBY: Peter Green (Manager), Lawrence Adonis (Coach) Ryan Gonsalves, Dwayne Schroeder, Claudius Butts, Peabo Hamilton, Rondel McArthur, Godfrey Broomes, Osei McKenzie, Ronald Mayers, Patrick King, Richard Staglon, Avery Corbin and Jamal Angus.
GOA OFFICIALS: Deion Nurse (Chef-de-Mission), Phillip Fernandes (Deputy Chef-de-Mission) and Nalini McKoy (Administrator).