Seventeen overseas born and/or based players have been selected as part of the Lady Jaguars 20 member squad which will compete at the CONCACAF Women’s U20 championships in the Dominican Republic.
This is according to a release from Guyana Football Federation (GFF).
Only three locally based players made the final squad. They are Shamya Daniels (Midfielder), Tiandi Smith (Forward) and Siacy Adams (Midfielder).
The overseas born and/or based contingent reads Goalkeepers Raven Edwards-Dowdall, Aneesa O’Brien, Defenders Brianne Desa, Jade Vyfhuis, Jessica Myers, Sydney Puddiecombe, Hailey David, Anaya Johnson, Midfielders Kiana Khedoo, Serena Mc Donald, Jenea Knight, Audrey Narine, Tori DeNobrega, Samantha Banfield and Forwards Nailah Rowe, Shanice Alfred and Makayla Rudder.
According to head-coach Dr Ivan Joseph, “The coaching staff and players have been hard at work preparing for the upcoming CONCACAF women’s under 20 championships. It is our hope that we will make our country and all our fans proud of our effort and commitment on the field.”
He added, “Mexico, Nicaragua, and Puerto Rico are all formidable opponents in our opening Group D round-robin pool. All three teams are ranked ahead of us in our pool with Mexico leading the way as the number two-ranked team in the tournament. We will need to play at our very best and hope to get a bounce or two in our direction to advance to the next round.”
Paul Beresford, International Director of Women’s Programmes, said, “With the support of the GFF we have seen significant progress in women’s football since the programme’s relaunch in 2017. From the senior team to the U15s, the women’s teams continue to make history. Additionally, we have seen excellent progress as we develop our young Guyana-based players who face very real obstacles to their development.”
According to Beresford, “The Federation along with the GFF International Support Group (ISG) continue to implement programmes designed to provide further opportunities to the Guyana-based players to progress and we are looking to the Guyana footballing community to continue to support women’s football players both in Guyana and internationally-based as they continue to represent Guyana in competitions.”
Akilah Castello and Brittany Persaud are the Assistant Coaches respectively with Paul DeAbreu the Goalkeeper Coach.
Kayla DeSouza and Kasy Kirash are the Fitness Coach and Performance Analyst respectively, with Beresford and Andrea Johnson the International Team Director and Team Operations Manager respectively. Guyana has been drawn in Group-D alongside Mexico, Nicaragua and Puerto Rico. They will open their campaign against Nicaragua on February 23rd, before battling Puerto Rico two days later. In their final group match, Guyana will oppose Mexico on the 27th.
The top three teams from each of the four groups will progress to the knockout round alongside the four qualifiers from previous section. The eventual finalists will qualify for the 2020 FIFA World Cup.
