Sports fanatics in Guyana should tip their hats to the hockey executives at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) for the admirable work they have been doing to develop junior female hockey at the club level.
Nearly 14 years ago, Coach Philip Fernandes was the visionary figure behind what is now known as the GCC Spartans under-21 female developmental team. The programme was designed to give younger female players at the club the opportunity to display their skills in local competitions as the club’s second unit.
“With the GCC ladies’ hockey team dominating local competition, and realizing that its current crop of fairly young players still had many more playing years in them, a decision was made to form a developmental squad within the club,” Fernandes told Stabroek Sports of the birthing of the initiative.
“There weren’t any junior competitions for girls at the time and so this initiative was designed to expose the club’s under-21 players who would not otherwise see competitive action for many years,” Fernandes added.
The team got its name from the movie “300” drawing inspiration from King Leonidas’ underdog but fearsome mentality to lead 300 Spartans into battle against the great Persian army.
It should also be noted that the club’s men’s team throughout the `90’s and early 2000’s was extremely successful. The pinnacle of their success saw them clinching silver at the Pan American Club Championships in 2001. However, the success of the ladies’ team during that period was far less shimmering, giving Fernandes added reason to form the ladies developmental squad.
But as he recalled, success was hard to come by in the first two years. Since then, Spartans have built a winning dynasty, particularly in Trinidad and Tobago by winning several under – 21 titles at the Magnolia’s Indoor Championships.
“The Spartans hockey programme was, and still is, hugely successful. I would be surprised if there is any local team in any discipline who can boast a better record. After two difficult years of competition, Spartans began to close the gap on most of the senior club sides and started to enjoy occasional successes.
“In 2008, however, the team would make the first of seven visits to Trinidad- its most successful hunting ground – to compete in the Junior Indoor Hockey competitions over there.
“Of those seven trips, the team has won gold on all but one occasion when they took silver in 2012. More recently in 2019, Spartans completed the double by winning the under-16 and under-21 titles in the Twin Island Republic.”
In hindsight, the coach said Spartans has been transformed into an initiative beyond the hockey pitch. It is now also focused on empowering young girls.
“In Guyana, there are far fewer opportunities for young girls to compete at sports than there are for boys. I believe that the opportunity to learn a sport, compete, experience success and failure helps to prepare all of these girls to cope with challenges in their adult life. In addition, the valuable lessons of how to work as part of a team, learning to accommodate different personalities and people who have a disposition much different to theirs are all part of the exposure,” Fernandes remarked.
Meanwhile, of the big names to come out the programme so far, two were in the initial group in 2006.
Guyana, on two occasions, had female players who made the Pan American All-Star team. Both of those players, midfielder Marzana Fiedtkou and goalkeeper Alysa Xavier, came from the original Spartans team.
Several other players have become prominent members of the Guyana National Team since then including Trisha and Dacia Woodroffe, Gabriella Xavier, Briawna and Aliyah Gordon, Ashley and Dominique De Groot and Thalia Fiedtkou. More recently, new faces have begun to emerge in Sarah Klautky, Abosaide Cadogan, Madison Fernandes and Makeda Harding.
