A final decision will be made on whether there is any respite on the 2020 hockey season, particularly the hosting of the Diamond Mineral Water International Hockey tournament when officials of the Guyana Hockey Board (GHB) meet with the Minister of Culture Youth and Sport Charles Ramson Jr.
Phillip Fernandes, President of the GHB, during a recent interview with Stabroek Sport contended that there is a slim possibility of organizing hockey action later this year, however, that likelihood is largely dependent on the outcome of the meeting with the minister.
“We are still hoping to have a meeting with the minister. We haven’t been able to have one as yet… They had invited us for a meeting and then it was cancelled and they told us that they would subsequently tell us when but we have been following up and waiting,” Fernandes explained.
His comments come on the heels of an announcement by the Government of Guyana to reopen the country’s airports to commercial flights which could allow the hockey body to invite international teams.
Meanwhile, the use of sports facilities is also likely to attract plenty of discussions between Ramson Jr., and Fernandes since the availability of the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH), the traditional venue to host the event, is currently earmarked as a COVID-19 emergency isolation facility.
In April of this year, the national COVID-19 Task Force announced that CASH was selected as one of the facilities to quarantine and treat COVID-19 patients. The minister’s guidance will be sought on that matter to inform the hockey board’s plans for the remainder of the whirlwind 2020.
“One of the big impediments to the Diamond Mineral Water tournament is the fact that they were using the Sports Hall, I think, as a COVID centre so we can’t plan anything unless we know what that outcome of that will be; whether they will be further reopening and whether those [sports] facilities will once again be available for sports,” said Fernandes.
He explained that time is of the essence which makes the interactions with Ramson Jr., even more important.
“It’s not completely off the table and we may have a scaled-down version if it ends up being possible… By scale down I mean we will have to invite teams late and we may not get a full complement and then teams will have to indicate their interest.
“But we are still hoping to have a meeting with the minister and when we meet with him we will discuss just that; the availability of the facility and the likelihood of us have permission to host such an event and then we will send out invitations to see what some of the interest we get. That whole process will have to happen this month,” he added.
Meanwhile, asked about the possibility of Guyana attending any imminent hockey tournament outside of the jurisdiction, Fernandes noted that Guyana’s presence at any future tournament maybe until mid-2021 because of funding and other considerations.
