The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) has yesterday named a 23-member roster for the Courts Caribbean Classic, which commence in the twin-island republic of Trinidad and Tobago this weekend.
According to a release from the federation, the team, which features four overseas born players, comprises Akel Clarke, Alex Murray, Kevin Layne, Omari Glasgow, Jeremy Garrett, Marcus Wilson, Quincy Adams, Clive Nobrega, Samuel Cox, Pernell Schultz, Daniel Wilson, Job Caesar, Leo Lovell, Kelsey Benjamin, Neil Danns, Javier George, Nathan Moriah-Welch, Trayon Bobb, Jamal Pereira, Tyrell Ondaan, Ryan Hackett, Shemar Fraser and Jermaine Beckles.
The players on standby are Jemar Harrigan, Kevin Dundas, Darron Niles, and Sese Norville while the management team which is led by Head Coach Jamaal Shabazz, comprises Assistant Coaches Charles Pollard and Wayne Dover, Goalkeeper Coach Eon DeVeira, Trainer Dylan Palmer, Assistant Trainer Dwain Babb, Equipment Manager Trevor Burnett, Equipment Officer, Physiotherapist Dexter George, and Team Manager Rawle Adams. Guyana will open its campaign against Barbados on Saturday, before concluding its sojourn against the host nation on Tuesday. The event is being utilized by the teams as preparation for the League B campaign of the 2022/2023 Concacaf Nations League in June. The official draw for the Nations League will occur on April 4th.
Guyana during the month of January participated in a tri-nation series in Suriname which also featured Barbados. The Golden Jaguars’ first match against Barbados was abandoned prior to halftime after several Barbadian players tested positive for Covid-19. Guyana lost to the hosts 1-2 in their final fixture.
Meanwhile, Blue Water Shipping became the first entity to support the Golden Jaguars on their sojourn to the twin island republic. This partnership was confirmed yesterday during a simple presentation ceremony held at the federation’s section-K Campbellville headquarters.
GFF President Wayne Forde said, “What we are announcing today is Blue Water’s support for our Golden Jaguars who will be taking a journey to Trinidad and Tobago in a few days to participate in the Courts Caribbean Classic. It’s the first of its kind, it will be three nations Guyana, Trinidad and Barbados and we reached out in very short order to Richard [DeNobrega], and we said we are doing this tournament in Trinidad as part of the preparation for the nation’s league which kicks off in June and we would really be happy to get some support and very quickly Richard came back to us and said he is very excited and we believe in what you guys are doing and we know that the Golden Jaguars represent the flagship brand of the GFF and we want to be part of it.”
He added, “So I am happy to announce that Blue Waters will be providing support. I will leave the specifics of the support being offered to Richard but I just want to say on behalf of the executive committee and the entire football fraternity, a heartfelt thank you to the Blue Water Family.”
Blue Water Shipping Country Manager Richard DeNobrega, said, “Sport is very key to our organization, it goes hand in hand for us and working with the federation is almost automatic. We are happy to support, we are happy to see the national team kicking again. We saw over the last few weeks a very strong performance by the lady jags so you guys have some pretty big shoes to fill. We encourage a strong performance and we will always be here to support the work of the federation. Congratulations and the best of luck for a successful tournament.”
Similarly, Thomas Bek, Chief Operating Officer of Blue Waters Shipping said, “We are extremely proud to support the Jaguars and rest assured you have some supporters now in Denmark as well. We are following the team very closely, we are amazed at the progress you are making down here and we are proud to be a part of this.”
Headded, “I think Richard said it very greatly when he mentioned the importance of sport to Blue Waters and it goes back to our founder who always emphasized the importance of sport especially teamwork that comes together with football. This is very important for us and we are really excited about the development that we are seeing down here and we will definitely follow that for many years to come.”
