One of Guyana’s youngest hockey clubs, the Saints Hockey Club has been on a road of development mostly centred on teenagers and young adults since their launch in 2012.
The club’s men and women’s teams took a trip to a tournament in Trinidad and Tobago over the last week (January 3-7) at the invitation of Ventures Hockey Club where they participated and came home with mixed results.
In a release to the media, Head Coach of the club, Robert Fernandes explained that the trip was “part of the club’s long-term development plan”. He further explained; “the Saints Hockey Club (SHC) accepted an invitation from the Ventures Hockey Club to participate in their 19th International Invitational Indoor Hockey Tournament. Having participated for the first time in 2023 with the boys’ team, the SHC Committee made the decision to expose the girls to international competition as well this year”.
Fernandes went on to give a breakdown of how the club managed to send the teams over to Trinidad. He revealed; “The club raised the funds to cover the team’s entrance fees, accommodation, meals and transportation in Trinidad, while the players were responsible for acquiring sponsorship for their airfare. The St. Stanislaus College Board also funded the airline tickets of the 5 female students currently attending the College. A team of 10 males, 10 females, a coach and a manager travelled to Trinidad on January 3 and returned to Guyana on January 7, 2024. The team stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel. Although slightly more expensive than other options, it was selected because it included breakfast and was within walking distance of the venue thus negating daily transportation costs”.
While the males improved on their showing from last year, the female side did not enjoy much success.
“With such a young team, the majority of which are between the ages of 14 to 18 years old, our expectations for the girls’ team was for them to learn from the experience of competing against top quality club teams from Trinidad & Tobago. Our girls surpassed our expectations by holding their own and improving with every match. None more so than their performance against the TT Police team which had one month earlier dominated them at the Diamond International Hockey Festival in Guyana. Our girls’ improvement in one month showed and it was them who dominated this time around and were just unfortunate not to have won the match. We believe this experience will accelerate the team’s development and we look forward to their improved performances this year”.
Meanwhile Fernandes said this of the males’ performance; “Our expectations for the boys were a bit higher considering that they had the experience of competing in this tournament last year. Fresh off their second place finish at the Diamond Mineral Water Hockey Festival, the boys eased through their first two matches. However, in their third group match against the group’s top seed TT Police, they conceded two early goals and spent the rest of the match chasing from behind which meant taking risks which were punished on the counter attacks. After finishing second in the group, we faced Group A winners Queens Park in the semi-final. Once again, we conceded early, but this time the boys responded well and clawed their back into the match. Trailing 3-2, a Jabari Lovell penalty corner hit the post and several goal-scoring opportunities were valiantly saved by the Queen’s Park goalkeeper. With time running out we threw numbers forward and Queen’s Park scored on the counter attack just as time expired. The boys showed their ability to learn and adapt quickly by reversing the result against the TT Police in the third place playoff”.
Fernandes explained that it is part of the club’s mission to keep alumni connected to St. Stanislaus College through hockey and to provide students opportunities to have experiences which help their long-term development.
“International exposure is a vital part of athletes’ development and considering that in 2023 our boys’ team didn’t make it out of the group stage and this year they placed third, it shows that progress is being made. I am confident that we will see similar improvements with our girls after this year’s exposure. We are grateful to the St. Stanislaus College Board and Alumni for their support, we believe our objectives both on and off the court were achieved on this tour”, he said.
Women’s results:
Women’s Group Stage
Lost to GCC – 0-3
Drew with TT Police 1-1
Lost to Magnolias 1-6
Men’s results
Men’s Group Stage
Defeated UWI Cave Hill 2-0
Defeated Notre Dame 4-1
Lost to TT Police 2-5
Semi-final – Lost to Queens Park 2-4
3rd Place Playoff – Defeated TT Police – 3-1
