This week, Roger Seymour takes a break from the In Search of West Indies Cricket column to recount the Guyana Women’s Field Hockey Reunion 2024 held last weekend in Toronto, Canada. (For ease of reference the players’ maiden names are enclosed in brackets.)
By Roger Seymour
Prologue
“Time for an oxygen break,” a boisterous spectator screamed from the stands. The hockey players, a group of middle-aged women, gratefully and gracefully sauntered off to the sides of the artificial turf field. It was halftime. It was 5:15 pm on Monday, 5th August, 2024, a civic holiday in Canada, and the finale of the Caribana Weekend celebrations. How did these former Guyanese women hockey players, attired in t-shirts with tights or shorts come to be battling in a highly competitive seven-a-side scrimmage while West Indians were partying? It’s a long story.
Origins
It all began with Mercylyn Bourne, a former member of the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) Ladies Hockey team who passed away suddenly last year on 29th January, in Toronto. The former winger/inside forward who represented Guyana at the 1972 Caribbean Women’s Biannual Hockey Championships in Trinidad and Tobago, had migrated to Canada in 1974. It had always been her dream to organise a reunion in Toronto with her former GFC teammates.
On Saturday 19th August, 2023 a group of Canada-based past women hockey players gathered at the
home of Ecliffe and Roxanne Hinds (Hill), the former Guyana Captain (1974 – 1976) to honour Mercylyn. The occasion was High Tea – Mercylyn’s favourite activity – and a barbecue. A WhatsApp chat group of past players had been started in July 2023 and the talk of a reunion was floated but it was decided that the time was too short. Some New York members of the chat group had expressed an interest in attending the celebration, but since it was too late to get flights they agreed to join via Zoom. Lo and behold, at about 2:30 in the afternoon, five New York-based former players appeared, having spent many hours driving to get to the celebration of Mercylyn’s life. Of course, during the glorious summer afternoon chit chat the subject Mercylyn’s dream of hosting a reunion of her former teammates surfaced again.
Once the talk of the reunion began it was decided to include all former women players in Toronto, expanding the committee to 12 members. In January this year, the dates were set for the reunion. The organisers initially met every two weeks via WhatsApp, and then as the last month approached meetings were held on a weekly basis, with two in-person rendezvous within the final three weeks. Events of this nature do not happen of their own accord and necessitate a tremendous amount of legwork. Sponsorship was secured, venues selected and booked, numerous telephone calls, hundreds of texts and countless emails sent and answered, players tracked down, just to mention a few of the obligatory activities involved. Donna Thomson (Burgan) served as the de facto secretary of the committee producing copious detailed minutes of the extended Zoom meetings, which she posted to the group chat as easy reference for everyone.
Finances. The planners had no finances when the talk of the reunion commenced. A number of the committee members made hefty donations from their pockets. Friends and family were approached for financial contributions. Fundraising activities included a casino bus trip and a 50/50 draw on 8th June, and another 50/50 draw at Queen Victoria Pub in Scarborough – a popular destination for the Guyanese party crowd. Committee members also sold green rubber bracelets embossed with the slogan ‘Field Hockey Reunion 2024’ to generate funding. The typical Guyanese resourcefulness did not end there. Faced with the challenge of the cost of creating a website for the attendees to register and keep updated, Marilyn (Thijs)-Farnum modified a no-fee online wedding planning programme for the venture. Soon, just like one of the 1970s national hockey squads preparing for the Biannual Caribbean Championships, everything started to gel. Summer arrived and suddenly it was August.
Friday, 2nd August, Meet & Mingle
At 6:00 pm, casual-chic attired guests started arriving at the Westney Room of the Ajax Convention Centre, located about an hour’s drive east of Downtown Toronto. The Meet & Mingle was the bully-off event for the 2024 Guyana Women’s Field Hockey Reunion. On arrival, attendees were registered, given a pre-printed name tag attached to a lanyard – a pragmatic idea considering that some players hadn’t seen each other in decades – and one of the green rubber bracelets. Soon the air was filled with loud shrieks and laughter as old friends and former rivals, upon recognising each other, immediately exchanged hugs and kisses. The room was buzzing with a high level of energy as acquaintances were renewed. Memories of tournaments and trips and matches, always matches, were revived.
Propped along one wall, on a line of tables, was a large collection of framed team – national and clubs – photographs; a pictorial history of women’s field hockey ranging from the 1940s in British Guiana (BG) to the 1980s in Guyana. The faded black and white photographs of the BG teams, not only provided a glimpse back in time with regard to clothing, hair styles, etc, but also reflected the social demographics of the day, bearing in mind that back then women’s field hockey was an elite sport. As the timeline of the display shifted, colour photographs appeared and the social composition of teams
evolved. The decades covered by the collage of photographs, the smattering of newspaper clippings and hockey memorabilia captured a unique sample of our history which is slowly dissipating.
Regina Cheong (Lissone), a member of the organising committee and the livewire of the reunion, invited Roxanne Hinds (Hill) to say a prayer before dinner. Whilst the attendees ate, a slideshow played. Painstakingly assembled by Marilyn (Thijs)-Farnum, with mementos supplied by several members of the group, it was a trip down memory lane. It traced the origins of Ladies Hockey in British Guiana in the 1920s to the heydays of the 1950s to the glory days of the biannual Caribbean
tournaments of the 1970s to post-playing get-togethers of recent times. In addition to the team photographs, there were several of individual players, newspaper clippings, pieces of memorabilia, and finally, tributes to deceased players, coaches and umpires. The priceless compilation, worth thousands of words, was greeted with loud cries of reminiscence and lots of laughter, particularly those slides depicting the lighter side of life.
Of the 21 former players who were unable to attend, only three – Lucy Shuffler and Dawn Van Rossum from Guyana and Beverly Headley (St Hill) of Canada – managed to join the occasion via Zoom. The event was sponsored by Alexcis Ford, the daughter of Donna Thomson (Burgan).
Saturday, 3rd August, Formal Dinner
The Donalda Club, an upscale, private golf club with lawn tennis, curling and swimming facilities, located in the heart of the city of Toronto, a short skip off the Don Valley Parkway, was the venue for the formal dinner.
After cocktails, Roxanne Hinds (Hill) said prayers before the formal introduction of the organising committee, whose concerted efforts and teamwork had made the event a reality. In addition, to the Toronto-based Canadian contingent, plus Maureen Dow (DeFreitas) from Calgary, members of the Guyana women’s hockey sorority travelled from Barbados, Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and of course, Guyana to participate in the festivities.
The highlights of the evening’s celebrations occurred after dinner. Roxanne paid tribute to the Guyana Women’s Hockey Association (GWHA) tracing its early development, and noting the contributions of the Mittelholzer, de Cambra and Burgan families. Two stalwarts of the game were honoured with presentations. Thecla Perreira, the oldest member present at the function, started playing in BG in 1956, and represented the country from 1964 to 1974, with the exception of two years. She migrated to Canada in 1975, where she continued playing for the Nomads Club. The late Pam Corlette (Glasford) (5th August, 1930 – 17th December, 2022), daughter of Olive Glasford (Mittelholzer) was recognised for her contributions to the local game. Pam played for British Guiana Sports Club (BGCC) and Shamrocks Hockey Club and represented BG in 1948, 1952, 1954, 1958, and 1962. She was the manager of the national team at the 1972 Caribbean Tournament in Trinidad, and later served as secretary and president of the GWHA. Pam’s eldest daughter, Patricia, who lives in the USA, accepted the award.
The members of the Reunion Committee were also honoured, as well as all the past players who travelled to Toronto for the event. On the lighter side, Marilyn managed to pull on her first blazer from the 1972 trip. Much to her everyone else’s mirth, she couldn’t quite manage to button it up.
With the formal proceedings completed, the party shifted to the Queen Victoria Pub where the ladies made their moves on the dance floor, reminiscent of their spritely days on the hockey field, joining the post Caribana parade action.
Sunday, 4th August
The partying continued for the third night with the group once again showcasing their dance steps at the Caribjam Dance at the Chestnut Hill Developments Recreation Complex, Pickering, just east of the suburb of Scarborough. This was a fundraiser hosted by the St Stanislaus College (Guyana) Alumni Society and Guyana Christian Charities.
Monday, 5th August
The weary and wounded band of party revellers reported to the Cassie Campbell Community Centre in Brampton (north west of Toronto) at 3:30 pm on Monday. It was time for the good old days again; hockey practice. A smattering of family, friends, and supporters were on hand to witness the action. Among the crowd were former national men’s hockey player Compton De Souza, the husband of former Guyana women’s player Monica De Souza (Henriques), and his former fellow GFC committee member, Donnie McDavid. They were both Mercylyn’s club mates.
Regina Cheong (Lissone), the youngest player ever to wear the national colours, at the age of 13 (1970), often referred to as ‘the Baby’, took charge of the event. Having migrated to Canada in the early 1970s, Regina continued to play and be involved in the game, and later served as Head Coach of the Province of Ontario’s Women’s Field Hockey Programme for over 15 years.
Regina was in her ‘rikaticks’ as she put the ladies through their warm-up paces, much to the pleasure of the savvy onlookers. Banter flowed back and forth as the players commenced the first drill, dribbling in and out of a short series of flat cones placed on the artificial playing surface. Late arrival, Lynn McLeod (de Cambra) was almost ripped in half as two of the three teams squabbled to add her skill set to their side.
Regina: “Take your time. Bend your knees.”
Player: “Bending is not possible.”
Regina: “Again!! Do it twice!!!”
Player: “Twice? We’ve been partying for three nights straight.”
Spectator: “Ah, got Tiger balm over here.”
Regina: “On your toes, not your feet…”
The coach continued to push the drills and the repartee between the jovial supporters and the enthusiastic players continued unabated.
After a couple rounds of drills and a short breather, the players were divided into two squads, the ‘Coloured Shirts’ steered by former national coach George Powdar and the ‘White Shirts’, guided by former GFC coach Dennis Fung.
“Pheeeewww!” Hazel Khan (Sheriff), former national player, wearing the umpire’s hat (along with Sharon Jardine) blew her whistle, and the game was on. Loud cheering emanated from the stands, there was lots of scrambling, sticks swinging, everyone on the field calling for the ball, everyone in the stands screaming advice; the beginning of a whale of a scrubby.
The diminutive Ava Haynes gathered the ball, stepped on the gas as of yore, full speed to the goal. The mind flashed back to the third game on the opening night, 10th August, of the 1976 Caribbean Women’s Hockey Championships at GFC. Guyana was trailing Barbados, 2-3. It was the dying moments of the
game, Ava, a second-half substitute had the ball, she rounded the centre-back and fired it home!!! Game tied!!! The famous GFC bell was ringing in the upper flat of the pavilion. Almost 50 years on, it was like deja vu to see her charge and shoot again. Goal!! The bell was rung, this time by GFC’s Compton De Souza sitting in the stands. Everyone was on their feet cheering. Nothing much had changed, it seemed.
When the scrimmage ended, the ‘Coloured Shirts’ had won 2-1. The goalscorers were the usual suspects, but this time around, there were no upsets. The players shook hands and hugged. The two teams gathered for the 1,000th photograph taken over the last four days. Regina ordered the players to follow her in the warm-down stretch routine, or else, “You all wouldn’t be able to move tomorrow. Don’t bounce. Slowly, slowly, stretch your arms…”
Finale
The players and supporters made the five-minute ride to Regina and Terry Cheong’s house for the final lime. It was a weekend of fun and memories to last a lifetime. Anecdotes filled the air.
Ava recounted the early days of a group of young ladies in Mackenzie wanting to play the game, and teaching themselves from a book. No coach. They ventured into Georgetown to challenge the powerful GFC Ladies, she said, only to hear the bell being rung 11 times. Undeterred, they returned again and again, she recalled, and with each visit the frequency of the sound of the bell diminished. Steve Clarke started to coach the team and eventually the bell was silenced. Ava and several of her teammates were selected to play for Guyana in the 1976 tournament. In 1988 she was anointed captain.
Sally Burrowes (de Cambra), first selected for BG in 1958, played alongside her mum, Molly and her mum’s cousin, Olivia. She got married and departed BG in 1961. Her husband was an engineer and his job took them all over the world. The wandering itinerary included stops in war-torn Mozambique, Melbourne in Australia, and several countries in Europe. For decades, Sally ported a carefully wrapped package wherever they ventured. At the reunion, her hockey sisters were privileged to share its contents – photographs and pristine newspaper clippings from her playing days.
Beverly Kissoon recounted where the now-defunct hockey clubs practised, “Rovers were at East Indians Cricket Club, now called Everest on Camp Road, and Shamrock Hockey Club used to be at Bookers Sports Club [now GBTI Head Office] opposite the Pegasus Hotel.”
Mercylyn would have been proud. Her dream became a reality. Now it has taken wings. At the Formal Dinner the torch was officially passed to Ava by Veronica Thomas (Wentt).
“See you in Guyana in July 2026,” Ava Haynes proudly announced. “I’m giving you enough notice.”
