Guyana men’s and women’s national hockey teams will be looking to create history when the Pan American Indoor Hockey Championships begin today on home turf.
Back Row – Marvin Dannett, Rayon Branford, Kareem McKenzie, Jason DeSantos, Aderemi Simon, Robert France (C), Andrew Stewart, Jamarj Assanah Front Row-Hilton Chester, Anthony Cole (GK), Medroy Scotland (GK) & Aroydy Branford
The women will be making their debut in the tournament, while the males go into this year’s competition with some experience, having won bronze at the last championships in Uruguay three years ago.
Both sides have been training together for the last six months, and will have some amount of chemistry, which should produce exciting matches. In addition, this is the first time that Guyana has had the opportunity to train on the same surface that they will be competing on, as the Guyana Hockey Board (GHB) has imported a plastic tile playing surface.
Those factors, along with home crowd support, will be integral to the women, especially as they aim to medal on debut. For the men, it will be a case of using their experience and advantages to push for a better finish this time around.
Ahead of the tournament, which begins today, Coach of the women’s team, Dwayne Scott, told Guyana Times Sport that his charges are aiming to medal. Being realistic, he pointed out that it would be tough for Guyana to claim Gold, but ultimately the goal is to finish within the top three.
Scott’s side played two practice matches over the weekend, and he expressed pleasure with the way they performed, as he noted that they matched their opponents in every possible way. During the tournament, he maintained that his side would need to execute their game plan meticulously as they bid for a historic medal.
Meanwhile, Coach of the men’s team, Robert Fernandes, took a different approach: he rested his players over the weekend as he pointed out that they “have been under intense training” for the last six months. While noting that Guyana was “right up there” in Uruguay and are the second ranked team in the competition, Fernandes said that they will not be taking anyone for granted. He is of the opinion that Guyana, along with Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina and defending champions Canada, are in the running for medals as Barbados and Mexico historically do not play a lot of indoor hockey.
The general make-up of the men’s national team is experience combined with youth. The majority of the players were a part of the bronze medal winning team in Uruguay, while Kareem McKenzie and Hilton Chester are the newest members of the team. The addition of professional hockey player Marvin Dannett, who plays in England, will further bolster Guyana’s chances of gold.
The Canadians are the defending champions in both the men’s and women’s tournament. The opening game of this year’s championships will begin at 10:00hrs at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH). Entry fee to the venue is $500, while week long passes are available for just $2000.
