The Guyana Hockey Board rolled out the proceedings for the 2017 season of hockey with the Bounty Farm/Antonio’s Grille One day tournament of outdoor Hockey at the National Stadium, Providence on Sunday.
President of the Guyana Hockey Board, Philip Fernandes said it was ‘a fantastic way to begin the season.”
Intense action among the girls in the female division of the tournament at the National Stadium on Sunday
While indoor hockey had dominated the 2016 season a lot of the players were anxious to come out and have some fun in the much missed outdoor version of the game.
At the stadium, not only was the sun scorching but the field was in tip-top shape to facilitate the games, a feature that Fernandes commented on with much praise. “I think this tournament has gone very nicely, as far as outdoor facility, this field is a fantastic field at the National Stadium and so it is good to have a start on this kind of surface.” The GHB President stated. It was evident from the large amount of players from the various clubs across the country that turned out to have some fun under the sun. However, a lot of new faces have joined in on the fun and excitement of the sport with these juniors complimenting the stalwart players of their clubs. The GHB President also touched on this point, highlighting the excellent job of each club’s junior programme.
“This year we have a lot of young players, new players adding to the older players and that has given the tournament a nice flavor because we are seeing different matchups that what we have seen in the past. The junior programmes have done very well in feeding the clubs with new young players and we see that evident from this tournament.” Fernandes stated. He went on to add that not only are these young players coming into the team but they are making an impact to their teams by playing some key roles.
This, Fernandes believed was due to the fact that a lot of the players were longing for an outdoor tournament.
“I think the players themselves are keen to be back outdoors, we had a long indoor stint and I think we have seen a lot of enthusiasm, a little bit of rust but a lot of enthusiasm and hockey skills.” Fernandes pointed out.
This is the first event of the GHB and has over a dozen games being played on two separate fields at the National Stadium. GCC completed the double, winning the male and female groups. The female team, Pizza Hut GCC defeated Woodpecker Hikers 5-0 while the males, Bounty GCC, entered a 2-2 stalemate with Pepsi Hikers after which they won the penalty shootout 3-2.
See a subsequent edition of the Guyana Times for a full report on the outcome of the competition.
