The participation of countries from North, Central and South America and the Caribbean have been confirmed as the Guyana Hockey Board prepares to host the Pan American Indoor Championships which commences on October 14, at the refurbished Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Kwandwane Brown (centre)
The Championships which will have both men’s and women’s participation and will serve as the Pan American Continental Qualifier for the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cups scheduled for February 2018 in Berlin, Germany.
Touted to be one of the biggest since its inaugural year in 2002, eight nations will contest the women’s segment, while seven will participate in the men’s category.
Canada is among the countries confirmed to participate and has won the competition four times, making them the most successful in the men’s category.The Canadian team possesses several players who have competed in Guyana including Guyanese-born Jonathan Roberts.
Trinidad and Tobago is also likely to have a number of players in their squad who have competed in Guyana at the Diamond Mineral Water Festival.
However, they will have to contend the powerful Argentina and USA teams, both finalists in the past with the latter beating the former at home in 2008.
Barbados and Mexico are the other countries that will contest the men’s segment and while they’ve not been as successful as the other nations, the significant incentive of a World Cup berth at stake could instigate determined performances.
Host Guyana has gradually become a serious contender following inspiring performances during their three appearances at the event. Guyana placed fourth in 2005, fifth place in 2010 and their best showing, third place in the last competition held in 2014 in Montevideo, Uruguay.
While all the teams are legitimate contenders, Canada is still the country to beat judging from their overwhelming record of four golds from six appearances.
On the distaff side, in addition to the seven above mentioned nations, Uruguay completes the competing teams. Uruguay has been the surprise of Pan American hockey in recent times moving up the world rankings and has made the Indoor World Cup back in 2010. Argentina and Canada have each won the competition twice, while the Trinidadians were victors in the inaugural Cup in 2002.
The Guyanese women have not had the experience of playing as a national team in indoor competitions, but have made positive strides at the outdoor level in the past decade.
The DMWF, however, has provided valuable understanding of how the game is played at the indoor level and this familiarity will make them formidable opponents against any team, especially in front of home support. While most of the teams may not have named their travelling squads as yet, a source closely associated with the Championships disclosed that the best known Caribbean player T&T’s Kwandwane Browne will be participating in Guyana.
