GHB names 16-member U21 Women’s Hockey Team for PAHF Junior Challenge

The Guyana Hockey Board has informed on Tuesday that the team of under-21 females who would represent Guyana at the Pan American Hockey Federation’s Junior Challenge has been narrowed down to a final 16-player roster.
The 2025 PAHF Junior Challenge is scheduled to be contested in Bridgetown, Barbados during the period March 8-16, 2025. The girls have been in training for several months, and their number had earlier this year been narrowed to a squad of 23 players. This final cut has reduced the squad to the final 16 who would compete in Barbados.
Among those selected are four overseas-based players who all grew up in Guyana but are now studying abroad. They are Sarah Klautky, who has been selected to captain the team; Charlia Webb and Georgiana and Madison Fernandes. Klautky and the Fernandes cousins were both on the 2023 Guyana team that finished 5th in the Junior Pan American Championships.

Defenders Kirsten Gomes, Kazaquah Uzzi and Solana Crum-Ewing, midfielder Clayza Bobb and striker Makaylah Poole are all former players on the last under-21 team who would again be representing Guyana in Barbados.
Among the newcomers in addition to Wing/midfield Webb, are strikers Keitana Percival, Rebecca Ferreira and Africo Blackman, and defenders Tinashe Henry and Sara Matthias. Goalkeepers Sarah Harry and Kendra Gordon would also both be making their debut in 2025.
The team’s head coach Philip Fernandes, President of the Hockey Board, has said the team is expected to give a good account of itself. Five players have benefitted from competing with the senior team in Bermuda last year, and will make up the core of the midfield through Captain Klautky, Clayza Bobb and Madison Fernandes. Teen phenom Makaylah Poole and defensive stalwart Kirsten Gomes also bring senior international experience to the table.
Fernandes has said he is excited by the speed and high-energy brought by most of the new players, and he is hoping it would result in higher scoring results for Team Guyana in an area which has been troublesome in the past.
Now entering the final two weeks of training, the team is focused on fine-tuning the set pieces of the game. They begin their campaign against Guatemala on March 8, before facing Mexico, Puerto Rico, Barbados, and Trinidad & Tobago. A spot in the final would qualify Team Guyana to participate in the 2025 Junior Pan American Games being hosted by Paraguay in August.
Team Guyana’s full squad reads:
Goalkeepers: Sarah Harry, Kendra Gordon
Defenders: Solana Crum-Ewing, Kirsten Gomes, Tinashe Henry, Sara Matthias, Kazaquah Uzzi
Midfielders: Clayza Bobb, Madison Fernandes, Sarah Klautky, Charlia Webb
Strikers: Africo Blackman, Georgiana Fernandes, Rebecca Ferreira, Keitanna Percival, Makaylah Poole.