GTT Indoor Hockey Championships get cracking on Monday

The annual GTT National Indoor Hockey Championships return to the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall after a seven-year hiatus, as the Guyana Hockey Board (GHB) stages its first tournament on the newly installed tile floor.
The tournament has been sponsored by the communications giant for 17 years, and is the top local indoor competition that determines the annual national champions.
The competition commences early this year as the GHB gears up for the Indoor Pan-American Cup to be contested in mid-October this year.
In order to prepare for the International event, the GHB will use the National Championships as a test event, to ensure all systems are in working order. To maximize the benefit to the local national teams, both male and female national teams will compete in the competition, although they will not be eligible for the trophies.

The competition features four divisions, being Men’s First Division, Men’s Second Division, Ladies, and Veterans (over-35).
Despite being three-time champions, the favourites, Pepsi Hikers, will now be without their fantastic four in Robert France, Andrew Stewart, Jamarj Assanah and Aroydy Branford, who will all be making an appearance for the national BLACKS. The club still boasts a solid line-up, with veteran Shane Samuels expected to fill the void along with goalkeeper Jason ‘Puzzle’ Hoyte.
Old Fort, without the likes of the dynamic Aderemi Simon and skilful Jason De Santos, will look to capitalize on their depth of quality to offer good opposition for the top spot. Bounty GCC and Saints are also poised to topple the defending champs with their strong junior teams, who competed well in the most recent competition.
Pizza Hut GCC has lost six players, all called up for national duty, but remain the solid favourites to win gold. The defending champions, who have not lost the competition in ten years, will need to bring their top game to hold off the challenges of the new teams in contention.
Old Fort, led by Boshani Kaladeen and Tamala Glenn, have been creeping up the ranks over the past 8 years. They will pose a potent attack that will be hard for opponents to handle. The Bingo Spartans are eager to contest their second indoor tournament, and are a fast improving side; while a new entrant, SIDM, will take the floor in an effort to make the record books as the first debutant to hoist the trophy.
Defending veterans’ champions GCC Vintage are strong favourites for the over-35 division, while the Old Fort Warriors are expected to have the edge in the men’s 2nd division. Both divisions, however, promise to be competitive, as no team has retained the trophy for more than two consecutive years.
Matches start on Monday, September 25th from 17:00hrs, and the finals will be contested on Saturday, 30th September. Men’s national selections, the BLACKs and the GREENs, will play an exhibition match against each other right before the final presentation.