Guyana women’s hockey team to attend PAHF Challenge in Bermuda
A look at the Guyanese team that will compete in the PAHF Challenge this September
The Guyana women’s hockey team is scheduled to compete in the 2024 PAHF Challenge set for Hamilton, Bermuda from 20th to 28th September, 2024. The Challenge is a qualifier for the PAHF Cup scheduled for Uruguay in 2025, and is Guyana’s only path to qualifying for a World Cup.
Six teams will be vying for the single available spot in the PAHF Cup, and those are hosts Bermuda, Brazil, Guyana, Jamaica, Peru and Mexico. Of these six teams, Mexico is the highest ranked team, listed as #37 in the world; followed by Peru at #41, Brazil at #54, Jamaica at #67, Bermuda at #68 and Guyana at #70.
A squad of 25 players has been selected to commence training for the Challenge. The squad sees several new faces, mostly emerging from the country’s 2023 Under-21 team that competed in the Junior Pan American Championships that year. Among the seasoned players in the squad are the Xavier sisters, Gabriella and Alysa; full back Trisha Woodroffe and right winger Chantelle Fernandes. Fourteen-year-old phenomenon Makaylah Poole is the youngest in the squad, which features thirteen under-21 players, including overseas-based Sarah Klautky, Charlia Webb and Madison Fernandes. The squad would again be guided by national coach Philip Fernandes.
Guyana last competed in the PAHF Challenge in 2011, when they finished runners-up to Uruguay in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Only four players remain in contention for selection from the previous squad.
The sport continues to struggle with the lack of an artificial surface, and was recently crippled by the closure of the major cricket grounds in preparation for the World Cup. Fernandes has indicated that creative measures have to be taken in order to prepare a squad for such an event without a full-sized pitch, as this remains the biggest challenge to improved international performances.
The full Guyana squad reads:
Goalkeepers – Alysa Xavier, Empress Charles, Jessica Mittelholzer, Keziah Johnason, Sarah Harry;
Defenders – Julia Gouveia, Kezia Chinian, Kirsten Gomes, Kazaquah Uzzi, Makeda Harding, Tekeisha Deleon, Trisha Woodroffe;
Midfielders – Charlia Webb, Clayza Bobb, Gabriella Xavier, Kenisha Wills, Madison Fernandes, Sarah Klautky, Temmara Clarke;
Strikers – Abosaide Cadogan, Carolyn Deane, Chantelle Fernandes, Makaylah Poole, Princessa Wilkie, Samantha Fernandes.
