Hinterland-focused Guyana U17 female squad departs for CONCACAF Qualifiers

The Guyana U17 females open their account in the qualifiers for the 2022 Concacaf Women’s U17 Championships when their match kicks off against Anguilla in Florida today.
The 18-strong squad for the qualifying tournament includes 16 Guyana-based players from across the nation, comprising of five players from the Orealla community in Region 6; five from Georgetown, Region 4; four from the Cuyuni-Mazaruni community of Region 7; and two from the Region 1 community of Barima-Waini, North West District. This squad thus boasts a significant proportion of talent from hinterland communities.
“It’s exciting for both coaches and players to be able to once again take the pitch to do what we love, after being faced with the pandemic; and it’s an honour to be a part of the progress being made in the women’s game,” Head Coach Akilah Castello has said.
“Preparations have been going well,” Castello added. “I can admit that it was a challenge putting together this team to participate in this Concacaf U17 girls’ competition, but we are happy to be able to participate, and it’s always a pleasure to represent our country.”
The Concacaf qualifying tournament has been rescheduled and reconfigured on numerous occasions this year due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving 10 teams to compete for four places in the final championship.
The selection possibilities available to the coaching staff in Guyana have been limited by injury or illness and a lack of domestic competition over the past 18 months, due to the pandemic.
Apart from Anguilla, Guyana will face Honduras on October 30, and the Turks and Caicos Islands on November 1 in Group C of the qualification rounds. The winner of each of the three groups will progress to the finals, along with the best ranked second place finisher.
“We are very excited to be participating in the U17 Concacaf Championships,” said Paul Beresford, GFF Director of Women’s Programmes. “This shows the commitment the Federation, the GFF International Support Group, its partners and supporters have to all age groups in the Women’s National Team programme. Putting together this team was extremely difficult, given the number of players who aged out of the team, the fact that most of our international players are in the midst of the school year, the specific age range imposed on teams by Concacaf, and missing a few critical players to injuries,” Beresford revealed.
“We look at all competitions as developmental opportunities, and we will treat this one the same. Coach Akilah and her staff have been working tirelessly to prepare, and we are all proud to represent Guyana and the Lady Jaguars,” he said.