National Hockey teams hunt CAC Games’ spots in Jamaica

– fly off to CAC Qualifiers today

By Michelangelo Jacobus

The National Men’s and Women’s Hockey teams leave Guyana’s shores today seeking a spot at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games. To achieve this goal, first have to finish in the top two at the CAC Qualifiers being hosted by Jamaica from Sunday (November 5).
The female squad has seen some of its more senior players retire just after the Pan American Championships, while some are unavailable due to work commitments. However, some of the seasoned veterans still remain, and will make up the core of the team. Among them is Captain Trisha Woodroffe, who doesn’t seem to age at all, being as nimble as ever on the field, and often being the engine of the team.

Complementing Woodroffe would be the ever dangerous Gabriella Xavier, Marzana Fiedtkou, and the young prodigy Aliyah Gordon. The latter suffered an injury in the Pan American Championships, but has bounced back quickly, and will be looking forward to making the CAC Qualifiers in Jamaica her launching pad as she seeks to make that transition from potential to greatness.
There are also a couple of new faces who will be making their debut. Bushani Kaladeen and Tamala Glenn, both of Old Fort, will inject new life into the side.
Meanwhile, the Men’s team retains almost the entire squad from the Pan American Championships, and will be led by Captain Robert France.
France was Guyana’s leading goal scorer at the Pan Ams and will be looking to continue that rich vein of form. After the Guyanese men missed out on a podium spot on home soil, France had revealed that there were some areas that he thought they needed to work on. One of those key areas was maintaining concentration over a sustained period. France pointed out that in his side’s games against Argentina and Canada they had defended well over long periods, before lost concentration and made defensive errors, which allowed the opposition to score.

Sport enthusiasts and hockey fans will be hoping that those issues have been looked at as team Guyana bids for success abroad.
Other key players will be Aroydy Branford, who has a deft finish in the final third; while young Hilton Chester and Kareem McKenzie add a youthful spring to the team.
In order to qualify for the CAC Games that will be held in Colombia in 2018, the Guyanese teams need to finish first or second.
The female squad reads: Briana Gordon (Goalkeeper), Gabriella Xavier, Latacia Chung, Minsodia Culpepper, Marzana Fiedtkou, Kerensa Fernandes, Trisha Woodroffe (Captain), Marisha Fernandes, Maria Atkinson Monroe, Nicole Eastman, Bushani Kaladeen, Shebiki Baptiste, Aliyah Gordon, Ulrica Sutherland, Tamala Glenn and Ashley DeGroot.
The male squad reads: Melroy Scotland (GK), David Williams (GK), Hilton Chester, Kareem McKenzie, Marvin Dannett, Rayon Branford, Aroydy Branford, Dwayne Scott, Andrew Stewart, Jamarj Assanah, Jason De Santos, Randy Hope, Orlando Semple, Robert France (Captain), Mark Sargeant, Jael Gaskin, Meshach Sargeant, Steven Xavier.
Coaches: Men’s Coach is Robert Fernandes, Women’s Coach is Philip Fernandes