The Guyana Hockey Board has selected 16 females and 17 males to participate in the upcoming qualifiers for the Central American & Caribbean Games 2018. The qualifiers are being held at the Mona Complex in Kingston from November 5 to 12 and will feature both male and female competitions simultaneously.
As a result of their absence from international outdoor competition recently, Guyana finds both its teams vying for the final two places in the CAC Games with those spots going to the top two finishers of the qualifiers. The men’s team last competed in international competition when they narrowly missed silver medals in the Pan Am Challenge held in Peru in 2015. In this qualifier, they will face challenges from hosts Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Guatemala and Panama.
Guyanese sweeper Ulrica Sutherland (green shirt) wins her duel with a Jamaican striker (File photo)
The women last competed in the CAC games of 2014 in Vera Cruz Mexico where they finished 6th of eight teams. Qualifier hosts Jamaica, will be looking to avenge their penalty shootout loss to Guyana at the last games while Bermuda, Guatemala, Panama and Puerto Rico have also entered the competition.
The teams travelled to Jamaica via airline Fly Jamaica who offered support through a special discount package for the Guyanese contingent.
The teams are: Men’s: Manager – Hubert Forrester, Coach – Robert Fernandes
Players – Jamarj Assanah, Aroydy Branford, Rayon Branford, Hilton Chester, Marvin Dannett, Robert France, Jael Gaskin, Randy Hope, Kareem McKenzie, Mark Sargeant, Meshach Sargeant, Medroy Scotland, Dwayne Scott, Orland Semple, Andrew Stewart, David Williams, Steven Xavier
Women’s Team: Manager – Latoya Fordyce, Coach – Philip Fernandes, Videographer – Dwayne Alleyne
Players – Maria Munroe, Shebiki Baptiste, Latacia Chung, Minsodia Culpepper, Ashley DeGroot, Nicole Eastman, Kerensa Fernandes, Marisha Fernandes, Marzana Feidtkou, Tamala Glenn, Aliuyah Gordon, Briawna Gordon, Bushani Kaladeen, Ulrica Sutherland, Trisha Woodroffe, Gabriella Xavier
