President of the Guyana Hockey Board, Philip Fernandes has given a positive review of the recently concluded Guyana Hockey Board/Lucozade Indoor Hockey League which was hosted at the National Gymnasium over the last two months.
The league saw a split division as seven male teams and four female teams competing for top honors with Hikers dominating the male category where they played unbeaten throughout the league to lift the title while Pizza Hut GCC were crowned female champions in a very competitive field.
Phillip Fernandes
Speaking with Guyana Times Sport Fernandes indicated that the tournament could be used as a stepping stone for the development of the sport, point out the fact that this was the first time a league of this nature was organized in the country.
Looking back at the success of the tournament, Fernandes said “I thought this tournament was fantastic for Hockey.” Adding, “this is the first time we had an indoor league which meant that on a weekly basis we had matches scheduled and was different from the normal tournaments whereby all the matches were bundled into one weekend.”
The GCC Vintage player went on to speak on the impact the tournament has had on the young prospects of the sport saying, “the tournament gave the younger players an opportunity to improve as they went throughout the league.” He went on to say that the league gave a lot more exposure to players and has provided a solid season of hockey.” As a developmental ground for players, Fernandes pointed out that this tournament has done an extraordinary feat for the development of both the sport and players.
“It is different from anything we have done before as it provides teams with the possibility of actually playing the game then go back to the drawing board and analyse their matches, then try improve on their previous performance in their future matches, so from a tactical stand point it developed the sport more. As a result, players understand the game better and become better players as a result.” Fernandes said.
The tournament, which concluded on Saturday last had also attracted a wide variety of new and vibrant supporters, which the Guyana Hockey Board president attributed to the structure of the tournament with as much as five matches being played per night.
Fernandes extended appreciation to league sponsors, Ansa McAl through their league brand, Lucozade for their dedication to the sport as well as other companies that sponsored individual teams such as Bounty and Pizza Hut.
