Fernandes in charge once again

Jan 24, 2009 Sports

-Outgoing President urges Board to preserve and extend sport

The new GHB Executive from left, Tricia Fiedtkou, Ivor Thompson, Phillip Fernandes, Rawl Davson, Gregory Sills and Devin Hooper. Absent is Avonda James.

By Rawle Welch
Business Executive Phillip Fernandes was unanimously elected as President of the Guyana Hockey Board at its Annual General Meeting which was held last Thursday evening, at the GCC Pavilion.
Fernandes, who had declined nomination at the previous AGM, was replaced by Timothy McIntosh for the term, but the latter did not seek re-election to any office for the current period.
Two Vice-Presidents were installed and they are Ivor Thompson and Rawl Davson, while the rest of the executive include Secretary-Gregory Sills, who along with Treasurer-Devin Hooper were both returned unopposed.
The Assistant Secretary Treasurer is Tricia Fiedtkou and the two committee members Avonda James and Hubert Forrester.
Meanwhile, outgoing President Timothy McIntosh in his President’s Report apart from outlining a number of initiatives that he felt could be adopted by the new administration to enhance the development of the sport gave a brief overview of his team’s performance during the past year.
He cited the encouraging performances of Guyanese teams in regional competitions as among the highlights of the year, while the strong resurgence of the Western Dragons team from West Demerara also received honourable mention.
McIntosh mentioned that one of the disappointing aspects that occurred during his tenure was the absence of the Police team from local competitions; a development he said should be addressed by the new administration.
He warned that their withdrawal was the latest notice for the Board to place more emphasis on preserving and extending the hockey community. The departing President stated that it cannot remain business as usual.
Developing the base-
According to McIntosh, the Board was unable to expand the base of the sport due to the absence of a ‘Summer Camp’ last year and this was despite considerable interest that was generated during the 2007 exercise.
He said that the venture might have suffered due to the migration of one of the chief architects of junior hockey Marc King.
King was instrumental in organising a junior tournament, while he also spearheaded programmes at St. Stanislaus College and in Linden, all of which was sponsored by Scotia Bank.
He added that the growth and enthusiasm exhibited by Western Dragons must be commended and congratulated those responsible for their progress.
International participation-
The President reported that the Board had attempted to develop a strong indoor Men’s unit that could compete with the rest of the Caribbean with the aim of finishing in the top three at the 2010 Pan Am Indoor Championships, while an effort to send a team to the 2008 tournament had to be shelved after the level of participation by the national players nose dived.
The Board he disclosed had committed to the event and therefore when they failed to attend the tournament, the deposit that was made was forfeited.
A brave effort by Coach Rawl Davson to get the junior squad to the Pan Am tournament at all cost against great odds was the primary reason why that team did not suffer a similar fate as the seniors.
His ambitious efforts, however, was unable to prevent Guyana from finishing at the bottom of the table.
McIntosh advised that all those events make it necessary for the GHB to review its international ambitions, especially given that Boards are required to register and make financial commitments several months in advance.
The need for long term planning, preparations and selection of players as well as the financing of tours need to be properly defined if the Board is to avoid further loss of goodwill.
Modernisation of the GHB-
The President suggested a few measures that could be used to strengthen and modernise the GHB and among them are: developing strategic plans for both male and female teams to better the Board’s limited resources; re-focusing efforts to acquire a new nucleus of players to the sport; improving the archiving of GHB documentation to facilitate the transfer of the Board to new leadership after elections.
He closed by saying that most of those measures remained untouched, adding that he believes the issues remain valid and hopefully the new executive will examine them closely.