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Yassin ushers praise on the national ladies hockey team
President of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) K.A Juman Yassin speaking at a press briefing to highlight the National ladies Hockey team’s outstanding performance at the just concluded Pan Am Challenge Cup in Rio de Janiero, Brazil ushered praises on the team and coaching staff for qualifying to compete at the 2013 Pan Am qualifiers.
The meeting which was called to report on the team’s performance was held yesterday at Olympic House where in addition to Yassin, President of the Guyana Hockey Board and National coach of the ladies team Philip Fernandes, Manager Rawl Davson and players Alysa Xavier and Ulrica Sutherland also attended.
President of the GOA K.A Juman Yassin (second right), Head Coach Philip Fernandes (centre), Manager Rawl Davson (right), Alysa Xavier (left) and Ulrica Sutherland seen at yesterday’s press briefing at Olympic House.
Yassin, who was instrumental in soliciting the Olympic Solidarity grant that made it possible for the team to organise practice matches against Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados over a two-year period in addition to attending the event in Brazil commended Head Coach Philip Fernandes for his perseverance and personal time that he put in to whip the team into shape to compete at the international level.
“I want to thank Philip on behalf of the GOA and its affiliates for his personal time and perseverance which has allowed this team to qualify for the Pan Am Cup and we are all really happy with the team’s success,” Yassin pointed out.
The GOA Head spoke of the deliberations that took place when the decision was being made on which team sport should be considered for the funding.
He added that they relied on Philip’s suggestion, before applying on behalf of Hockey for the funding which was to take them through preparations and then the CAC Games with further support dependant on the team’s performance during the competition.
According to Yassin, even though the team did not perform as expected at the CAC Games he advised Fernandes to re-apply for further assistance and the GOA submitted the Board’s application and it was granted, making it possible for them to travel to warm-up matches in Trinidad and Tobago and then onto Brazil for the Pan Am Challenge.
Yassin, before promising the entity’s continued support, called on the Minister of Sport to look more favourably into the application presented by the Board for the space at the National Stadium to lay an artificial turf so that the team could get adequate preparation heading into the Pan Am Cup.
Fernandes speaking at the occasion first thanked the GOA for its unflinching support for the team, adding that without the assistance it would have been almost impossible for them to attain the result.
He said that the grant allowed them to put together a real plan to play internationally where they could include weekend camps to Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago and those overseas sojourns enabled them to close the gap somewhat on the Regional ad Extra-Regional competition.
He gave as an example one year ago where they drew 1-1 with Bermuda, but was able to defeat them handily in the Pan Am Challenge, a testimony to the benefit of exposure on the artificial surface.
Fernandes was adamant that such progression could only have come from playing more regularly on the recommended surface and called on the current custodians of sport to assist them in that regard.
He disclosed that all the other teams in the tournament play on the surface with Guyana being the only one not to have one.
In evaluating the achievement, Fernandes said it was indeed significant, especially when it is considered Uruguay has 5,000 to 6,000 players to choose from as compared with less than 30 to Guyana.
He added that one year ago Guyana was not ranked in the region and now has the opportunity 12 months later to play among them for a place at the World Cup.
He thanked the following entities for their support including the GOA, John Deere, Dixie Lee, John Fernandes Ltd and Digicel.
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