Guyana women's hockey team selected for World League

Guyana women’s hockey team selected for World League

Oct 13, 2012 Sports

The Guyana Hockey Board (GHB) has made its final selection of the National Women’s Hockey team which is scheduled to compete in the World League in Trinidad and Tobago from November 9-18.
The squad has been in training under Head Coach, Philip Fernandes, since April of this year in preparation for this, the first world level event in which Guyana will participate.

Team Guyana poses with their silver medals at the 2011 PAHF Challenge.

The World League is a new global tournament introduced by the hockey world governing body (FIH) which comprises of four rounds of competition culminating in the final 8-team event. The event is set to replace the current format of qualification for both the World Cup and Olympics.
This is an exciting change for hockey as teams from all over the world and of all levels now have a chance to compete with the best in the world.
The inaugural competition started earlier this year and received entrants from over 60 nations which will make it the biggest event in the history of the sport. Trinidad will be staging the Round 1 qualification for this part of the world for both men and women although Guyana will only be competing in the women’s competition due to the limited funds available.
The women’s competition will feature top seeded Canada, ranked 23 in the world, Trinidad 27, Barbados 41, Uruguay 50, Guyana 58 and Venezuela also ranked 58. Guyana’s opening match will see them face off against CAC Champions and hosts, Trinidad on November 11 followed by a game against top seeded Canada the following day. After a one-day rest, Guyana then faces Uruguay on November 14, to whom they lost in the 2011 final of the PAHF Challenge and will be keen to avenge that defeat.
Guyana’s final two matches on November 16 and 17 will be against Barbados and Venezuela respectively.
According to Head Coach, Philip Fernandes, the team has been responding well to preparations, but laments the major disadvantage of not having the use of an artificial pitch on which to train.
“Our women’s team is relatively young in the game and so we have to make small goals. Our main objective is always to exceed our previous result whenever competing internationally.
However, we return to the grass at home, while the other teams continue to train and improve themselves on the very artificial pitches that are used in competition. This is a huge disadvantage for Guyana, but we have been producing surprising results despite this,” Fernandes pointed out.
The team has, for the first time this year, involved a trainer to prepare them physically. Manager of the team, Rawl Davson, indicated that physical conditioning has been one of the areas identified for improvement as it does not necessarily require training in first world facilities.
The team has therefore secured the services of Mr. Kezqwehah Yisrael of Topend Performance Training to ensure that the players are in peak condition for the tournament.
According to Fernandes, the team is in better condition than they’ve ever been. This, he says, will be a vital element in their performance, especially since the games are being played in the middle of the day.
The team continues to train at the National Gymnasium and Bourda until they depart on November 9 for Trinidad.
The eighteen players selected are: Alysa Xavier (GK), Natalie Hing (GK), Ulrica Sutherland, Tricia Fiedtkou, Tiffany Solomon, Maria Munroe, Trisha Woodroffe, Vanessa Pires, Marzana Fiedtkou, Leigh Sandison, Ashley DeGroot, Sonia Jardine, Gabriella Xavier, Cora Towler, Kerensa Fernandes, Chantelle Fernandes (Captain), Avonda James, Samantha Fernandes.
Team Manager is Rawl Davson, Head Coach- Philip Fernandes and Assistant Coach- Peter DeGroot.