UWI Invitational hockey tourney National under-21 faces Notre Dame today

Jan 10, 2019 Sports

The national indoor development men’s team’s tour of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) will see them taking part in their second competition of the trip when the University of the West Indies (UWI) hits off their invitational hockey tournament today.
The event which will be held at the university’s sports & physical education center (SPEC) hockey facility will be competed in the round-robin/knockout format and the Guyanese will begin their campaign against local club Notre Dame.
The tournament features predominantly local teams this year with Guyana being the only foreign side.

Flashback to Guyana’s Junior National Men’s Team at the 2016, Junior Pan American Championships in Toronto Canada.

Guyana’s team that is nicknamed Supernova, comprises of players aged 19 years and under with the exception of skipper Jamarj Assanah.
Supernova’s performance in the first competition of the tour; Ventures Hockey Club Invitational, was commendable. In the semifinal, Supernova came agonizingly close to defeating T&T Defence Force team which comprises of several players of the twin island’s national team.
During an interview with Kaieteur Sport, coach of the team, Robert Fernandes, expressed his satisfaction with the lads’ performance noting, “The boys have exceeded our pre tour expectations. Their high level of intensity and work rate has allowed them to be competitive against teams that are vastly more experienced than them. Also everyone on this team is a goal scoring threat so the balance is also good.”
Fernandes explained that he and the Guyana Hockey Board (GHB) would have set out some objectives to be achieved during the tour with the two most important being as follows.

Men’s Coach Robert Fernandes gives instructions to Midfielder Kareem Mackenzie.

First, the tour served as part of the National under-21 men’s team preparation for the Pan- American cup qualifiers in 2021. Fernandes explained that one of his challenges has been keeping the youth focused over such a long period of time but they have been training twice daily, taking advantage of the international standard hockey turfs at hand. Supernova trains on the outdoor surface of T&T’s national hockey center in the morning and at the UWI’s SPEC in the evenings.
Second, it is an opportunity for the younger and/fringe players to prove themselves and find a breakthrough into the national men’s team. With the National men’s team set to take part in Canada’s inaugural Club championship in Toronto this March in a tournament which will also see the likes of indoor national teams from Russia and Belarus participating, the youngsters will have much to play for.
Heading into this tournament, Fernandes posited that, “I’m glad that they (Supernova) get to play four teams in our group that they haven’t faced yet. Tomorrow (today) we come up against Notre Dame, Friday (tomorrow) against UWI, while on Saturday we face the two toughest teams of the group, Queens Park’s first team and Malvern.” (Calvin Chapman)