Federations encouraged to work together to foster development

Feb 04, 2022 Sports

PAHF Ordinary Congress 2022…

Kaieteur News – Following the Pan American Hockey Federation’s (PAHF) Ordinary Congress which was hosted in Santiago, Chile, bold efforts are being made to assist with the development of younger hockey nations while being under the constant threat of the pandemic.

Guyana was represented at the PAHF Ordinary Congress by GHB President, Philip Fernandes.

Guyana was represented at the Ordinary Congress by President of the Guyana Hockey Board (GHB), Philip Fernandes, who, like the other Pan Am nations, believe that the PAHF has been doing an astute job in developing the sport in a manner which they have perceived.
Our representative said: “There was a lot of discussion in terms of development of the younger nations in the Pan Am and not only discussions on what resources could be applied to assist those nations, but how best to utilize those resources. It is a fact that the top nations of the world are distancing themselves from the rest and we know that it’s largely comes down to their budgets. And then of course, who spends it more wisely.”
“So there is an effort to restart a Caribbean Championship, which may allow the nations from the Caribbean, especially who cannot travel far and wide to expose the players to be able to have more regional competition and therefore better prepare their teams; and the Pan Am is trying to see what they could make available in terms of budget to carry off events such as this,” Fernandes stated.
The long standing President is hopeful that with the focus of development and narrowing that gap between the developed nations and the others, that a great degree of effort is put forth for hockey in the region, especially countries like Guyana, who definitely have the talent and the will but not necessarily the funding to do what is necessary.
Fernandes added that there were several things outlined as far as what was achieved and what could not be achieved, especially due to the pandemic.
“Going forward; the Pan Am Federation has indicated that while there is a lot of uncertainty about the easing of the pandemic and the relaxing of restrictions, the plans are to continue to conduct all hockey activities in regard to the COVID regulations currently in place.”
During the Congress, for two weeks spanning that period, there was a successful Pan Am Cup being held in Chile for men’s and women’s teams. This was a qualifier for the hockey world cup. The tournament went off without a hitch. The teams were all tested and placed in a bubble as were the officials. Spectators were allowed, but had to adhere to COVID regulations.
When the event was concluded Argentina, Chile and Canada were the countries that qualified for the World Cup in both divisions.
“Similarly, globally, hockey is returning to the fore, where the Hockey Pro League, which features the top teams of the world traveling and playing home and away series against each other, has been restarted,” he said.
“This will take place under similar conditions with teams being in a bubble. So we anticipate that until the COVID restrictions are relaxed that we will have similar competitions like this. Fortunately, it seems like players will be able to return to competition, be it under the conditions that we were experiencing.”

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