Latest update March 24th, 2025 7:05 AM
Guyana Women’s Hockey Team for 2022 CAC Qualifier face drastic adjustment on eve on tournament
Kaieteur News – The Guyana women’s hockey team, ranked #66 in the world, faced the #49 ranked Puerto Rico in their opening clash of the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Women’s Qualifiers on Thursday in Hamilton Bermuda.
Guyana is participating in the Qualifiers in an effort to secure a spot in the 2023 CAC Games scheduled for June of that year in San Salvador, El Salvador.
The Guyanese side held a practice session on the artificial pitch on Wednesday, which was the first time the young players in the team ever experienced it. Head Coach Philip Fernandes explained that it was a difficult practice, as all that the team learned on grass needed now to be adjusted drastically to the significantly faster artificial pitch on which international matches are played.
Guyana has the youngest team in the competition with six teenagers and eight debutants, but Fernandes is confident that they can perform at this level. The head coach stated that he would have been supremely confident if the tournament was being contested on grass but indicated that the adjustment to the artificial surface is always the unknown factor.
He indicated that the team having to go through this adjustment on the eve of every tournament is the biggest challenge to success. Guyana remains the only hockey-playing nation without an artificial pitch to compete in the region and possibly the world.
The team follows its match against favourites Puerto Rico with a clash against hosts Bermuda on Saturday April 16 at 17:00hrs and completes their campaign against Jamaica the following day from 14:00hrs. The top two teams based on the accumulation of points will secure berths to the 2023 CAC Games.
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