Guyana Junior hockey teams to contest PAHF Jr Challenge in Barbados

Jan 22, 2025 Sports

Hockey players being instructed during a training session.

Kaieteur sports – The Guyana boys and girl’s Under-21 hockey teams have recently been included to participate in the upcoming PAHF Junior Challenge being staged in Bridgetown, Barbados from 9^th to 16^th March, 2025. The Challenge is an important one on the hockey calendar as it qualifies teams for the second ever Junior Pan American Games scheduled for 9^th to 22^nd August in Asuncion, Paraguay. More than 3,800 athletes are expected to compete at those games across 31 sports.

Along with the host country, Paraguay, which receives an automatic spot in the Junior Pan Am Games, top nations Argentina, Canada, Chile and USA have already qualified for the Games. In addition, Mexico for the boys and Uruguay for the girls have also qualified by being among the highest placed finishers in the 2024 PAHF Junior Championships which was held in Canada.

With two spots remaining in each eight-team competition, Guyana must emerge as one of the top two finishers to secure a spot in the Junior Pan American Games. The boys are expected to be competing against hosts Barbados, Brazil, Trinidad & Tobago, Guatemala and Venezuela. Of these teams, Guyana has only recently competed with Barbados and Brazil, finishing above both teams in the 2023 Junior Pan American Championships.

The Guyanese girls are expected to compete against Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, Guatemala, Puerto Rico and Mexico. Guyana got the better of Barbados two years ago but have not faced any of the other nations before.

Selection for both squads were recently concluded with 27 boys and 23 girls selected to train before being narrowed to a final 16 players each in early February. The boys’ squad will lean heavily on the experience of the eight players who were part of the last junior national team that placed 5th at the 2023 junior Pan Am Championships. The girls, meanwhile, will benefit from four overseas-based players with international experience in Sarah Kalutky, Madison and Georgiana Fernandes and Charlia Webb and locally based Kirsten Gomes and Clayza Bobb.

The full squads selected are as follows:

BOYS

Donnel Alleyne, Shaquon Favorite, Kallel Ferreira, David Massiah, Simeon Moore, Yonnick Norton, Jose Rodrigues, Nkosi Saul, Quinn Tobin, Daniel Woolford, Darious Alleyne, Clay Bobb, Keeland Cummings, Oswald Fraser, Navid Hussain, Javid Hussain, Jabari Lovell, Robert Marcus, Naresh Mohadeo, Jabez Walters, Baraka Garnett, John Dias, Grant Fernandes, Anthony Harry, Alex Peniston, Lucas Sargeant and Vladimir Woodroffe

GIRLS

Kadence Belony, Rebecca Bento, Africo Blackman, Clayza Bobb, Solana Crumb-Ewing, Georgiana Fernandes, Madison Fernandes, Rebecca Ferreira, Hadassah Fraser, Sueann Fraser, Kirsten Gomes, Kendra Gordon, Trinity Greaves, Sarah Harry, Tinashe Henry, Sarah Klautky, Sara Matthias, Hannah Percival, Keitanna Percival, Makaylah Poole, Ameriah Sahadeo, Kazaquah Uzzi, Charlia Webb.