By Marlon Munroe
Following Guyana’s fifth place finish in the recently-concluded men’s indoor Pan American hockey championships in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, national coach Timothy Mc Intosh has underscored the need for more international exposure for teams.
This comment was made on Wednesday against the backdrop of Guyana finishing in fifth position after entering the tournament ranked in the cellar position of the 11-team tournament.
It has not yet been determined how far Guyana has moved in the ranking but the country can fall lower if they are inactive.
In order not to fall lower, Guyana has to participate in more international tournaments.
While Mc Intosh acknowledged that there were visible technical flaws with the local players especially in the short corners, the players held their own against all their competitors.
He was impressed with the way the players stymied the free flow of the South American powerhouses Argentina and North American champions Canada.
Guyana lost 0-2 to Argentina in their opening game while they conceded a 3-11 defeat to Canada.
After their opening losses they bounced back with a dramatic 8-6 victory over hosts Venezuela and then defeated Peru 4-2. In the match for fifth place Guyana pulled off an upset victory over Uruguay in another cliffhanger.
Guyana’s Robert France scored the winning goal in extra time for the 2-1 win. According to Mc Intosh there is no shortage of talent in the men’s team but many times with the frenetic nature of the game nerves got the better of the players.
“No team we considered out of our league but the lack of international exposure beat us against the two big teams. I am positive that if we had to play against Argentina at another period of the tournament we would have beaten them,” Mc Intosh indicated.
Conversion of the short corners penalties was a major problem at the tournament and this was cause for dissatisfaction among the coaching staff, according to Mc Intosh.
In addition, the coach emphasised that some of the key players will not be around for a very long time and therefore there is need to structure a long-term developmental programme for the players.
He mentioned the heroics of Robert France, who scored a hat trick of goals against Venezuela, utility player Marvin Dannett, who is also overseas-based, and Jerrazino Bell, who can only get better with the right amount of exposure.
And Rayon Branford and Shane Samuels were seen as two bright prospects for the future.
This the coach believes would also serve Guyana well by lifting the standard of hockey in the country, adding that other countries that they played against are often involved in goodwill series against each other.
He also believes that exposure at the highest level builds players to a maturity level where they can operate under pressure and he saw this from the more seasoned campaigners and overseas-based player Dannett.
“This should be the norm for the entire team,” Mc Intosh maintained.
Moreover, it was pointed out that there was need for a continuous indoor developmental programme. This would also ensure that enough work is done with goalkeepers since there is currently no bona fide goalkeeping coach in the country.
Although the absence of such key personnel can prove to be an Achilles heel, the goalkeepers kept their composure and “came up big for the team when it mattered most.”
Mc Intosh is optimistic about the future of hockey in Guyana but there has to be a national consensus on the way forward and these points will be made to president of the Guyana Hockey Board (GHB) Phillip Fernandes when the tournament report is made.
Meanwhile, manager of the team Gavin Hope alluded to the players’ maturity and focus on tour which made work for the management team easier. He believes that a nexus can be drawn between the team’s final placing in the tournament and what the country can achieve if players remain committed to their roles.
Commenting on the captaincy of Devin Munroe, Hope said that he led with distinction and the players rallied around him and in many instances players took their game to the next level.
