National senior coach Timothy McIntosh was elected President of the Guyana Hockey board at the Board’s Annual General Meeting held last Saturday at the Georgetown Cricket Club. McIntosh, who is still an active player, replaced Philip Fernandes who did not seek re-election.
Secretary Gregory Sills, Treasurer Devin Hooper and Assistant Secretary Treasurer Alison Yhap were returned unopposed but the other positions have all been taken by new officers after the previous members did not seek re-election.
The new vice presidents are Rawl Davson, Dexter Ulyles,Tricia Fiedtkou and Les Ramalho. The latter was recently elected President of Old Fort Hockey Club.
Outgoing President Fernandes who served the Board as President for the past seven years, reported that the injection of foreign competition into the Guyana hockey calendar continues to invigorate the sport. Clubs have also been making better efforts to raise funds and travel overseas to compete and have been putting in creditable performances.
According to Fernandes, there is evidence that women’s hockey is on the rise, “Our women continue to improve as was evident by their ability to compete against the Trinidadians. We still hope to see more women’s teams competing in this year’s league tournament.
“We encourage those clubs without a women’s team to make every effort to develop this section of their club.”
He called on the new executive to continue the junior development programme, adding that coaching in the schools is probably the single most successful activity over the years in developing and spreading the popularity of our game.
“Plans should be made to return to competing regionally once again at a junior level. We have been very successful in the past at this level and it has provided the backbone of our current crop of first division players,” Fernandes noted.
The new executive have already held their first meeting on Monday evening to chart a course for the future of the sport.
