Although disappointed with the seventh placed showing of the team, Guyana Hockey Board (GHB) president Philip Fernandes said he is pleased with the overall showing of the team during the recent Pan American Junior Hockey Championship in Toronto, Canada.
The Guyanese U20 unit finished in the penultimate position after ending the championship with a record of five loses and one win. In an exclusive interview Fernandes said:“While the final placement of the team was not as good as I had hoped, I was able to watch many of their matches online and was pleased with the general performance of the team. There were moments during matches where we were as good as any of the opposition maybe with the exception of Argentina.
“However, our players were unable to sustain this performance for the full duration of the match and conceded several goals in each match after holding the opposition at bay for long periods. We are still proud of our boys as they gave a good representation of hockey in Guyana and showed that they could remain competitive despite the huge disparity in training facilities between Guyana and the rest of the competition,” he added.
Asked to highlight the areas that Guyana fell short, he said:”Guyana lacked the technical sharpness of most of the teams in the competition. “This is a direct result of training on the incorrect surface. Our team showed that we could withstand the pressure of most opponents and put together our own threatening attacks but as the matches wore on, and both teams tired, Guyana’s technical flaws and unfamiliarity with the artificial surface caused them to make more frequent errors allowing teams to extend their score line.”
According to Fernandes “We certainly had enough time to prepare for this tournament as this team was in preparation for a longer time than any we have had before. This ability to plan ahead and prepare for a few years was mostly due to two reasons (1) the dedication of the coaching staff of the team who invested an inordinate amount of time into the team preparation (2) the Olympic Solidarity Team Support Grant which we were able to access with the support of the Guyana Olympic Association. The latter was very important for us to be able to focus on the team’s progress and performance on the field as we would otherwise have had the athletes far more engaged in fund-raising activities with the uncertainty of achieving the budget and making the trip”.
Questioned how significant is the gap between Guyana and the other nations and what measures can and will be put in place to help close that distance, he declared “The gap between Guyana and the other regional nations is not large. Guyana competed very well with everyone right up to the time when artificial surfaces became mandatory for international competition. I feel this is the only difference between us and many of the Caribbean countries”.
Fernandes indicated “Argentina is a bit different and Canada and Chile also remain a bit above the rest but certainly we were very competitive with the rest. I think any gap that exists can be closed quite rapidly if our athletes were exposed to similar training facilities as the rest of countries in the region”.
According to Fernandes “For Guyana to close the gap there needs to be two areas of improvement. I have already mentioned the vital need for an artificial surface on which to train and that remains the single biggest factor in improving the quality of our national teams. The other factor remains the need to increase our player base”.
“At the moment, we are drawing our national teams out of a pool of too few players. While the stronger nations have thousands of players from which to select their teams, we still have less than 100 in each gender and age category. The Guyana Hockey Board therefore is trying to place more focus on junior development and especially on its schools hockey program which has been very successful in the past” he added.
Asked about the next assignment on the radar for Guyana, he noted “Guyana needs to now focus on the 2017 Indoor Pan American Cups for both men and women which are likely to be held in Canada. Guyana has recently enjoyed much greater success in the indoor version of the game than the outdoor and that largely is a result of our players being able to train on the right surface”.
He added “The national gymnasium is not always available for hockey as it has to be shared between all indoor sports, however, training two or three times per week on a similar surface to that of the competition is hugely beneficial and shows in the results. For outdoor hockey, Guyana will next target the 2018 Central American & Caribbean Games being staged in Columbia.”
