With the National Indoor Championship concluded, the 12th edition of the annual Diamond Mineral Water Indoor Hockey Festival was officially launched yesterday at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC), Bourda.
The event, which runs from November 24th-27th, will be staged at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue and will be divided into three sections, Men’s, Ladies and Veterans.
To date, 17 teams have confirmed their participation, inclusive of GCC, Hikers, Old Fort, and the following overseas teams; Toronto Academy from Canada, YMCA of Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago’s Malvern, Queens Park Hockey Club, Carib Hockey Club, and Ball Washers of the United States of America.
Winners of the male and female sections will pocket US$3,000, while the runners-up will receive US$500. On the veteran side, the winner will receive US$500 while the runners-up will receive incentive prizes.
The GHB will be staging a goalkeeper course before the event commences, in an effort to improve the competitive nature of the tournament.
GHB President Phillip Fernandes during his feature address said, “We are happy to have our platinum sponsor, Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) who has been with us from the inception of this tournament, and to whom we owe a great deal for its success”.
The president noted, “Before this tournament, there was no international hockey being played in Guyana, and Diamond Mineral Water took a risk when they embarked on this ambitious project with us back in 2004. We look forward to associating with this quality brand throughout the tournament, and hopefully for many years to come.”
He further added, “We are equally delighted to have our gold sponsor Ansa McAl with us again this year, who are the sponsors of the popular veteran’s competition. The veteran teams from overseas were amongst the first to commit to this year’s competition, which was done over a few Carib beers right after last year’s final”.
Larry Wills, Brand Manager of Diamond Mineral Water said the company is once again impressed with the efforts of the GHB in making the event a continued success, declaring that they will continue to support the initiative.
Wills further asked for patrons to come and support the event which will have many international athletes on show, noting, “On behalf of DDL, congratulations to GHB for hosting the event, and we will continue to support hockey and sport in Guyana”.
Meanwhile, Carib Beer Representative Robert Hiscock said that Ansa McAl is pleased once again to be on board with another “sporting event”, noting that he is pleased with work done by the GHB and looks forward to continuing the partnership in the future.
