The Guyana Under-14 Boys team departed local shores on Wednesday for Curacao to compete in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) 2018 Boys’ Under-14 Challenge Series.
The team which comprises of 17 players, will open their Group-C campaign against Trinidad and Tobago tomorrow at 16:00hrs at the Ergilio Hata Stadium.
Guyana will play their second, third and fourth matches on August 8th, 10th and 12th against Curacao, Bonaire and Aruba, respectively at the same venue.
The team reads Mark Morgan, Tyquan Brummell, Kevin Mullin, Keishawn Smith, Brandon Solomon, Oswin Archer, Shoran James, Kevon Scott, Colin Henriques, Ofancy Winter, Tyrice Dennis, Devon Padmore, Samuel Garnett, Daniel Lowe, Rajan Ramdeholl, Shavid Hernandez and Gerald Whittington.
On the management side, Brian Joseph acts in the capacity of Head-Coach, while Devnon Winter will serve as the Assistant Coach. Sasha Gouveia and Nico Alstrom will act as the Team Manager and Doctor, respectively.
Head-coach Joseph said, “The nature of this tournament is not about winning and deciding who the champion is, but it’s focused on the development of young players across the Region, including Guyana. The structure of the tournament is set to facilitate that.”
According to Joseph, “Our target is to go out there and be competitive but, in the same vein, we want to ensure that development takes place. This group needs the experience. I don’t think any member from this group ever played outside of Guyana, in the front of a huge crowd or packed stadium, so this tournament will seek to have them become acquainted with that. This group will be the core of our Under-15 who will participate in the CONCACAF Under-15 Championship in 2019, so this is the beginning of this process.” Joseph further added, “Guyana is in a fairly good place because of the work done at the GFF-Scotiabank Academy Training Centres. Additionally, we have done some work with this group last year as part of the Under-13 preparation. Following the first encampment period, we had a few training days and practice matches so the group came together nicely.” Meanwhile Technical Director, Ian Greenwood, said, “The Under-14 Boys group participating in their first international tournament is part of the key performance indicators of the strategy for the 2026 campaign. Gaining international experience and exposure at an early age is vital towards this. The ATC [Academy Training Centre] programme is the conveyor belt to produce elite performers for the Senior Teams on a consistent basis. The players in the squad have been developed through this landmark system, through the ATCs they have a greater level of game understanding than previous youth squads.”
