GUYANA’S national men’s hockey team departed on Wednesday morning for the Pan American Challenge in Chiclayo, Peru.The team will take two days to reach their final destination, having to make connections in Trinidad, Curacao and Bogota Colombia before arriving in Lima, Peru this evening.
Due to financial constraints the team will then have to take a 14-hour bus ride to Chiclayo, where the tournament will be staged.
The players then have one day to recuperate before taking on Puerto Rico tomorrow at 12:00hrs.
They have the day off on Sunday before coming up against Panama on Monday October 5, at 10:00hrs after which they will oppose the tournament’s top-ranked team, Brazil, on Tuesday October 6, at 13:00hrs.
Should Guyana finish in the top two of their group, they will advance to the semifinals on Friday, October 9, with the final scheduled for Sunday, October 11.
This is the first time that the Guyanese men will be competing in an international outdoor competition in eight years, the last being at the Caribbean Cup and ALBA Games in 2007 where they won bronze and silver respectively.
Teams ranked outside of the top six in the Pan American region are required to play the Pan American Challenge to qualify for the Pan American Cup, scheduled for the USA in 2017.
Because of inactivity on the international scene over the past eight years Guyana no longer holds a world or Pan American ranking.
As a consequence the team had to commit to the monumental financial undertaking of raising the $8M tour budget, just to earn the chance of regaining an international ranking and is expected to continue fundraising drives when the team returns, to pay off its debts.
Although the team includes a few experienced players such as Robert France, long-time captain Devin Munroe and England-based Marvin Dannett, due to the eight-year gap, most of the squad have never played an international outdoor match before.
Young players Jamarj Assanah, Aroydy Branford, Mark Sargeant, Kareem McKenzie, Andrew Stewart and goalkeeper Medroy Scotland are expected to lead the charge of the next generation of exceptionally talented players, making their international outdoor debuts.
The players are: Orland Semple, Stuart Gonsalves, Andrew Xavier, Mark Sargeant, Kareem McKenzie, Daniel Hooper, Medroy Scotland (GK), Shane Samuels, Robert France, Devin Munroe (C), Randy Hope, Rayon Branford, Jamarj Assanah, Aroydy Branford, Andrew Stewart, Hilton Chester, Ato Greene and Marvin Dannett.
Manager/coach – Robert Fernandes
The team’s sponsors are: National Sports Commission, DeSinco Trading, GUYOIL, Woodpecker Products, Guyana Manioc Development, Continental Group of Companies, John Fernandes Ltd, Farm Supplies, General Equipment, Digicel, NAMILCO, EC Vieira Investments, R. Bassoo and Sons Construction Company, Kares Engineering Inc., Toucan Industries, RED Entertainment, Bounty Farm Ltd, DD Mining, as well as all the private individuals who made a contribution in some way or the other.
