THE Guyana Hockey Board has shortlisted a squad of 36 local male players to begin preparations for the Indoor Pan American Cup, scheduled for Montevideo, Uruguay, April 7-13.

This will be the first time in three years that local male hockey players will be engaged in an international tournament. While the national female hockey team competed with great success in recent years, it was the men who represented Guyana with good success in the 90s and early 2000s.
The last time Guyana competed in an Indoor Pan Am Cup was back in 2010 when Guyana finished fifth out of eight nations. Prior to that, Guyana had only competed in one Indoor Pan Am Cup which was in 2005 where the locals narrowly lost out to the USA for a bronze medal.
Very few of the faces of the past remain on the current list, but the squad in fact may be seen as a changing of the guard as 19 of the 36 players named are below 21 years old.
This young crop is led by the exciting talents of Aroydy Branford, Jamarj Assanah, Omar Hopkinson, Andrew Stewart and Steven Xavier.
They will be guided by the experience of former national captain Devin Munroe, as well as the likes of Kevin Spencer, Aderemi Simon and Shane Samuels who all have multiple international caps to their names.
Overseas players, such as England-based Marvin Dannett, are also expected to make strong cases for their inclusion.
The team will train under the guidance of newly appointed national men’s coach Robert Fernandes, who recently completed his FIH level 2 and Pan American High Performance coaching courses.
Fernandes is a former national player and coach of the outstanding Hikers Cadets who have dominated local indoor hockey at the junior level and more recently have been having similar success at the senior level.
The tournament in Uruguay is a senior continental World Cup qualifier with the winning team earning an opportunity to compete at the highest level in the 2015 FIH World Cup.
Canada are likely to enter as tournament favourites having never lost any PAHF Indoor Cups in which they have entered. The USA boast the second best record in the region while outdoor powerhouses Argentina have recently been placing more focus on indoor as well. Guyana’s best-ever finish has been a creditable fourth place and the current players are hoping to eclipse that mark in 2014.
The 36-member training squad comprises; Orland Semple, Kevin Spencer, Raphael DeGroot, Stephen Xavier, Eric Hing, Kareem McKenzie, Keon McKenzie, Mark Sargeant, Medroy Scotland, Robert France, Devin Munroe, Randy Hope, Colonel Heywood, Travon Younge, Jamarj Assanah, Aroydy Branford, Rayon Branford, Andrew Stewart, Leon Bacchus, Michael Harding, Shane Samuels, Laured Stewart, Jason Hoyte, Osafo Timmerman, Joel Hunte, Chris Low-Koan, Dwight Sullivan, Aderemi Simon, Askofu Simon, Jason DeSantos, Anthony Cole, Omar Hopkinson, Richard Thomas, Micah Hartman, Timothy Baker, Stephon Sprosta.