THE Guyana Hockey Board (GHB) has made its final selection of the 18 players, who will be
representing the Golden Arrowhead at the Pan American Junior Championships,scheduled for
Toronto,Canada from May 20th to 28th.The team will now be at full strength after senior national players Hilton Chester, Daniel Hooper and Kareem McKenzie, were facilitated by the Ministry of Education Exams Division through an arrangement with the University of Toronto’s Athletics Department to write their CAPE and CXC exams that take place during the tournament, in Toronto.
Outstanding striker Aroydy Branford has also returned from his stint at Bishops Storford in England to add the cutting edge to a team full of talent.
The majority of the team is scheduled to depart on Monday, while the three players presently writing their CXC and CAPE examinations will join the team on May 19.
The core of the team has been together since August of 2014, competing in local tournaments as
well as two warmup tours of Trinidad & Tobago.
On their first developmental tour in December of 2014, the team won three of their four matches, while during their second tour in August of 2015 they won seven of their nine matches, placing second in the Player Tournament.
Eight players were also part of the senior national team which drew 2-2 with Olympic qualifiers Brazil, on their way to a semifinal berth at the Pan American Challenge in Peru last year. Experienced midfielder Mark Sargeant, will captain the side which also includes defensive stalwart Andrew Stewart and senior national goalkeeper Medroy Scotland.
There are three newcomers to the team who are all multitalented athletes: 14-year old goalkeeper Michael Hing holds a black belt and has represented Guyana in Karate, while both Jael Gaskin and Nyron Joseph are also squash players, with the latter a multiple national and junior Caribbean champion.