Guyana, GHB have a national duty to produce a high class event

WITH the participation of countries from North, Central and South America and the Caribbean confirmed, host Guyana and the Guyana Hockey Board (GHB), have a national duty to produce a high-class event that should leave a lasting legacy in the minds of visitors.
The GHB will have the opportunity of hosting for the first time, the Pan American Indoor Championships, which will commence on October 14, at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
According to information received from the GHB, the Championships, which will have both male and female participation, will serve as the Pan American Continental Qualifier for FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup, scheduled for February 2018 in Berlin, Germany.
Touted as one of the biggest since its inaugural year in 2002, eight nations will contest the women’s segment, while seven will participate in the men’s category representing numbers only bettered by host Venezuela in 2010.
Among the teams confirmed are Canada who have won the competition four times, making them the most successful in the men’s category.
What is even more encouraging is the fact that they possess quite a few players who have played in Guyana previously during the Diamond Mineral Water Festival (DMWF) with Guyana-born Jonathan Roberts being the most familiar of the lot.
Trinidad and Tobago will also likely have a number of players in their squad who have competed in Guyana at the DMWF so they too will feel at home and could expect support from local fans, especially when they play against opponents unfamiliar to the Guyanese.
However, they will have to contend with the likes of the powerful Argentina and USA who have both been finalists in the past with the latter beating the former at home in 2008.
Barbados and Mexico are the other teams wwol contest the men’s segment and while they have not been as successful as the other nations, the significant incentive of a World Cup berth at stake could activate determined performances from them.
Hosts Guyana have gradually become a serious contender following some inspiring performances during their three appearances at the event with results of a 4th place finish in 2005, fifth place in 2010 and their best showing, 3rd place in the last competition held in 2014 in Montevideo, Uruguay.

While all the teams are legitimate contenders, Canada are still the team to beat judging from their overwhelming record of four gold medals from six appearances.
On the distaff side in addition to the seven abovementioned nations, Uruguay round out the competing teams.
Uruguay have been the surprise of Pan American hockey in recent times, moving up the world rankings and making the Indoor World Cup back in 2010. Argentina and Canada have each won the competition twice, while Trinidad and Tobago were victors in the inaugural Cup in 2002.

The Guyanese women have not had the experience of playing as a national team in indoor competitions, but have made positive strides at the outdoor level in the past decade.
The DMWF, however, has provided valuable understanding of how the game is played at the indoor level and this familiarity will make them formidable opponents against any team, especially in front of home support.
While most of the teams may not have named their travelling squads as yet, a source closely associated with the Championships disclosed that the best known Caribbean player T&T’s Kwandwane Browne is coming.