GUYANA’s Beach Soccer team will once again participate in the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Beach Soccer Championship, which will take place in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, May 13 – 19.

 Having played in the 2017 edition, Guyana will this time be joined by Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Bonaire, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the United States and the US Virgin Islands at the bi-annual Concacaf event

The two best-ranked teams in the competition will also ensure qualification for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Paraguay 2019.

The 16 participating teams will be sorted into four groups of four teams. After round-robin play, the first and second place finishers of each group will advance to the quarterfinals. Quarterfinals winners will advance to the semi-finals.

Semi-final winners will automatically qualify for the tournament’s final, as well as the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Paraguay 2019.

Guyana will know their group on April 8 when the official draw takes place in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

In the last edition of the Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship in the Bahamas, Panama overcame Mexico in the final, to win its first Beach Soccer title.

In 2017, Guyana’s Jamal Haynes walked away with the Scotiabank Young Player Award, as the 21-year-old Haynes impressed fans, players and officials with a dazzling array of skills and goals.

Guyana defeated Belize 4-1 in the group stage and Antigua & Barbuda 6-4 in the placement stage to end 12th out of 16 teams.

Playing up front for most of the tournament, Haynes scored a hat-trick in the win against Antigua & Barbuda, including one of the goals of the tournament – a spectacular overhead kick that soared into the top corner.