THE Lady Jaguars football squad is currently encamped with the overseas-based players already in country preparing to kick off their
CONCACAF Women’s campaign next month.
The team’s first test will be a titanic clash on home soil against Nicaragua women in the CONCACAF Women’s Qualifiers on Tuesday December 1 at the National Track and Field Stadium on the West Coast of Demerara.
Guyana born head coach, Omar Khan, who is returning to these shores for the first time since being appointed in 2023 is taking charge of his first game at home.
The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) held a press briefing yesterday at their Section ‘K’ Campbellville headquarters where coach Omar Khan said they have worked to bring more local talent into the team for the contest.
“We do our best to get them prepared, we were here before the camp started with the coaching staff to train the local girls and get a good observation of how the level is here and also give those girls more opportunities to get involved with the team because we are at home, we can make the camp a bit bigger and give more chances, exposure to young girls in touch with high quality football,” the coach noted
UK based player Otesha Charles says the team is grooving together nicely and she is looking forward to the match-up.
“The camp so far has been really good, the intensity of training
has been amazing, big positive; the coaching staff we have had really allowed us to develop and grow, we are able to work in smaller groups and focus on attacking, defending and it’s a positive environment. The girls are happy, we are friends, we are having a
lot of time to bond because it is a community, so it is really nice to have everyone learn from each other, enjoy the food, the sunshine and we just need a big win; this is where it all starts.”
Locally-based Jaguar, Lakeisha Pearson, said they have been bonding well and want to put on a show for the country.
‘I’m once again grateful to be a part of this amazing team, we are out here to show Guyana what we have. The camp has been so great; we have a balance of mature and young players. The young
players are really bringing the energy and the mature players are
showing their experience and exposure to the younger ones. It has been awesome; the preparation has been awesome; like Otesha said, the sisterhood in the camp has been great; everyone is bonding really well and we are looking forward to you guys coming out and support us December 1, the entire Guyana.”
GFF Technical Director, Bryan Joseph, commended the strides the team has made over the past two years under Khan’s stewardship and noted that they are working to improve structure to support the national programme at home.
Guyana is in group B which also features Jamaica, Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda.
Guyana will next come up against Antigua and Barbuda on Thursday, March 5, 2026 and Jamaica Saturday, April 18, 2026.
At the conclusion of the Concacaf W Qualifiers, the six group winners will join the United States and Canada (the two highest-ranked teams) in the eight-team CONCACAF Women Championship.
Next year’s Women’s Championship will serve as the Confederation’s qualifier for both the FIFA Women’s World Cup Brazil 2027 and the 2028 LA Summer Olympics.