PRESIDENT of the Guyana Hockey Board Phillip Fernandes has lauded the 5’s hockey tournament organized by the Old Fort Hockey Club.
The club over the weekend concluded action in a several week-long 5’s hockey competition, which featured Pepsi Hikers, GCC, and the Saints hockey teams in the U17, Women, and senior Men’s divisions competing for top honors.
“It is a small field tournament, much like how the world is heading with a smaller version of the game for younger people with shorter attention spans and being able to come out and play a little bit of hockey, and this is fantastic for that. I think we had good participation and good fun; it went on for a few weeks and culminated with good hockey,” the GHB boss said.
Fernandes reminded that the support of the Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sports was crucial in helping to develop the facility, which is groundbreaking and cannot be understated, as it provides a consistent venue for the format’s popularity and expansion.
“What the ministry has done with this facility is in terms of providing the light and developing the facility to the extent where the Old Fort can lay down their carpet and have this hockey, it is fantastic; it does good things for the community right here in South Ruimveldt and does good things for the Old Fort hockey club, and I think Old Fort has taken it in hand and has already started to make good use of it.”
He said the just-concluded competition was a great opportunity for seniors, juniors, and veterans to play the sport with the 5’s format of the game, catching on globally and boosting the local program.
“Locally it is a mix between the indoor and outdoor versions of the game, so the skills are transferable, and in fact this develops them for both, so it is a good way to train, and of course because we have a full-size field outside carpet, this is making the best use of what we have, and the global international hockey federation (FIH) has a big drive for hockey 5’s, which is a miniature version of the game, especially geared toward nations that are unable to create a large number of quality players because of the population size. Guyana falls into those nations where they think that version of the game could in fact help to develop.”
The hockey administrator noted that they hope that tournaments like this one held by Old Fort can help them garner more success on the international scene.
Phillp Fernandes, a former national hockey captain himself, says they are looking at a budget and the prospect of sending a local contingent to compete internationally at the 5’s World Cup, as it is something they have in their plans.
Old Fort Top Form and GCC Elite captured the men’s and women’s 5’s Outdoor Hockey League Titles at the Skip Robert Youth Development Complex in South Ruimveldt Gardens.
While in the boys under 17 category, GCC outlaws narrowly edge Saints boys in a close contest 4-3, and the Old Fort Phantom troupe beat the Saints girls 4-3 for the other youth title.
