As a result of the successful junior hockey programme and competitions staged over the past two years by the Guyana Hockey Board (GHB), Guyana was soundly represented at the Paragon Hockey Club’s fourth Youth Indoor Tournament in Trinidad and Tobago over the weekend of September 14-16.
The St. Joseph’s boys and GCC Bingo Spartans girls, despite being on their first overseas tour, surprised all by taking the gold for Guyana in the two Under-16 gender categories.
The St. Joseph’s boys stormed through the pool rounds of their competition beating all opponents except for Diego Secondary to whom they lost a close 1-2 battle.
With Diego however, losing to the Futuristiks, St. Joseph’s would gain a spot in the semi-finals as the top finisher in the pool round. St. Joseph’s would defeat the NRMSS, also of Guyana, in their semi-final to set up a repeat match against Diego, who edged past Futuristiks in the other semi-final.
The St. Joseph’s boys would be up for the challenge in the entertaining final as they managed to reverse their fortunes against Diego with a 4-2 victory to lift the trophy.
Tournament leading scorer, Warren Williams, was on fire for St. Joseph’s as he chalked up a pair of goals in the final with Nandalall Persaud and Louis Adams scoring one each.
St. Joseph’s secured several individual awards at the final presentation with Warren Williams receiving the Most Goals Award for Under-16, Paul DeAndrade receiving the Best Goalkeeper Award for Under-21 and both Paul DeAndrade and Nandalall Persaud being named to the All Star selection.
The NRMSS, which comprised of students from the North Ruimveldt Multilateral school appeared to be the youngest team in the competition, but managed to finish in a creditable fourth position.
The GCC Bingo Spartans were even more dominant in the Girls Under-16 competition in winning all but one of their pool matches which they drew against a combined school team aptly named COMBINED.
With COMBINED defeating the Magnolias in their semi-final, they would have a third crack at the Spartans in the Girls Under-16 final.
The COMBINED goalkeeper put on a fantastic performance in the final and made the Spartans sweat to earn their opener minutes into the second half through a penalty corner shot from tournament top scorer Sarah Klautky.
While COMBINED had their chances, the Spartans earned several penalty corners in the second half which were well defended by COMBINED to keep the score at 1-0. The final buzzer would leave the Spartans celebrating their undefeated run to the title.
The Spartans carted off four individual awards at the presentation after the final with Madison Fernandes securing the Most Valuable Player, Sarah Klautky receiving the Most Goals award, Jessica Mittelholser the Best Goalkeeper having conceded no goals, and Makeda Harding being named to the All-star team for defenders.
The St Joseph’s girls and boys finished at the bottom of the table in their respective Under-21 competitions, but with those teams comprising of many players still under the age of 16, they have a bright future.
