As part of the club’s long-term development plan, the Saints Hockey Club (SHC) accepted an invitation from the Ventures Hockey Club to participate in their 19th International Invitational Indoor Hockey Tournament.
Having participated for the first time in 2023 with the boys’ team, the SHC Committee also decided to expose the girls to international competition this year.
Logistics
The club raised the funds to cover the team’s entrance fees, accommodation, meals, and transportation in Trinidad, while the players were responsible for acquiring sponsorship for their airfare.
The St. Stanislaus College Broad also funded the airline tickets of the five female students attending the College.
A team of ten males, ten females, a coach, and a manager traveled to Trinidad on January 3 and returned to Guyana on January 7, 2024.
Tour Assessment
The press release further indicated, “With such a young team, the majority of which are between the ages of 14 to 18 years old, our expectations for the girls’ team was for them to learn from the experience of competing against top quality club teams from Trinidad & Tobago.
Our girls surpassed our expectations by holding their own and improving with every match. None more so than their performance against the TT Police team, which had one month earlier dominated them at the Diamond International Hockey Festival in Guyana.”
It noted the improvement in one month, and they dominated this time and were just unfortunate not to have won the match.
“We believe this experience will accelerate the team’s development and look forward to their improved performances this year.”
The release further related that expectations for the boys were a bit higher considering that they had the experience of competing in this tournament last year.
Fresh off their second-place finish at the Diamond Mineral Water Hockey Festival, the boys eased through their first two matches.
However, in their third group match against the group’s top seed, TT Police, they conceded two early goals and spent the rest of the match chasing from behind, which meant taking risks that were punished by the counter-attacks.
After finishing second in the group, they faced Group A winners Queens Park in the semi-final and once again conceded early, but this time, the boys responded well and clawed their back into the match.
Trailing 3-2, a Jabari Lovell penalty corner hit the post, and the Queen’s Park goalkeeper valiantly saved several goal-scoring opportunities.
With time running, Saints threw numbers forward, and Queen’s Park scored on the counterattack just as time expired.
“The boys showed their ability to learn and adapt quickly by reversing the result against the TT Police in the third place playoff.”
Conclusion
Part of the club’s mission is to keep alumni connected to St. Stanislaus College through hockey and to provide students with opportunities to have experiences that help their long-term development.
“International exposure is a vital part of athletes’ development, and considering that in 2023 our boys’ team didn’t make it out of the group stage and this year they placed third, it shows that progress is being made.”
Head Coach Robert Fernandes further expressed, “I am confident that we will see similar improvements with our girls after this year’s exposure.
We are grateful to the St. Stanislaus College Board and Alumni for their support; we believe our objectives on and off the court were achieved on this tour.”
Match Results
Women’s Group Stage
Lost to GCC – 0-3
Drew with TT Police 1-1
Lost to Magnolias 1-6
Men’s Group Stage
Defeated UWI Cave Hill 2-0
Defeated Notre Dame 4-1
Lost to TT Police 2-5
Semi-final – Lost to Queens Park 2-4
3rd Place Playoff – Defeated TT Police – 3-1