Female hockey team to attend PAHF Challenge in Bermuda in September

Guyana’s female hockey team is scheduled to compete in the 2024 Pan American Hockey Federation (PAHF) Challenge set for Hamilton, Bermuda, from September 20-28.

The Challenge is a qualifier for the PAHF Cup, scheduled for Uruguay in 2025 and is Guyana’s only path to qualifying for a World Cup.

Six teams will be vying for the single available spot in the PAHF Cup, namely host Bermuda, Brazil, Guyana, Jamaica, Peru and Mexico.

Of the six teams, Mexico is the highest ranked team listed as #37 in the world, followed by Peru at #41, Brazil at #54, Jamaica at #67, Bermuda at #68 and Guyana at #70.

A squad of 25 players has been selected to commence training for the Challenge.

The squad comprises several new faces, mostly emerging from the country’s 2023 Under-21 team that competed in the Junior Pan American Championships that year.

Among the seasoned players of the squad are the Xavier sisters (Gabriella and Alysa), full-back Trisha Woodroffe and right-winger Chantelle Fernandes.

Fourteen-year-old phenomenon Makaylah Poole is the youngest of the squad, which features 13 Under-21 players, including overseas-based Sarah Klautky, Charlia Webb and Madison Fernandes.

The squad will be guided once again by national coach Philip Fernandes.

Guyana last competed in the PAHF Challenge back in 2011 where they finished runners-up to Uruguay in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Only four players remain in contention for selection from the previous squad.

The Guyana Hockey Board, in a press release, outlined: “The sport continues to struggle with the lack of an artificial surface and recently was crippled by the closure of the major cricket grounds in preparation for the World Cup.”

Fernandes indicated that creative measures have to be taken in order to prepare a squad for such an event without a full-sized pitch as this remains the biggest challenge to improved international performances.

The full Guyana squad reads:

Goalkeepers: Alysa Xavier, Empress Charles, Jessica Mittelholzer, Keziah Johnason, Sarah Harry

Defenders: Julia Gouveia, Kezia Chinian, Kirsten Gomes, Kazaquah Uzzi, Makeda Harding, Tekeisha Deleon, Trisha Woodroffe

Midfielders: Charlia Webb, Clayza Bobb, Gabriella Xavier, Kenisha Wills, Madison Fernandes, Sarah Klautky, Temmara Clarke

Strikers: Abosaide Cadogan, Carolyn Deane, Chantelle Fernandes, Makaylah Poole, Princessa Wilkie, Samantha Fernandes