Hockey Board announces male team for 2025 PAHF Jr Challenge

On the heels of the girls’ selection, the Guyana Under-21 boys hockey team has been selected for the 2025 PAHF Junior Challenge scheduled for Bridgetown, Barbados, from March 8-16.

The Guyana Hockey Board, in announcing the squad, said it comprises a good balance of experienced players and young newcomers, who have shown great potential as contributors to the team.

Sixteen players have been selected under the management of Head Coach Robert Fernandes, and Assistant Coaches Shane Samuels, John Abrahams and Tivesard Garnett.

The boys’ team will comprise a strong core with as many as nine players remaining from their 2023 team, which finished a creditable fifth in the 2023 Junior Pan American Championships.

Most notable among those would be midfield maestro Shaquon Favorite, central defender Jabari Lovell and striker Simeon Moore.

In addition, to the nine players with international experience, all but two were part of the national junior straining squad over the past two years.

The two newcomers to the team are strikers 16-year-old Shane Sargeant and the youngest selectee at 15-years-old, Grant Fernandes.

The schools programme introduced a few years ago, that is facilitated by the Icool junior championships, is largely responsible for this solid crop of players with six coming out of the North Ruimveldt Multilateral program, five from the Saint Stanislaus programme.

Head Coach Robert Fernandes is cautiously optimistic of his team’s chances to medal, saying that the Guyanese players have only been exposed to competition at the highest Pan Am level, where matches against powerhouses like Argentina and the USA would have to be met with solid defensive resolve and a counterattacking mindset.

In this case, where he feels Guyana is a legitimate contender, the players need to adapt a more aggressive and attack-minded disposition with a lot more focus on possession and attacking build-ups.

Guyana’s first match, similar to that of the girls, is against Guatemala on March 8. They then go on to face Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Brazil and hosts Barbados.

The ambition of the team is to finish in one of the top two positions to gain qualification for the 2025 Junior Pan American Games being hosted by Paraguay in August.

The full squad reads:

• Goalkeeper- Darious Alleyne
• Defenders- Donnel Alleyne, Jabari Lovell, Nkosi Saul, Quinn Tobin, Daniel Woolford
• Midfielders- Shaquon Favorite, Navid Hussain, Yonnick Norton, Simeon Moore
• Strikers- Grant Fernandes, Baraka Garnett, Anthony Harry, Robert Marcus, Shane Sargeant, Vladimir Woodroffe
• Standby Player- Clay Bobb