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Hikers Hockey Junior Development Program – Travon Younge and Jamarj Assanah for three week Stint in Trinidad & Tobago

From left: Trevon Younge and Jamarj Assanah of Hikers Hockey Club
From left: Trevon Younge and Jamarj Assanah of Hikers Hockey Club

The Hikers Hockey Club, junior development program realized one it’s main goals this week, when it partnered with Queen’s Park Hockey Club of Trinidad & Tobago to enable two of it’s most promising young players to compete in the Trinidad & Tobago outdoor leagues.

Extended overseas stints with foreign clubs was one of the recommendations made by the junior players themselves at a junior development camp held by the club last year. However this particular project was the brainchild of long time Hikers member Jerazeno Bell who now resides in the twin island republic and competes for Queen’s Park. The two players who will benefit form this project are Jamarj Assanah and Travon Younge, both players will be training and competing with Queen’s Park on artificial turf for a three week period. The players arrived in Trinidad on Thursday morning and are scheduled to play their first matches this weekend.

The Hikers Hockey Club intends to make this project an annual event, where promising junior players are given the opportunity to train and compete abroad during the summer school break.

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Digicel Caribbean Junior Squash Championships: Guyana is the best in the Caribbean!

Guyana cemented their dominance of Caribbean squash by winning the team title on July 14 in the Caribbean Areas Squash Association and Digicel sponsored Junior Squash Championships 2011. This is the seventh consecutive year the local side has won the competition. The impressive performance in the singles stage of the championships was carried over into the team segment and the result was Guyana being declared the overall winners in the weeklong competition.

In the male team finals it appeared that a competitive afternoon of squash was expected since heading into the third match of the afternoon the scoreline read 1-1. Alex Arjoon however shifted the balance in favour of the hosts and dispatched his Trinidadian counterpart in a hard fought 5 set match. After that there was no turning back and the remainder of the male team marched on to a convincing 4-1 victory over their island neighbours.

Earlier in the day the female side sealed the team title in similar style suffering only one match loss to Jamaica. The most exciting match in the female team finals was between Guyana’s Akeila Wiltshire and Jamaica’s Mary Jo Mahfood. Wiltshire was tested by a mixture of aggressive strokes and soft touches by the talented Jamaican. After dropping the second and fourth game the tenacious Wiltshire bounced back in impressive fashion to win 11/6 9/11 11/6 6/11 11/9.

The senior squad will be keen on taking some of the confidence drawn from their junior colleagues when they compete in the CASA senior tournament to be hosted by the Cayman Islands in August. Next year looks to be challenging since five players from the victorious side will be elevated to the senior platform. That development will mean that new players without regional exposure will have to take over. The coaching staff is nonetheless confident of going 8-straight in 2012. For now the team is relishing in their hard fought victory.

By – Andrew Ross

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Digicel Caribbean Junior Squash Championships: Guyana on track to win overall Junior Squash Title

Guyana continued displaying a dominant performance in the second day of team competition in the 2011 Caribbean Areas Squash Association’s Digicel Junior Squash Championships.

Both the male and female teams recorded comprehensive victories without losing a single game on Tuesday. The boys took on the Bahamas and under 15 singles champion Nyron Joseph had the most challenging match of the day against Donovan Mc Donald. Joseph dropped one set but bounced back to win the match 11/5 11/5 7/11/11/6. Deje Dias, Jean-Claude Jeffrey, Jason-Ray Khalil and Patrick Fraser also recorded straight set victories to finish the day 5-0 ahead of the Bahamians.

The local boys also took on the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States at the Georgetown Club and recorded a 3-2 victory maintaining their winning composure. Jason Ray Khalil defeated Stephan Joseph, Nyron joseph beat Jason Doyle and Ben Mekdeci beat Samson Viville in straight sets.
Mary Fung-a-Fat, Kayla Jeffrey, Victoria Arjoon, Akeila Wiltshire and Lydia Alphonso all recorded victories when they competed against the Cayman Islands. The 5-0 victories firmly places Guyana in a dominant position to defend the overall title in this year’s competition.

Trinidad and Tobago also continued a good showing in the team category defeating the Cayman Islands and Barbados in the boys and girls categories respectively. The Twin Island republic however lost to Jamaica.

By – Andrew Ross

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Digicel Caribbean Junior Squash Championships: Team Guyana continues impressive form

The Digicel Caribbean Junior Squash Championships Team Competition served off on Monday, July 9th with the singles and team matches being played at the National Racquet Centre and the Georgetown Club respectively. After dominant performances in the singles stage, Guyana seemed to transfer the gained momentum and confidence to the team matches when they played against Bermuda.

Newly crowned Under – 15 singles champion, Nyron Joseph, demonstrated that he deserves that title when defeated Kion Knights in straight sets  – 12/10 ,11/6 and 11/4. Jason Ray Khalil also won his match against D’Vario Thompson,  but had to dig deep since his competitor did not make the encounter a walkover. Khalil had a gruelling 5 sets to defeat Thompson but endured to win – 16/18, 11/6,  5/11,  11/9 and  11/5. Ben Mekdeci also overcame Dylan Pratt to give the boys a 3-2 victory in the first round of the team championships. Ashley Khalil dominated Alyssa Brewer in the first match of the female category. Victoria Arjune and Larissa Wiltshire also recorded victories, while Mary Fung-a-Fat completed the 4-I first stage win after her competitor failed to turn up giving her a walkover.

The team from Trinidad and Tobago has two male teams in this year’s championships, and judging from their impressive performances – winning straight sets against Jamaica, Barbados and The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States – seems to be the one which Guyana will need to pay keen attention to.

Finally, it should be noted that the conditions and courts favour the locals since their counterparts are accustomed to playing on air conditioned courts. The heat has been a major factor in the championships thus far, but being the best junior team in the Caribbean for a number of years in addition to the early victories attained in the singles category will serve as a confidence booster to the Guyanese representatives.Play resumes on Tuesday July 11 through Thursday July 14.

By – Andrew Ross

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National Schools Basketball Festival 2011: Linden Technical Institute are Champions!

LTI students and coach with Director of Sport Neil Kumar and Digicel Sponsorship Manager Gavin Hope

Linden Technical Institute (LTI) showed why they made it to the final round of the Youth Basketball Guyana/ National Sports Commission’s; National Schools Basketball Festival 2011. The team from the mining town showed their dominance early into the first half by going on a 12-3 run against New Amsterdam Multilateral (NA Multi) out of the Ancient County. Though there were some spirited attempts on the part of the Berbice representatives, the Lindeners played a tough defensive game to come out on top. LTI out rebounded NA Multi on the defensive boards and even executed several steals to maintain majority ball possession in what seemed like a one sided affair by halftime. In the second half the Lindeners seemed to be shooting the basketball at will as they grabbed several offensive boards resulting in second, third and even forth shot opportunities. Geoffrey LaRose won over the crowd with his heroics on his way to a top score of 28 and 13 rebounds in favor of the Region 10 team. In the end the scoreboard read 73-35, a 38 point margin of victory for LTI. The Champions of Champions trophy was sponsored by strong supporters of local basketball; Haynes Foundation and made by the Port Morant Technical Institute.

Meanwhile Director of Sports Neil Kumar congratulated the winning teams on their performance throughout the tournament and moreso during the finals. He also recognized the importance of the Basketball Festival in unlocking talent of youths at the regional level through the schools. Kumar also expressed confidence that the talent witnessed throughout the competition will benefit the national team in the end since “these kids will perform and take Guyana far”.

Kumar encouraged the students to continue playing basketball since in the near future one night a week will be set aside to have basketball played in the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall televised on a monthly basis much like the highly successful Friday Night Fights. Plans are also on stream to have the annual festival evolve into a Caribbean tournament in order to provide much needed regional exposure to players at a earlier age.

Despite their loss to LTI, NA Multi secured the Division 2 title after edging city side Guyana Education Trust College 45-43 earlier in the evening.

Over 50 school teams participated in the festival which ran for six weeks at venues across the country.

– Andrew Ross

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Digicel School Football: Government Technical Institute (GTI) are Region 4 Champs!

Region 4 School Football Champions

Head of Digicel Guyana Gregory Dean believes that the Schools Football Championships sponsored by his company augers well for the sport locally and in effect will only lead to a higher level of football at the national level.

Dean was present at the Region 4 finals at the Carifesta Sports Club ground between Charlestown Secondary and Government Technical Institute (GTI) on Saturday.

The CEO added that because of the exposure given to players at the school level “in one way it may make the Guyana Football Federation’s (GFF) job a bit harder in terms of picking available players but in the end it will benefit the country as a whole in terms of quality representation”.

He however said such development would not happen over night but views the competition as a step in the right direction in addition to other developmental programmes.
Meanwhile in the day’s action an aggressive and confident GTI overcame a resilliant Charlestown Secondary.

Darren Fraser scored the first goal of the encounter in the 13th minute in favour of GTI. After the early breakthrough a relentless attack was launched on Charlestown’s goal.

The attack took its toll on the defense and could be seen clearly in the 39th minute when Dennis Fung scored an own goal to seal the victory for GTI.

The winners now await the rest of the regional finals to conclude to find out who they will be up against when vying for the national title.

From all indications officials believe the city side will have a tough battle ahead since several regional teams have shown significant skill.

By – Andrew Ross

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Guyana go down 11-0 to Bermuda in NACRA 15’s finals

NACRA Logo

A small but appreciative crowd turned out in support of local rugby side at the National Stadium Providence on Wednesday night. Very early in the match the physically larger Bermuda tested the Guyanese defense. Thomas Greenslide secured the first breakthrough by scoring a try. Emboldened by the early penetration into the Guyanese half the visitors launched a relentless attack which saw them scoring two penalties.

The second half saw a better defensive game by the Claudius Butts led side. Despite this they were still unable to convert defensive stops into tries against their larger opponents. Though Guyana was the faster side poor ball handling, a few bad calls by the referee and an impenetrable Bermuda defensive line all conspired against them on Wednesday. Bermuda had not won a 15’s title in over ten years and the victory will increase the team’s international rating and morale. Guyana is ranked 57th in the world and Bermuda is ranked 51st.
– Andrew Ross

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Scotiabank/Pepsi Schools Football Academy Semi Finals

Tucville, North Georgetown and East Ruimveldt advance to finals of Scotiabank/Pepsi Schools Football Academy

Attacking Striker

The emergence of young talented football players from across the country continued on Saturday as the Georgetown leg of the Scotiabank/Pepsi Schools Football Academy semi finals got underway at the NIS Ground Carifesta Avenue.

Althea Holligan, building on her solid performances in the competition thus far, dominated by scoring 4 of her team’s 5 goals against Queen’s College in the first game of the day. QC was forced on the offensive practically from the opening whistle and it was not long before Holligan showed why she is considered by some as the tournament’s most efficient striker. Just 8 minutes into the game she struck the first blow followed by goals in the 20th, 27th and 42nd minutes to round off her tally. QC was unable to develop an effective offensive response. When those in attendance though the game was all wrapped up, Mariska Corbin added her name to the scorers’ sheet in the 55th minute.

Team Line Up

In the second game of the day it appeared to be an evenly matched encounter between Tucville and Lodge. Alex Alexander scored an early goal to put Tucville on top just 4 minutes into the encounter. Stiff defense from Lodge however prevented further damage to their goal deficit. The effort was however hampered by the loss of Kareem Sanagon in the 26th minute after he was sent off for a dangerous tackle. The weakened side allowed Alexander to strike again in the 54th. A late goal was scored by James Fraser in an effort to renew some hope penetrated in the 57th minute to make the score line 2-1. Randy Layne sealed the victory for Tucville by scoring the final goal of the match in the 70th minute.

Free Kick

The final semi final match of the day saw a previously impressive looking Christ Church Secondary losing to a resilient East Ruimveldt Secondary. Nyron Joseph and Travis Fitzpatrick put CCSS on top early by scoring goals in quick succession during the 29th and 30th minutes. Trevil Prepont and Shabaka Welch however equalized in the 41st and 70th minutes respectively to send the game into extra time. Craig Hughes was the author of the East Ruimveldt victory when he penetrated in the 77th and 79th minutes to send his team into the final round.

The finals will be contested at grounds around the country on Saturday.
– Andrew Ross

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John Fernandes Insurance Service Second Division Hockey Tournament

All Stars humble Under 21’s; Old Fort dominate Airbenders as 2ND Division Hockey continues

Damon Woodruff passes to Allan Fernandes

Azad DeAbreu, highly regarded as a top goalkeeper for Hikers and the national hockey team, showed his skillfulness as a player when he netted 4 goals in a one sided affair against the Male National Under 21 team at thirst park on Saturday afternoon. DeAbreu led the Carib All Stars, a team comprising or players over the age of 35, looked organized from the start. Though the U-21 squad had speed on their side it was not enough to convert into goals. After a 4-0 run by the veteran players Shaka Assanah managed to slip one past the goalkeeper to score the lone goal of the U-21 team. However in the end it proved not to be enough to overcome the experience and skill of the All Stars. Colin Aaron, Phillip Fernandes and Dexter Wyles also contributed to the 7-1 thrashing of the U-21 side.

Jason DeSantos secures ball from Airbender Defenders

In another mismatch of the day Old Fort defeated the Airbenders 4-1. Jason De Santos scored a hat-trick while Kevin Melville sealed the victory in the 63rd minute against the female side; securing their first victory in the tournament thus far. The only player to score for the Airbenders was national player Chantelle Fernandes in the 43rd minute. The John Fernandes Insurance Service Second Division Hockey Tournament continues at various venues around the city.

 

– Andrew Ross