The T&T Hockey Board is expected to make a decision on what to do with the stalled 2019 outdo0r season in the coming days.
The local season flicked off on March 24 but was forced to shut down on May 3 on the request of the Water and Sewage Authority (WASA) due to the low water supply across the country. WASA had banned the outdoor watering of fields due to the harsh dry season and as such the outdoor field at the National Hockey Centre in Tacarigua could not be maintained for the season.
The T&THB Competitions Committee met with the local clubs last month to discuss how to move forward. Garth Baptiste, Lucy Lee (assistant secretary) and Reyah Richardson (honorary secretary) represented the committee. The clubs represented at the meeting included Shandy Carib Magnolias (Natalie Nieves and Kim Wellington), T&T Police Service (Suzette Pierre and Jameel Beharry), Fatima (Justin Pascall), Arlene Gomes (Carib), Lisa Hernandez (Malvern), Ricardo Ramdhin (Notre Dame), Colin Thompson (Paragon), Darren Cowie (Queen's Park Cricket Club) and Cherill Franco (Venture). Absent were representatives for Harvard Checkers, Paradise, Raiders, Shape and the T&T Defence Force.
At the meeting, Baptiste explained that the options were to either resume playing the outdoor league on the turf without the necessary watering of it for matches, or to abandon the league, since both the men's and women's Championship Divisions were only approximately 33 and 50 per cent completed. He said should the T&THB decide to abandon the outdoor season, there will be an option to proceed with the indoor season from September 2019.
However, the clubs suggested that the league resume from September and run to December 2019 with the games already played being applied, while the indoor season should be cancelled. Another option was to abandon the outdoor league and start afresh from September to December while still cancelling the indoor season.
With respect to the other divisions, a proposal was made for the hosting of a festival/one-day competitions for the under-19 and mixed veterans using a half-court, 7-a-side format on the outdoor turf.
Following the meeting and taking into consideration T&T's qualification to the Pan Am Indoor Championship scheduled for March 2020, the Competitions Committee submitted a few considerations for 2019-2020. This included the outdoor competition in two rounds (September-December 2019 and April-June 2020) and indoor competition from January-March 2020. This took into consideration that venues for the indoor competition will have to be researched in light of the anticipated closure of the Jean Pierre Complex for repairs/renovations and the increase in booking demands at the Woodbrook Youth Facility.
The clubs were given a deadline of Wednesday (July 3) to respond to the proposals.