Anya Sealy and Brittney Hingh were both on target in a 2-0 win over Malvern as T&T senior women's hockey team made it three wins from as many matches in the Women’s Championship Division of the T&T Hockey Board at the National Hockey Centre, Eastern regional Sporting Complex, Orange Grove Road, Tacarigua on Wednesday night.
Sealy opened the scoring in the 39th minute while Hingh added the second in the 60th minute to lift the Anthony Marcano-coached T&T women to maximum nine points, as they continue preparations for next year’s Pan American Challenge which will be contested in Lima, Peru from June 27 to July 5, a qualifier to the 2021 Pan American Cup, to be held here in T&T.
Speaking about the team's preparations thus far, Marcano a former national player himself said: "Preparations is not so bad so far as the younger players are getting the experience of playing together as a team, and not just training."
Despite winning all three matches his team has played Marcano said he was more focused on making sure his players understand their roles and functions.
"For me, the scoreline is not the key, but trying to get the players to get used to game tactics, team strategies and their individual roles.
"We also have the Under-21 Pan American Championship coming up next year and we have incorporated about eight players who see as future players for that team into our sessions, and giving them some exposure to the team culture and national team environment.
"There are a few others we will be adding to the set up shortly, but at this time we will just work with the group we have and continue to develop them to the level we feel will be beneficial to both the Under-21 team and the national set-up going forward," ended Marcano.
Shandy Carib Magnolias also has nine points but from four matches followed by Paragon with three.
In the Men's Championship Division, Police sits at the top with maximum nine points followed by Queen’s Park Cricket Club and Malvern, with six points each, then Defence Force, Paragon, Fatima and Notre Dame, all with three apiece.
Water woes put a temporary stop to league
The hockey season has been forced to grind to an immediate halt after it the T&T Hockey Board was informed by the management of Eastern Regional Sporting Complex (ERSC) that watering of the artificial surface has to be suspended as directed by the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) during this period of water restriction.
According to the T&THB press release, the local board executive is working with the Ministry of Sport & Youth Affairs to find viable solutions that can be presented to WASA, as a consequence, all matches from last night onwards have been suspended until further notice.
The suspension of the league is set to have an effect on both national men and women team' training sessions, with the men getting ready to compete at the Pan American Games, in Lima, Peru in July.
The Glen "Fido" Francis-coached recently benefited from a two-week training camp with England-based national player, Kwandwane Browne who is also an assistant coach to the England senior men's hockey team.
Browne is coming off an impressive domestic season in the Investec England Hockey Premier Division, where he helped Hampstead & Westminster to the title, their first.