Saints Hockey Club (SHC) midfielder, Shakeem Fausette, during a recent interview, shared that he is very confident that if the Pan American Junior hockey championships hits off as scheduled in Chile next April, then Guyana will leave with at least a bronze medal.
The seventeen-year-old lad, who has been playing the sport for almost six years now, explained that he is confident because of the experience he sees within the junior squad. Fausette explained that many of the players, including him have been regular fixtures with their senior club sides and the National senior training squad, which will help the Guyana Hockey Board (GHB) put forward a strong outfit.
The aspiring Lawyer, who currently attends Nations’ Sixth Form, gave much praise to SHC and National men’s coach, Robert Fernandes. Fausette posited that he owes everything to the level III certified coach for encouraging to get involved with the sport and hailed his coaching philosophies as nothing short of “phenomenal.”
While Fausette managed to win the GHB under-16 indoor tourney last year with SHC after banging in a leading 12 goals, he was disappointed to finish third behind the winners and perennially favourites GCC and the ever improving Old Fort in the GHB outdoor development league.
Many persons often say that sport helps them to be more relaxed when it comes to academics but for Fausette who has strict parents, Hockey is his motivation to do well in school because only then will he be able to get on the field and so far, he has been excelling with eight passes at the C.S.E.C. examinations.
Before the Covid-19 lockdown last March in Guyana, Fausette was a part of the National training squad for the now postponed South America Championships that were scheduled to be hosted in Peru but he is not being deterred and staying fit at home with exercises so he can be at a decent level whenever training resumes.
Fausette is 100% supportive of resuming training due to the fact that the FIH (International Hockey Federation) has sent out return to play guidelines to the respective affiliate federations and he noted that those guidelines coupled with individual responsibility will be vital when training resumes.
Although being a SHC player, the youngster singled-out Meshach Sargeant of GCC who trains with the national team alongside him as his favourite team-mate, “Although we haven’t played together on national duty, we have really good chemistry and form some good plays during training".
Source: www.kaieteurnewsonline.com
