Jamaica’s Hockey5s close out World Cup ‘learning experience’ today
JAMAICA’S HOCKEY5S team will close out their maiden World Cup tournament appearance in Muscat, Oman, today when they take on Fiji in their final match of the tournament for 15th place.
Yesterday, the Jamaicans lost the 13th- and 14th-place playoff match, losing 8-1 to the 24th-ranked United States.
Nigeria, who defeated Fiji, will play USA for 12th place, while Jamaica and Fiji will battle for 15th place.
Despite finding the going tough at their first world tournament, president of the Jamaica Hockey Federation (JHF), Fabian Stewart, said the team is proud to be ranked in the top 16 in the world.
“The positive of participating in this tournament is that Jamaica is in the top 16 of countries that are playing hockey5s.
“We earned our spot to come to this tournament and it is clear that we are in the top 16. So we are in the top tier, globally,” said Stewart.
He pointed out that the tournament has been a learning experience for both the coaches and players, and that they must look at getting up to the speed of play in the international game.
“The players have learnt a lot. The game is played in a particular manner and all the players can actually see the sort of speed they play with.
“We played against top-tier countries that we never got an opportunity to see or play against, but we understand that how we played in parts, we can actually handle them, but we have to be more consistent. But our coaches and staff have seen what is required to operate at this level,” he said.
He said, unlike t he other countries that have proper financial backing, their lack of resources was also a major factor in their performance, as it severely affected their ability to prepare at the level that they needed to for the tournament.
“They (coaches) have done exceedingly well, based on the resources and the fact that we couldn’t have any practice matches.”
“So our shortcomings came down to the unfortunate factor of the resources that are available to us.
“All the teams here are much better resourced than us. It’s no excuse, but it is simply a fact.
Many of the teams are constantly engaged in competitive activities. But the practice matches that our coaches wanted, we were not able to provide,” he stated.
According to Stewart, a number of opportunities have opened up to them from other nations, who have been impressed by their efforts and want to assist in their development.
“We have made contact with several technical areas that we are not so advanced in Jamaica, for example, data collection and online analysis. We made contact with several countries for this type of assistance.
“Hockey Jamaica is also being encouraged to operate and play at this level, and there is an opportunity to come back to Oman to play.
“Oman Hockey will host us and all we have to do is find the transportation and airfare to get here. They will take care of accommodation and food, and that type of networking has also been extended from European countries, who want us to do short stints as well,” he said.
In yesterday’s match against the US, Nickoy Stephenson scored the lone goal for Jamaica, who trailed 3-0 at halftime.