TT hockey men eye Canada tour

The Trinidad and Tobago men’s hockey team are looking ahead to the 2018 Indoor Hockey World Cup in Berlin, Germany.

And there may be plans for the team to engage in a tour of Canada before the February 7-11 World Cup, according to assistant coach Darren Cowie.

Last Saturday, the TT team booked their ticket to Germany after trouncing Argentina 7-0 in the final of the 2017 Indoor Pan Am Hockey Cup in Georgetown, Guyana.

With regards to the team’s pre-World Cup plans, Cowie said, “The coaching staff — myself, Raphael (Govia, coach) and Kirth Davis (manager) — would have to have a meeting with the Trinidad and Tobago Hockey Board and then they would let us know how we move forward, where our training sessions are concerned.

“Then, from there, we’ll probably go back to the players, maybe bring in a few more players to bolster the training squad and then get ready for Berlin.

“I know we want to get some pre-tours as well,” Cowie added. “Right after the finals, Canada’s coach (Scott Sandison) came and told me that he would allow us to come up there and play some practice matches to get acclimatised to the European weather.”

Looking back on the team’s 100-percent record in Guyana, Cowie said, “The guys played out of their skins especially in the final.

“It’s something that all of us were talking about, not just the players, not just the coaches, but all of us collectively, having that collective energy and that consistency.”

Cowie, the ex-national player, said, “It wasn’t something what we really planned on.

It was one by one, one game at a time and, as the results started to flow, we said, ‘you know what, let’s not get carried away, we still needed to focus on performances and then results would start to come after’.

And that’s what pushed us through.” Cowie took over as coach after Raphael Govia had to return home midway during the competition, following the death of his father Winston.

“When I got the news of my father, I called a team meeting with Darren (Cowie) as well as two senior players, Solomon Eccles (captain) and Dwain Quan Chan.

I got the manager (Kirth Davis) involved as well. I basically told Darren that ‘I got some bad news today’.”

Govia admitted that he was informed about his father’s failing health, hours before the October 16 opener against Argentina, a game which saw TT prevail 5-2.

“(On) Tuesday morning I got the news that I needed to come back home and Wednesday I left.”

Govia, whose son Jordan Vieira was an instrumental member of the squad, acknowledged, “It was hard not being there, but with the communication with Eccles and Darren, it was a lot easier because I knew I left them in good hands.

“The team is closely-knit so it was not really an issue. It was not surprising that the boys won this tournament.”

The TT men’s coach pointed out, “This team started training on July 24.

This unit came on board together and we never looked back.

We rode the little challenges that we had and we dealt with it. We kept this team together and the boys were really fired up.

“There was never any negativity.

Everything was positive about this whole camp. It’s not surprising that the boys went undefeated in this tournament, and got a berth into Berlin.”