Wonder Barbados 5s tourney back for second edition

After a successful inaugural year, the Wonder Barbados Road Hockey 5s Tournament is back for a second spin. Set to get off the ground on October 9, the same ten teams will be going head-to-head in heated competition as the action moves from venue to venue over a six-week period.

 

Similar to last year, a total of 50 players crossed the floor in a draft, which was held yesterday at Purity Bakeries. With each team already naming four of their players ahead of the draw, yesterday’s proceedings saw the sides picking up an additional five towards a final squad of 13 to be supplemented by a general pool. With five players on each team during games, each squad must consist of at least two women with one on-court at all times.

 

Speaking ahead of the draw, Purity Bakeries Sales and Distribution Manager, Chris Simmons, explained that his organisation was pleased to be on board for a second year and that this time around, some other entities had joined the fold. 

 

“Sponsors are attracted to excitement. They are attracted to good competition and so we are really looking forward to a bigger and better tournament this year. Last year was phenomenal and we as a brand had a great time. We had never been involved in hockey before and we thought it was a new and novel way to be able to take hockey into the public domain and take it into the communities as opposed to expecting the public to come to wherever hockey is being played alone. It was different in being able to give the public the opportunity for the tournament to be played in their communities on a Sunday afternoon when, to be frank, Barbadians don’t have much to do. There’s not a lot of entertainment on a Sunday afternoon, so why not some good, keen, competitive hockey. Bringing it back to the communities where it begun,” he said.

 

Defending champions Saltfish were first in the draft and named Mark Owen as their number one pick. All other teams did their best to build the best possible squads. The teams are divided into two pools with the top two advancing to the semi-finals after a round robin. Saltfish, Saints, Strike Force, Spirit and Vigilantes are in Pool B; while Legend, Zionites, Vikings, Eagles and Royals make up Pool A. With the most-coveted prize remaining the ‘Stingiest Team’ title, a first-place purse of $1 000 and a second-place award of $500 are up for grabs.

 

With games slated to start at 6:30 p.m. each night, an added attraction in the form of pre-game soca aerobics sessions are planned to kick off the proceedings each night. The action begins on October 9 at Belfield hard court before moving to Bridgefield on October 16. The next week, October 23, things move to James Bryan at Market Hill and then to Salisbury ‘Gun Hill’ on October 30. November 6 is reserved for Dover and the final will be played at either the Netball Stadium or at Combermere School. (MP)