Joseph relishes playing in the Spanish league

Nov 22, 2015 Sports

Credits US Embassy
President of the Georgetown Dominoes Association (GDA) Faye Joseph told Kaieteur Sport that playing in the Spanish league which concluded recently in Puerto Rico was a learning experience for the locals.

Faye Joseph

The GDA team returned home recently after taking part in singles, pairs and four-hand in the Spanish speaking country.
Although the team failed to medal, Joseph said the local players learned a lot from the tournament. “Their game is much different from what we play here, they have lots of variations but our players were able to adopt quickly and did fairly well, but the fact that we were outnumbered by the Spanish opposition is the main reason we didn’t medal,” she said.
Monty Tyrell was Guyana’s leading  player in the single’s placing 28 out of 191 competitors, while Leroy Edwards and Azeez Richmond finished 41 out of 191 in the pairs. Guyana landed in the fifty’s in the four-hand out of over 15 competitors.
Guyana had the largest party except for the host nation and Joseph pointed out that they were given a warm welcome, adding that the opposition were surprise to see such a large contingent of local players. She explained that they got to understand the opposition better and are now better equiped for other international engagements.
The GDA head was chosen as an executive member of the World Spanish League known as FAMUNDA. She is the head of the Caribbean zone on the said body.
Joseph said that they were able to market Guyana which was one of their aims on tour. “We took some brochures given to us by the Ministry of Tourism and the people there were asking for more. They were so excited to learn so

Members of the Guyana team with DOS Christopher Jones prior to their departure to Puerto Rico.

much about Guyana since they were told that Guyana is the only English speaking country in South America. ‘We also took the opportunity to invite them for our international tournament in April 2016 and got positive response and I must thank the Minister of Tourism Cathy Hughes for her input.’
Joseph informed that Guyana will be taking part in an international tournament slated for January in Barbados called Sham-o-Down before playing in another tournament in Canada, then the USA involving five states. She said that they are also preparing for the World Council tournament in Antigua in August 2016 which Guyana are the defending three-hand champions, and that a trip to China is in the making.
Joseph expressed gratitude the United States Embassy for making their trip to Puerto Rico possible. “I must thank the US Embassy; some of our players were able to become ambassadors for Guyana and it would not have been possible without their assistance. I must also thank the Director of Sport Christopher Jones,” she concluded.