Hockey Coach On CAC Games Preparation
[Written by Stephen Wright]
Kovin Moodley, the Bermuda women’s hockey team coach, believes their warm-up matches against the University of California Berkeley provided a valuable “reference point” as his side builds towards their Central American and Caribbean Games campaign in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Bermuda are in a group with Barbados, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico at the Games, which start on June 23. The top two teams will advance to the semi-finals of the competition.
Although Bermuda lost their three games against the touring team, 9-2, 7-0 and 2-0, at the National Sports Centre last week, Moodley said he is confident his side is moving in the right direction.
“It was important to try and recreate some tournament dynamics,” Moodley told Bernews. “We had three games, with a rest day in between each, which recreated the tournament structure we will experience in the Dominican Republic.
“The games allowed us to explore our systems and tactics. They gave us a reference point three weeks out, allowing us to see what adjustments to make to ensure we achieve what we want at the CAC Games, which is a top-four finish.”
Moodley, who was instrumental in helping Bermuda finish top of their group in the CAC Games qualifiers on home soil in April last year, said there is still a lot of work to do before the Games get underway.
“We’re going to a tournament, which is a step above what we experienced in the qualifiers,” Moodley said.
“We’re required to have more to our game, a dynamic approach, the ability to adjust tactics not just at the start of the game but throughout the game.
“We’ve reflected on each game [against the university], looking at what we can fix immediately and what requires more time.
“We’re progressing and quickly bridging that gap, which validates our process-driven approach.
“We’re not the finished product yet. There are still things we haven’t tapped into and uncovered.”
The South African also pointed out that Bermuda, who will travel to Santo Domingo with a squad of 16 players plus two reserves, were not at full strength against the university.
“One of the dynamics of national teams in Bermuda is that you might never have your full complement of players, especially during preparations,” he added.
“We weren’t at full strength against the university team but we were able to make progress each game.
“Adding our three overseas players will only strengthen the team. That’s something we’re quite excited about.”
