TAMPA- University of South Florida women's soccer assistant coach Chris Brown, who is also the Head Coach for the Guyana Senior Women's National Soccer team watched as the Lady Jags qualified for both the Central American and Caribbean Games, and the final round of the Gold Cup qualification recently with a 3-0 win over Barbados and an 8-0 win over St. Lucia.
The Gold Cup qualification took place in Port of Spain, Trinidad.
"I am both honored and humbled to be the Head Coach of the Guyanese Women's National Team," USF Women's Assistant Coach Chris Brown said. "To be able to be a small part of helping build history for the country of Guyana, the Guyana Football Federation and the fine young ladies that make-up our program is an experience of a lifetime.
The Guyana Senior Women's Soccer team is also led by Technical Director Mark Rodrigues. In addition to being Technical Director of the Guyana Senior Soccer team, Rodrigues is also the Director of Coaching for the Central Pasco Youth Soccer Club.
The gold cup qualification is the final step before the actual Gold Cup that will take place in Mexico in early November. On Monday, May 10, Guyana began their quest for Gold Cup qualification when they took on Barbados. Ashley Rodrigues, Mariam El-Masri, and Ashlee Savona each scored a goal for the Lady Jags which helped give Guyana the 3-0 victory over the Bajans.
Guyana continued their quest in Gold Cup qualification on Wednesday May 12, in their match against St. Lucia. Alison Heydorn helped lead Guyana to an impressive 8-0 victory over St. Lucia with a hat trick. Guyana also received goals from Justine Rodrigues, Mariam El-Masri, Daria Niya Owen, and two goals from Ashley Rodrigues.
The Lady Jags competed in their third and final game of the week on Friday, May 14, when they took on Trinidad and Tobago. Despite falling 3-0, Guyana still qualified for the final round of the Gold Cup and the CAC games because of their two previous wins over St. Lucia and Barbados.
Out of eight teams in the second round, Guyana finished third overall behind Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti. Guyana finished second in their group behind Trinidad and Tobago.
"Our Program continues to grow as we successfully advance in World Cup play and continue to search and recruit high level players of Guyanese descent from around the World," Technical Director Mark Rodrigues said. "This is no different than any other successful programs throughout the World. We have accomplished more than our wildest dreams could imagine in a very short period of time."
The final round of the Gold Cup will be played in late July or early August. The Gold Cup will include the US, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Hondoras and three of the four remaining teams from the Caribbean region (T&T, Guyana, Haiti, and Cuba) which will be determined in the final round of the Gold Cup.
"This is a very new program relative to the international stage, but our staff is pleased with our program's accelerated development and we look forward to continuing this fantastic run towards qualifying for the 2010 CONCACAF Gold Cup and ultimately the 2011 World Cup in Germany," added Brown.
