Klass holds exhaustive press briefing

Jun 13, 2009 Sports

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-Four female players for Turks and Caicos Tournament

President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Colin Klass held an exhaustive Press Briefing to apprise the media on matters related to his recent excursion to attend the FIFA Congress, Guyana’s participation in the friendly tournament in the Turks and Caicos and the entity’s vision to continue development in the sport.
Klass shared the Head Table with General Secretary Noel Adonis, Coaches Development Officer Claude Bolton, Manager / Chaperone for the five local female players who will be participating in the tournament overseas Vanessa Dickenson, Manager of the national team that attended the Parbo Bier Competition in Suriname Lawrence Griffith and Head Coach Paul James.

The GFF President shortly before introducing the four players to the media spoke of the GFF’s acceptance to participate in the tournament, stating that it was borne through the partnership that exists between the local Body and the Guyana Sports Development Foundation headed by Colin Baker and Garth Nelson.
Speaking on the GFF’s support for the development of women’s football, Klass said that the selection of the five players bore testimony to the special consideration that the Federation is prepared to give to this category of the sport.

He disclosed that the GFF will be spending more time and money in the area of women’s football, but cautioned that the task ahead is a difficult one, citing the prohibitive cost to bring players from those regions to play in Georgetown.
“Women’s football is back on the front burner and the GFF will be placing special emphasis on its development and I’m calling on the Corporate Community to come on board and assist,” Klass urged.
Klass said that because the sport is not as organised in Georgetown as compared to places like Lethem and other hinterland areas, you would find that the better players obviously will come from those communities, but the cost factor to scout and bring the talented ones to Georgetown is an aspect that the GFF could not sustain.

“We are very supportive of developing women’s football especially in the far flung regions and we intend to place a lot of focus on its expansion this year,” Klass informed.
He added that the difference between those areas and Georgetown is that in the Capital there are many distractions, while there is a lot of love for the sport in the other regions hence competitions are held more regularly and are properly organised.
According to the GFF Boss, there is an incentive at stake for the women with the likelihood of outstanding players having the opportunity to win scholarships.
The players who will be travelling to join the rest of the squad which is made up predominantly of players residing in the USA are Odessa Rameo, Roxanne Stephens, Leonie Robinson and Tarissa Stanislaus.
They will depart next Monday and link with the 16 other players for the friendly tournament which is being hosted by the Turks and Caicos.Klass also gave details of what transpired at the recent FIFA Congress which was held in the Bahamas.

Parbo Bier Tournament-
The President reminded those present of the new vision of the GFF which is to commence the rebuilding process with players primarily based in Guyana.
“As I had said a few months ago, we are in a new phase of rebuilding and we aim to start with the locally based players and that is why many of them that made the tour to Suriname were under the age 23 years,” Klass commented.
He promised to seek more engagements for the team as they continue to rebuild.
Manager Griffith in his report spoke highly of the team’s discipline, adding that despite the results, they received commendations from their respective opponents for their dedication.
He added that the team lost to superior opposition, citing the case of Suriname which played with at least five professionals including the distinguished Edgar Davids, a player Pele rated in the Top 100 players of all time.

“In nearly all the matches, we were in the game in the first half,” Griffith said.
Head Coach James, who was performing the duties for the first time, in his remarks, indicated that the team was hampered by the injuries to the two first choice goalkeepers which resulted in the young and inexperienced Richie Richards having to make his first appearance at the senior level.
“The major problem with the team was in the goalkeeping department and this is an area we need to focus more on in the future. I think that young Richards did an excellent job and I was extremely pleased with his performance, but you could see he was a bit nervous,” James admitted.
He also praised the performance of the Captain Howard Lowe, who he disclosed displayed a high degree of professionalism.
James felt that within the next two years, the team if provided with the necessary opportunities could become very competitive on the regional circuit.

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