Latest update March 28th, 2025 6:05 AM
Latest News
- “It will be a very bad day for Venezuelan if they attack Guyana or ExxonMobil”—Rubio declares
- Guyana gets info on U.S. tax evasion allegations against Mohameds, Mae Thomas
- US$35 injected into banking system to address foreign currency shortage—VP Jagdeo
- Citizens to stage protest today against lack of access to information in Guyana
- Guyana vows to stand with U.S.
GT&T FastBall Football kicks off with pomp and ceremony
Thousands witness official kick off
Thousands of football fans and lovers converged at the Mackenzie Sports Club Ground on Saturday evening to be part of the historical kick off of the GT&T FastBall Football competition.
Minister of Sport Dr. Frank Anthony does the official kick off of FastBall in the presence of GT&T CEO Yog Mahadeo (right), officials and members of the Coomacka team.
The colourful opening ceremony which featured the Parade of the participating teams in the Bauxite Mining Town saw Minister of Culture Youth and Sport Dr. Frank Anthony delivering feature remarks. Also attending and offering brief remarks were People’s Progressive Party General Secretary and Presidential candidate Donald Ramoutar, Guyana Football Federation General Secretary Noel Adonis and Chief Executive Officer of GT&T, Yog Mahadeo.
All the speakers recognised and congratulated young Therron Alleyne of Regma Primary School who became the first Lindener to top the country at the Secondary School Entrance Examinations.
Dr. Anthony in feature remarks said he was happy to be in Linden for yet another historic occasion reminding the audience of past historic events there including Mashramani and the Kashif & Shanghai tournament among others.
He noted that these events have helped to bring about change in Guyana and is sure with GT&T involved and aiding the process of going out into the villages and communities and bringing out people to play football, it would help identify talent around Guyana which in turn would help to lift the quality of the game.
“Hats off to GT&T they have done a marvelous job. I am sure that this would not be the last FastBall tournament. They have shown that they have the capacity to increase the number of teams looking back at when Ten10 was started. That’s the vision, we want every community across Guyana to be playing FastBall and I’m sure the CEO would endorse this.”
Dr. Anthony challenged the players to strive for a high level of discipline and be competitive.
PPP General Secretary Donald Ramoutar congratulated all the teams and players who will be participating in the tournament noting that we live in a world where so much negative surrounds us.
“The fight against drugs, the fight against negative kinds of living and sports can be used in developing a healthy lifestyle and therefore I want to congratulate those of you who have turned to sport and with sport, encourage other young people to put aside bad habits.”
GFF General Secretary Noel Adonis complimented GT&T for such a brilliant idea while committing their time and sponsorship towards the development of the sport and by extension, families and Guyana.
He stated that one of the pillars for the sport in FIFA is ‘Touching the world’ and GT&T is touching all of Guyana with FastBall.
GT&T CEO Yog Mahadeo commenced his remarks by informing Alleyne and the crowd that “GT&T has your back, we will take care of you.” to loud applause.
He reminded the audience that the occasion was historic in nature since it was the first tournament of its kind while reminding them that Linden has a knack for creating history.
“GT&T ladies and gentlemen is proud to put its money, its efforts and everything it can put together at this moment behind this game as you see more than 200 teams across Guyana signing up for FastBall.
Were putting up millions of dollars in prizes because we want the players to ensure you embrace professionalism and get families into sport.”
Mahadeo, whose brainchild it was to have such a tournament reminded the gathering that their {GT&T} contributions go way into the family and I say it is not about money.
“With our Ten10 and FastBall tournaments we have put into Guyana more than 110 million dollars. Not only have we put such money into sport but into new forms of sports, exciting sports and I’m really excited to see that there is a team that is made up of a family and I want to encourage more like that. This game is going to roll across Guyana and I bet you like Ten10 it’s going to roll across the world. Our aim is to put Guyana first.”
Mahadeo complemented the hard working staff of GT&T, Minister of Sport Dr. Anthony, Guyana Football Federation, Kashif & Shanghai and Hits & Jam Entertainment for their committed work in making the tournament a reality.
A total of 24 teams participated in the March Pass with Snatchers copping the prize for the best team.
GT&T as part of the FastBall promotion on the opening day gave out One Million dollars in credit to fans who were involved in a number of exciting fun activities which included doving and shooting to a small goal.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
The PPP has started the intimidation
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- In politics, as in life, what goes around comes around. The People’s Progressive Party/Civic... more
The Caribbean: Destined to Grin and Bear the Consequences of Its Self-Created Vulnerabilities?
By Sir Ronald Sanders For decades, many Caribbean nations have grappled with dependence on a small number of powerful countries... more
Weekend Cartoon
