Nationwide Digicel Schools Football Tournament launched

Jun 07, 2012 Sports

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By Rawle Welch
With pertinent stakeholders such as the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Sport and the Guyana Football Federation in attendance, the Second Edition of the Annual Digicel Nationwide Schools Football Tournament was launched, during a simple ceremony yesterday, in the Savannah Suite of Pegasus Hotel.

Digicel, the sole sponsor of what is undoubtedly the largest schools football tournament to have ever been conceived, will see 154 schools, a significant increase since last year, participate over a month-long period for bragging rights as champions and a share of $1million to be divided among the top three finishers for projects of their choice.
In attendance at the ceremony were Digicel’s CEO Gregory Dean, Head of Marketing Jacqueline James, Public Relations Manager Shonnet Moore, Events and Sponsorship Manager Gavin Hope, Minister of Sport Dr. Frank Anthony, Chief Education Officer Olato Sam, Chief Coordinator of the Competition Lavern Fraser-Thomas, GFF General Secretary Noel Adonis, representative of defending champions GTI Edward Cort and members of Digicel staff, who will assist in coordinating the tournament.
Fraser-Thomas, who opened the remarks segment gave an outline of the tournament, highlighting some of the changes made including the age of eligibility which is now 17 years and under, while adding that the foremost intention is promoting the development of the sport and providing opportunities for the students to compete with their peers in a structured and organised tournament.
Commenting on the reason for changing the age limit, Fraser-Thomas said it became necessary after the Organising Committee listened to complaints from schools that participated last year where it was felt that institutions such as the Technical Institutes and a few vocational colleges because they have players, who could be deemed as adults on their register, had a distinct advantage over those that fielded younger and lesser experienced players.
She disclosed that the Committee subsequently met and the decision was made to reduce the age limit to 17 years and under which they believe will level the playing field to a great extent.
“By lowering the age limit it makes the playing field more level and this new decision has been met with approval,” Fraser-Thomas stated.
According to her, the tournament format remains the same where 6 of the 11 regions will have their playoffs with the winners them proceeding to meet with the remaining 5 in the national playoffs.
She added that in an effort to decentralize the tournament as much as possible, they’ve decided to play games all across the country.
Adonis in his presentation said he welcomed the opportunity to share in the Launch of the tournament which according to him has the full support of the Federation, while pointing to their endorsement of the event last year.
He stated that one of the encouraging features of the competition is the fact that it is a revived element to the football landscape in Guyana and commended Digicel for the initiative.
Further commenting on the importance of the tournament, Adonis said while it greatly helps with the development of the sport and those who participate in it, there are other benefits to be derived such social and national development.
He closed by urging the teams to adhere to the rules and code of conduct that governs the tournament , while informing that the GFF will be taking a keen look at this year’s event since it is well documented that a vibrant system of sports in schools is really where the future stars are born.
Dean said last year’s competition was a huge success, adding that the Company is even happier this year because of the increased amount of schools to have conformed participation.
He, however, noted that because of this development it has now become a bigger challenge for the Committee, but was confident that they could pull it off with similar or even more success.
“We see it as a long term involvement in this tournament, we will not see immediate results so it has to be a long term commitment from us,” Dean assured.
He said another source of happiness within the Company is the fact that many more schools will have the opportunity to visit far flung communities and this will allow them to understand the culture and even the geography of the country.
Dean then wished all the teams the best and urged that they play within the spirit and rules of the tournament.
Dr. Anthony, who followed spoke of previous discussions held with the sponsor about plans to make it a calendar event and he congratulated Dean for keeping his promise to do so.
He said sports has a role to play in the holistic development of a person’s life and society as well, adding that Digicel has been among the leading corporate entities to have fulfilled that mandate.
“Because Digicel is helping to fill that niche I feel strongly that in the future in the future we will see a number of players emerge from this tournament that could then go on to represent this country.”
He added that now that the tournament has become a calendar event, the move now must be to enhance its quality through the training of teachers to coach the students thereby improving the skills of the players.
Sports, Dr. Anthony alluded to could also help the teachers strike a balance in the school’s curriculum which will then eliminate the possibility of students getting obese or even suffer from cardiovascular diseases when they get older.
Meanwhile, the draw was done involving the six regions and they are as follows: Region 7 winner will play the champion of Region 1; Region 9 winner takes on Region 5 champion and Region 10 winner challenges the champion of Region 8.
The other regions are 2, 3, 4, 6 and Georgetown and the competition starts on June 15.

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