Every football stakeholder should applaud and appreciate Digicel’s effort

May 12, 2016 Sports

By Rawle Welch

Schools have begun to prepare for the upcoming Digicel’s Schools’ Football Tournament showpiece which is unquestionably the biggest junior attraction in football.

The moment it all started in 2011. (Sitting)-The four principals that made it all possible are Digicel CEO Gregory Dean (2nd right), Head of Marketing Jacqueline James (right), Head of Customer Care Sherwyn Osborne and Head of the Organising Committee Lavern Fraser pose with participating schools representatives.

The telecommunication giant’s vision which was unearthed in 2011 has become the most anticipated junior football spectacle in Guyana with matches being played in all ten regions of this beautiful land allowing scouts, fans and the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) the opportunity to spot the abundance of talent that reside in and outside the Georgetown environ.
Apart from the on-field activities, there are numerous other benefits that are derived from the hosting of the tournament since participants, media and other associated staff gets the chance to witness first hand the assortment ofdifferent cultures and customs in our multi-ethnic composition and not to mention the economic enrichment as well.
There is the advantage of teachers from the participating schools being educated on the rules of the sport which they can then take back to their respective institutions for the benefit of properly preparing the students some of who had no prior knowledge of such, but were eager to participate in this illustrious tournament.
The undertaking as we know is enormous and hats must be off to Digicel for not only honouring its corporate responsibility, but also playing its part in helping to advance the development of the sport here.
Sport in Guyana has not been given its rightful recognition, but thanks to Digicel and a few other corporate entities who’ve understood the need to invest, quite a few athletes and sports organizations attest to the importance and caring attitude that they’ve demonstrated in the absence of many others.
The five years that the tournament has been played were exciting and beneficial to our young ball weavers and in an effort not to reduce the usual exhilarating anticipation that the event’s Launch creates, the word around the schools is that four-times champion Christianburg / Wsmar will be the hunted from day one.
The likes of last year’s beaten finalist Chase Academic Foundation, Waramadong, Annai, Lodge Secondary, Dolphin, Berbice High School, Bishop’s High, Queen’s College among others are leaving no stones unturned in their quest to dethrone perennial powerhouse Christianburg / Wismar.
However, the defending champs are no strangers to adversity or even the underdog billing, but their resilience combined with the hunger for success have proven to be the two pillars that opposing schools find difficult to breakdown.
What is certain is that more and more teams are beginning to commence preparations earlier than previous years and this is because of the increased excitement and level of competition caused by the rivalry among schools as well as the financial assistance that the successful institutions receive from the Company.
Judging from the tournament after six years, it is clear to see that the standard of play has improved immensely in every Region and while the Top Brass of Digicel had given a timeline of 5-8 years to distinguish the real benefits of the Project, to most observers the success has come at a quicker pace.
After many years of sluggish growth in the sport, one can safely say that the Digicel event served as the force for action in the schools.
It exposed the glaring weaknesses in the development of the sport and as we see now, there are many offshoots like the Scotia Bank and Milo tournaments and just recently we saw the launch of the GFF Under-17 Intra-Association Competition.
The sport has never before enjoyed so many participants, it is now more visible in many far flung areas and the young players feel as though their dream of becoming a top flight player is closer to reality than ever.
The cost borne by Digicel to host the event lands in the vicinity of tens of millions of dollars and this effort should be applauded and appreciated by every football stakeholder and each stakeholder should ensure the integrity of the tournament is upheld at all times.
This year’s tournament is scheduled to be launched shortly in time for the 50th jubilee celebrations and many schools have already registered and training after the deal was sweetened by Digicel who provided tickets for the Guyana vs. Canada International game to the first 10 schools that registered, which will have the 2015 finalists from the Digicel’s Schools’ Football Tournament playing an exhibition game against the team they defeated in last year’s final Chase Academy.