Stag Bowl Football Tournament launched in Linden

Mar 15, 2017 Sports

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By Jacquey Bourne
Eight teams from eight wards in Linden will vie for the first place as CBR Hotshots Entertainment launched their first Annual Stag Bowl Football tournament last Friday on LEN Tarmac.

According to CBR Hotshots Entertainment Director, Coretta Hutson, the Organization was founded by current and former National athletes to organize and promote quality sport, cultural and family oriented events in and around Linden. Hutson said the tournament is the brainchild of Rickland ‘Tallo’ Hutson, Marlon ‘Brando’ Washington and Clive Nobrega. She noted that the vision is to promote the sport in a way where footballers can get more involved in community outreach.
“The tournament came to fruition when the guys decided to bring back the original football rivalry and do a tournament with a difference. They wanted all parties to be involved and benefit – the players, the coaches, the fans and the community. Basically what we are starting off with after the launching is a ‘community lime’ where we are going into each community represented here and hold a lime as a result to bring cohesion within them. It is not just football; it is football with a twist, a football with a difference, a football that is meant to bring everybody together.”
The eight wards represented are Amelia’s Ward, Central McKenzie, Christianburg, Silvercity/Valleys/Alleys, Blueberry Hill, Half Mile/One Mile/Scheme, Wisroc/Block 22 and Silvertown/Canvas City/West Watooka. Hutson noted that the first place winner will cart off $1.2M and a trophy, but they will have to use the two hundred thousand dollars for a community project. Second prize $500,000 and a trophy and third and fourth place winners will take home $300,000 and $150,000 respectively.
Town Council Councilor Keenan Williams speaking on behalf of His Worship the Mayor Carwyn Holland, thanked the Hutson family for their continued involvement in community development and in sport; their contribution towards the development and maintenance of the Christianburg Community Centre and football in Christianburg. Williams noted that football is the heart of Linden. “I am happy to see that the CBR Hotshots Entertainment have recognized the importance and have decided to commit to the process of ensuring that community mobilization, participation and involvement will play a critical part in this tournament they have planned and contributed to. It involves community participation at a level where they will work together in terms of building cohesion.”
Williams noted that he is also happy that teams and communities will be charged to mobilize themselves and do fund raising activities and to initiate Community Development projects. He also claimed that football is considered the vein of Linden an extra ordinary town. “It is not only seen as the tool to keep youths involved but one of the most important tools for economic stimulation of the most important symbol for economic diversification and allowing for us to think outside of the box.” He noted that sports, entertainment and tourism were able to keep Linden afloat after the decline of bauxite.
“All said and done the M&TC is pleased to endorse this tournament. We are encouraged to see community members are mobilizing themselves to participate in the development process. We are encouraged to see that it does not only involve the promoters but others that are seeking to involve the community at large. We recognize that we cannot do it alone; by no means the Politicians or the ‘so called’ leaders in positions can’t do it alone. It will involve every Lindener.”
President of the Upper Demerara Football Association Sharma Solomon in his final appearance as President of the UDFA said as he look at the football being organized he is encouraged to recognize the structure and format which takes into consideration not just the sport but the community.
Solomon said that the history of Inter Ward football tournaments at the level of the senior programmes acts as a catalyst and it is the purest grassroots programme where it contributes to clubs and thanked CBR Promotion Group for bringing back grassroot football to the community. “Our players have always demonstrated their abilities to show how they can perform on the field and not only as it relates to clubs but as it relates to how they conduct themselves; and I am certain that although this is an interward tournament and the UDFA limitations as it relates to sanctioning of the tournament. We have players who are maybe part of the competition who are not registered with the Association but we are also aware that the players of the UDFA that will be participating in this competition will demonstrate exemplary skill, not only skill of talent but skill of respect and discipline and we ask those players who are not part of this Association to demonstrate that skill of talent and also high discipline and moral character.”
Solomon noted that as the person responsible for football for the last 13 months this competition adds flair and flavor to the UDFA. He noted that the executive was given the opportunity over the past 13 months and they have made some accomplishments which include two year end tournaments which allowed for over $10M to be injected directly into football to run two U17 tournaments which lasted over seven months which allowed our U17 players to be well tuned and train the coaches. “We are saying these things so you can get the bigger picture of where football should be developed.”
Solomon also elaborated on the fact that the youngsters at the level of coaching and summer programmes have been catered for and based on all that and what they would have accomplished, including the issues of developing players, grounds and all that was needed over the past 13 months and based on the things that have developed in the UDFA, very humbly and sincerely announced his resignation as President of the UDFA as he did last Thursday to the President of the Guyana Football Federation.
“We have an understanding in the UDFA what is important is football and football must always be the victor as we move forward in this community. We have had in this community too many issues of division, too many issues of infighting. Things like that will not make us progress; things like that have retarded our development and growth; and if as a community we want to ensure that beyond the things that hold us back removed, we can only do that together and collectively. This is my admonishment and collectively we fail as we have demonstrated many times before to collectively pursue the things that confront us, it challenges then dividedly we will fall as victims to the things that continue today to affect us. So I say this again with some amount of heavy heart; to ensure that football progress it is my sincerest hope that we put football first and forward.”
Representative from Ansa McAl Keon Persaud said his company is proud to be the sponsor of the inaugural Stag Bowl Football Tournament. Persaud said sports play an important role in the mind of youths and Ansa McAl plan to continue to support events and youths throughout the length and breadth of Guyana and they would love to revitalize the brand in the community.

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