Latest update March 24th, 2025 7:05 AM
GFF commission’s Rupununi FA’s Office in Lethem
From left, Mayor Carlton Beckles, RFA President (Ag) Curtis Buckley, GFF President Wayne Forde and Region #9 Chairman, Curtis Buckley pose for a photo-op with a signed ball after the Office’s Commissioning last night.
Yesterday, the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) made another positive step towards the development of the sport locally with the historic commissioning of the Rupununi Football Association’s (RFA) office located at Middle Street, Lethem.
President (Ag) of the RFA, Curtis Buckley, was elated at the momentous occasion during the ribbon cutting ceremony and noted that the current RFA executive body which was formed merely two years ago on October 30, 2015, has grown from strength to strength despite challenges.
“When he held our election in 2015, we had only 5 clubs and today, the association is 17-clubs strong with the “Go Getters” club hailing as far away as Mahdia,” Buckley shared during his address at the simple but significant event.
Buckley further explained that despite their humble beginnings, after only two years, a total of 30 players from RFA have been called up to National squads with three of them representing Guyana; all at the under 15 level. The President (Ag) posited that his association which is the only one that runs off a senior male and female tournament simultaneously deserves to have the office.
However, despite the RFA’s quick successes, the association still has challenges. Headlining those challenges is the local sports fraternity’s bugbear of insufficient facilities. In addition to the GFF’s and RFA’s presidents, also present at the ribbon cutting ceremony were Region 9 Chairman Brian Allicock and Mayor of Lethem, Carlton Beckles, a former association Secretary.
Beckles who is a former FIFA Referee while enjoying the opportunities to interact with some of the best officials in the game, noted that in order to have success, one must be committed: “We being here today at the opening of the RFA office is the first step towards committing to the continuous development of football in the region.”
Allicock expounded on the fact of the immense raw talent that is in the Rupununi while noting the region’s very own Orville Daniels’ goal gifted Guyana Under-15 boys’ victory in the Soualiga tournament in St. Marteen last year.
“A historic occasion for football development in the Rupununi”, was how Wayne Forde described the event. “There is no doubt in my mind in the amount of talent in this region but unless you have the administrative mechanisms to develop those talents, they will remain nothing more but just talents,” Forde posited as he iterated the importance of the office.
“The federation (GFF) comprehends the need for investing in the development of the game and that is the main reason why out of the 13 Scotiabank Academy Training Centres, four of them are based in the RFA which is only one of the nine associations under the purview of the GFF,” Forde concluded in his address at the commissioning.
During the ribbon cutting, Forde noted that he hopes that the office will be a continuous home for the members of the RFA and all football stakeholders in the region.
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