Petra Organisation: a front runner in youth football promotion

Jan 09, 2019 Sports

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Last year was a busy one for football Promotions Company; Petra Organisation, which has prioritised football development at the grassroots level through the vision of the company’s Co-Director, Troy Mendonca, who is passionate about the development of the world’s most popular sport in Guyana.
Mendonca, a former football administrator and player, was proud to unveil three new school based competitions to go along with the already established peewee and under-18 tournaments. Those being the ExxonMobil under-14, Guyoil/Tradewind Tankers school league and the KFC Goodwill tournament.
Courts boys’ Peewee

St. Pius dethroned 2017 Champions West Ruimveldt Primary in the final of the competition which concluded last November. Kaden Wellington was the star of the final, which his team won 4-1 against the West, after bagging a brace, to finish the tournament as the tournament’s highest goal scorer with 15 goals from eight matches.
The pint size 10-year old was the star of the tournament with his superior skills and was rightfully adjudged the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the seventh edition of the tournament which began with 32 players.
The third place encounter ended in a 3-0 win by penalty kicks for Tucville Primary after their keenly contested battle with Mocha Primary was goalless after full and extra time.
The Hero for Tucville was their Goalie John Harry who saved the first three shots from the penalty spot.
For their efforts St Pius collected one Acer Lap Top Computer, the winner’s Trophy and Medals along with full Kit and Uniforms, while the Runners-up received a 40-inch Flat screen TV, Trophy and Medals.
Smalta girls’ Peewee

West Ruimveldt Primary School comfortably defeated North Georgetown Primary 3-1 to emerge as the 2018 Champions last month at the Ministry of Education (MoE) ground on Carifesta Avenue.
Following a month of competition, defending Champions South Ruimveldt were rampant, but finalists, North Georgetown, had put a spoke in their wheel when they defeated them in the semifinal round.
However, in the final, North Georgetown who were pegged as the favourites after dominating the 2017 champions, outplayed West for most of the game before Seona France scored the first of her two goals to swing the pendulum to West.

France, who was on the score sheet in West Ruimveldt’s win over St. Pius in their semifinal clash, broke the deadlock for the new champions in the 13th minute before doubling her team’s lead in the 21st minute.
Martha France scored in the 27th minute to pull back a goal for the runners up but West’s Skipper Ashana Rajkumar gave her side some cushion with a goal one minute later to secure the victory.

ExxonMobil u-14
Vurlon Mills has been the most successful youth coach in recent years and the Chase Academic Foundation Manager added another title in the bag after orchestrating the star-studded school to the boys’ title of the Inaugural ExxonMobil under-14 schools’ football tournament last July.
The boys’ champions triumphed in emphatic fashion with a 6-1 steamrolling of losing finalists North Ruimveldt Multilateral. It was a very lopsided affair and after Chase had gotten past their true rivals for the boys’ title; Buxton, Chase who had a squad which comprised of seven national under-15 players, were destined to lift the crown.
In the girls’ final, eventual winners Charlestown Secondary were actually knocked out by East La Penitence during the semifinal round, but La Penitence were found guilty of breaking the tournament rules and Charlestown gained the final berth.
Given a second opportunity, Charlestown made use of it and defeated East Ruimveldt 3-0 in the final.
Milo schools’ under-18
The grand finale of the Milo Schools’ Under-18 football tournament which was supported by the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) through the theme ‘Stop Gender Based Violence’ turned out to be everything it promised to be and more, as Sir Leon lessons demolished Buxton Youth Development 5-1 last March.
Playing under lights at the Ministry of Education (MOE) ground on CARIFESTA Avenue, Sir Leon’s Zion Gray led his team to the championship after netting a hat-trick.
It was the first time in four years that a new champion was crowned after Chase Academic Foundation had won the three previous years.

Guyoil/Tradewind Tankers School league
East Coast Demerara’s Annandale Secondary School will go down in history as the inaugural champions of the 12-team Guyoil/Tradewind Tankers under-18 football league; a competition that came right down to the wire with the victors being decided during the final round of play on December 8th last.
Heading into the final round, Lodge Secondary led the points table with 27 points, ahead of Annandale by a goal difference of nine, while Christianburg/Wismar Secondary School (CWSS); the other team with a genuine title chance, were third with 26 points.
However, the odds were in second place Annandale’s favour to clinch the championship because they had to play Queen’s College (QC), which had only managed two wins in the competition with one of those victories being a walkover, in their final game, while Lodge had to face the unbeaten CWSS.
And, CWSS defeated Lodge 2-0 to remain unbeaten in the tournament but finished behind Annandale that defeated QC 13-2. Also, CWSS second place finished allowed them the chance to play in the KFC Goodwill tournament later in the month.

KFC Goodwill Cup
Trinidad and Tobago’s (T&T) Shiva’s boys’ Hindu College edged Christianburg/Wismar Secondary School (CWSS) 2-1 last December to clinch the first KFC Goodwill Cup with a perfect record after three rounds of play at the Ministry of Education (MoE) ground on Carifesta Avenue.
This tournament, the first of its kind in Guyana during recent years, saw Guyoil/Tradewind Tankers league champions; Annandale Secondary along with CWSS and Region nine’s Annai Secondary locked in a four-way round-robin battle with T&T’s 2016 league champions; Shiva’s boys for the KFC Cup.
The Trinidadians proved too good for the local teams, winning each of their games but only their win against Annai (3-0) was comfortable after edging Annandale 2-1 as well.
Annai’s, which finished as the runners-up in the tourney, goalkeeper, Leston Smith, was adjudged the best custodian, while Nikel Rawlings, Captain of the champions, was awarded MVP of the competition.

Petra’s Troy Mendonca has noted that this year’s competition will see two teams added inclusive of a proposed Surinamese school team and a Guyana all-star team.

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