Santos FC recognises efforts of players, officials and sponsors at Awards Ceremony

Feb 12, 2020 Sports

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Aiming to become national champs in 3-5 years

By Franklin Wilson

The year 2019 can be described as a year of resurgence for Santos Football Club (SFC) under the astute leadership of President Ramesh Persaud who took over the helm, in January of last year.

In the 55th year as an institution involved in shaping the lives of players on Saturday evening last held an Awards Ceremony to recognise players and officials for their contributions during the year.
Also gracing the activity with their presence was GFF President Wayne Forde, General Secretary (Ag.) Rev. Ian Alves, Founding President of SFC Godfrey Wray, President of the Private Sector Commission Capt. Jerry Gouveia and National Coaches, among others.
President Forde recalled that, the first club he played with following his relocating from Bartica as a youth to Norton Street was Santos FC. He said it has a rich history of dominating its rivals back in the day.
He noted that then, a high premium was placed on academics as many of the players would have gone on to do well for themselves and country. He said that a football club is more than an institution that teaches a young boy or girl to play the game.

“The message that I want to leave with you is that we have a mandate; we have a task to ensure that we do everything in our power to make sure that the education they leave our football institutions with is much more than football. It’s important that they understand the value of discipline, teamwork, self respect, respect for each other, honestly and a solid character that would allow them to resist the countless temptations that they will face during the course of their young lives, much of which we did not have to deal with in our time.”
President Persaud in feature remarks informed that ever since its establishment of the club in 1964, it has been a prominent entity in Guyana.

“Santos FC has surely played its role in maintaining the public interest and confidence in the sport in Guyana. Like many institutions, we’ve gone through cycles of success, vibrancy, disputes and dormancy over the years. Despite the many challenges, Santos FC team and brand was kept intact by dedicated members such a s our first president Mr. Godfrey Wray, other founding executive members, Mr. Poulis, Mr. Frank ‘English’ Parris, Earl Paul, Kavin Pearce, Mr. Trevor Burnett, just to name a few.”
President Persaud further posited that the club emerged in 2019 from a level of minimum activity to a competitive force to be reckoned with; one where they grew from just being a team to streamlining their activities as a club and institution.

Persaud hit the ground running after being elected and along with his executive committee, commenced the process of rebuilding the brand and institution that would have contributed to the lives of many in Guyana.
He noted that from an administrative perspective the club met more often, obtained its TIN certificate, reactivated its bank account, improved its record keeping, and brought major sponsors on board as well as obtain its Club License.
From a roster of 29 active players at the beginning of the year, Persaud reported that they ended the year with over 50 active players at the various levels. It was also reported that the following of fans has been revived and is rapidly growing via the SFC facebook page.
“Our financial status, we did a lot with very little. We started the year with about $450,000 in the bank, we raised about $850,000

in sponsorship, we won prize monies of about 1.3M during the year and that provided us with only 2.6M for the entire year. Of that, $910,000 was given to the players when they won tournaments. Our policy is 70% for players and 30% for club administration.”
He noted that between uses of ground, lights and coaches, SFC expended about 1.5M approximately 75% of their budget.
“We believe that if the coaches are present and we have a facility to play, people will turn up and we’ll have everything else in place thereafter. At the end of the year we ended up with just about $190,000. We wish to thank our main sponsors which are Argos Cement and IPED for their support during the year.”
President Persaud stated that resources are not sufficient for them to accomplish all that they would like to, citing that this is a challenge faced by many clubs.
“To keep the momentum and the player’s interest in the game, more matches and tournaments needs to be played. The more the teams play, the better the industry of football would be in Guyana and not just the game of football.”
Persaud ended his presentation by stating they are aiming to become national champs and move on to compete at the CFU and Concacaf levels.
“We will work towards those goals in maybe three to five years. At Santos FC we’ll be working hard to ensure that football is not just seen as a sport or pastime but is a viable economic sector, creating jobs and providing sustainable income to participants.”
The club’s Under-15 team won the Georgetown FA leg of the GFF/Pele Alumni Frank Watson Memorial tournament and was runner-up for the National competition; played 14 matches for the year, won 13 and lost one, the final.
SFC Under-20s won the inaugural GFF-KFC National tournament; was runner-up in the Limacol tournament, exited the Turbo Football tourney in the second round, playing a total of 13 matches, winning 10 and losing three.
The senior men’s team competed in the GFF Elite League season-four playoffs and qualified for the first time and ended 6th of the ten competing teams. In the GFF Super 16 KO Cup, Santos ended 3rd. They competed in 15 matches for the year, winning 8 lost 6 and drew one.
On the distaff side, SFC resuscitated the women’s team which placed third in the GFF-ALWAYS Championship Cup 2019; playing eight matches, won three and drew two.
Full list of Awardees
Women’s Team
Award Player
Most Disciplined Player Aaliyah France
Most Improved Player Ashanti Corlette
Most Promising Player Niaomie Williams
Most Valuable Player Aaliyah David
Under 15 Male Team
Most Disciplined Player Akeem Gittens
Most Improved Player Tyler Lyle and Tyrese Lyle
Most Promising Player Tyrese Dowridge
Most Valuable Player Darron Niles
Under 20 Male Team
Most Disciplined Player Marcus Wilson
Most Improved Player Brandon Solomon and Malcom Miggins
Most Promising Player Bevney McGarrel
Most Valuable Player Stefhan Reynolds
Senior Men’s Team
Most Disciplined Player Kevin Dundas
Most Improved Player Ryan October
Most Promising Player Orin Yarde
Most Valuable Player Alex Murray
Special Awards
Life Time Achievement Godfrey Polis
Coach of the Decade Kavin Pearce
Community Service The Business School
Strategic Partner of the Year Georgetown Football Club
Premium Sponsor Argos Cement Company
Masters Player of the Year Malcom Dawson
President’s Commendation
Women’s Team Development Jessica Teasdale
Manager Earl Anthony Paul
Coach Trevor Burnett
General Manager Frank ‘English’ Parris

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