The Georgetown Football Association (GFA) second annual Chubby Under-14 round robin competition was launched yesterday at the Guyana Beverage Company Inc. conference room in the presence of the company’s General Manager Robert Selman and its Customer Representative Shameiza Yadram.
The competition will commence on Monday with all matches being contested at the Tucville Playfield. The competition will see Beacon United begin their journey in the defence of their 2007 title when they go up against home team Fruta Conquerors in the third match of the day.
Twelve teams, an increase of two on last year’s lineup, have been divided into two groups (A and B) and will vie for the top prize. As an added incentive, members of the winning team will be presented with one Chubby haversack and 12 exercise books.
Beacon United, Santos Football Club, Pele, Fruta Conquerors, Rhythm Squad and Georgetown Football Club are in group A, while Alpha United, Strike Again, Renaissance, Sunburst Camptown, BK International Western Tigers and Thomas United are bonded in group B.
At the simple ceremony, Selman said that his beverage company is proud to be associated with the GFA in sponsoring this tournament for the second time and he gave assurance of continuing such support in the years ahead.
“An amount of over $500,000 is pushed into this tournament to make sure that the youths stay involved in sports and to keep them away from drugs as that can only destroy their future,” Selman said.
The games will be of 60 minutes duration divided into two 30- minute halves and matches will be played simultaneously from 08:30hrs while six games will be the billed for each day leading up to the knockout stage.
At the conclusion of the first round, the top four teams from the two groups will progress to the knockout stage where the finalist will be decided in the tournament, following rules similar to those of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), CONCACAF and FIFA.
At the end of the tournament prizes will be awarded to the Most Valuable Player (MVP), Highest Goal Scorer and the Most Disciplined Team while each player from the winning team will receive one Chubby haversack and 12 exercise books.
