By Iva Wharton
Thirty-seven under-13 players from five football clubs in the city have been selected to attend the Banks DIH Limited, Powerade football academy.
The clubs are: Fruta Conquerors, GFC, Sunburst Camptown, Santos and Renaissance.
President of the Georgetown Football Association (GFA) Vernon Burnette said that he could not give an exact date as towhen the academy will commence but said it would be sometime during the August holidays.
“The academy is not just for the August holidays but is a continuous programme,” Burnett told Stabroek Sport.
The programme he said is not just about football but academics also. “We are mixing football with academics in that way the students will be exposed to academics, life skills and theoretical aspects of the sport.”
Burnett said what the GFA found out was that while the players knew how to play the sport they were not knowledgeable about the rules of the game.
Those rules, he said will make them more appreciative of the referees’ decisions on the field and help to make them more disciplined.
One of the requirements of the academy is that the players must be attending a school, as they must be able to monitor their grades. Parents also have an important role to play in their children’s lives while they are attending the academy.
Jimmy McLean, Technical Director of the just concluded Under-13 Powerade tournament and coordinator of the academy, said that initially they were looking to identity 25
players to start the academy, but added that that figure soon increased with the abundance of talent they saw on the field.
He too stressed that education will be a major part of the programme and as such students have to be able to balance both education and football to be able to maintain their post in the academy.
The announcement of the players were made at the presentation ceremony for the Powerade Under-13 tournament held on Saturday at Thirst Park.
Errol Nelson, Banks DIH Brand Manager for Powerade said that the company was pleased to be associated with the tournament.
“It is our belief that with the participation at the grassroots level it would be good for the development of the sport in Guyana”.
Fruta Conquerors, who won the tournament, received uniforms apart from their trophies and medals.
Second was Renaissance, Santos, third, and Sunburst Camptown in fourth place.
