Troy Mendonca, PETRA Co-Director yesterday said that he hopes that the inaugural staging of the East Coast Demerara Guinness Greatest of the Streets football tournament would be as successful as similar ventures held in Georgetown.
Mendonca was making the remarks at the tournament’s official launch yesterday at Banks DIH Limited.
Prior to Mendonca’s remarks, Banks DIH Limited Brand Manager of Sales and Marketing, Brian Choo-Hen, stated that there was great excitement surrounding the launch of this edition which will commence tomorrow adding that a successful tournament was what was clearly expected.
“There is a sense of anticipation regarding the launch of this tournament. Fixtures will be played at the Haslington Market Square and the Buxton Playfield Tarmac and we task on the teams and players to play the game in a free, fair and clean manner. “Guinness remains committed in ensuring the tournament comes off with a bang and I know it will be successful with PETRA team coordinating this event,” he added.
Sixteen competing teams ranging from Plaisance to as far as Mahaicony will compete for bragging rights, $400,000 first prize and a trophy over five playing nights, concluding with the grand final on February 16. Mendonca spoke of the tournament’s rise and growth since its inaugural edition in 2008 and said that he hoped that this new beginning will facilitate further growth in this initiative.
“This marks the new beginning of a project that began in 2008. Evident by its popularity, it has grown to be one of the largest grassroots projects in the nation. Originally teams primarily out of Georgetown and Linden competed and now it’s time for change.”
There will be four groups of four teams contesting a round robin format with the top two finishers advancing to the quarterfinal round. Eight games will be contested at the group stages per night with four games each played at the quarterfinal, semifinal and final nights.
Mendonca stated that the resulting finalists will be eligible to play in the national tournament with the opportunity to represent the nation at the Caribbean leg.
“We want to give every constituent a chance to earn that national spot so that they can have the opportunity to represent the country. It is against that back-drop that we are now doing all these areas inclusive of Linden, Bartica, East Bank and West Demerara with the two finalists from each area competing at the National Level. The winner from that competition will represent Guyana at the Caribbean Leg”.
The tournament officially kicks off at the Buxton Playfield Tarmac from 18:30hrs on the 5th February with winners receiving $400,000 and a trophy while second, third and fourth place finishers will each receive $200,000, $100,000, $50,000 and trophies respectively.
