Despite a drastic decline in its traditional attendance, co-founder of the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation, Aubrey ‘Shanghai’ Major has dubbed this year’s edition of its football tournament a “great success.”
“The tournament was a great success because we achieved a great lot in seeing the future of Guyana’s football,” Major told Stabroek Sport yesterday.
“The average person would like to see large crowds but we are focused on developing the youths. We think that if all the stakeholders can rally around the youths, Guyana’s football can go places because there is a lot of talent locally.”
Asked about the attendance which saw approximately 500 fans witnessing the final at the GFC ground on New Year’s Day, Major replied: “I think the attendance was good and we vow that we will make this tournament the biggest thing in this country, like the school football tournaments in Trinidad and Jamaica, it could have been better but we are satisfied.”
Major opined that… “The level of school football was the best we have seen for the longest while. I don’t think the country has seen that level of football in quite a while.”
Asked about the continuity of the 24-year-old tournament which was held for senior ball clubs for 23 years, Major said that his organisation has not given up on senior football but the secondary schools competition which is dubbed ‘The Kashif and Shanghai Elite Next Generation Tournament’ will kick off annually.
“Going forward the school’s tournament will be an annual fixture. It’s not that we are finished with senior football but we are more focused on development, senior football is not heading in the right direction, it’s chaotic at the moment.
“We will look to get all the stakeholders involved and make this tournament the biggest thing in local football. The youths are the future and I think that this is where everyone should focus.”
Reflecting on the highlight of the tourney, Major mentioned that it was based around the crowd pullers from Region Seven, Waramadong Secondary School who were the third place finishers.
“I think it was based around the Waramadong team. Their skill level and their discipline were of the highest level and the support they received was tremendous. We would like to get their players more involved in football going forward.”
Major added that one of the things that concerned him the most was the lack of better playing conditions and that “next year we will be looking to get better playing surfaces.”
To further boost the reputation of the tournament, Major disclosed that an international fixture is planned in April and will involve schools teams from St. Lucia and Suriname.
For their support, he thanked the Government of Guyana, Mohamed’s Enterprise, Beharry Group of Companies, Bakewell, General Manager of the Demerara Harbour Bridge, Rawleston Adams, The Ministry of Education, Bushy Park Sawmills, Wind Jammer Hotel, The GFF, Caribbean Cargo, Cell Smart, Star Party Rentals and others.
Notes: The inaugural fixture was won by Wismar/Christianburg Multilateral. The defeated Ash Education, 4-2 on penalties after the game was knotted 1-1 in normal time.
The students of the Linden based outfit is set to pocket a record $1.2M in cash of which 75% will go towards a project identified by the school.
The institutions placing second, third and fourth (St. George’s High) will each receive prize monies amounting to $750,000, $500,000 and $250,000, in cash respectively.
