The recently resuscitated Lady Jaguars football team yesterday received a timely boost in preparation for their upcoming Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Olympic Qualifiers as corporate entity Scotiabank officially partnered with the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) by donating $500,000 towards the programme yesterday.
Speaking on behalf of the company at a press conference at the GFF Office, Marketing Manager, Jennifer Cipriani, said while the committee contacted the company early in their tenure, the entity has always been involved in the sport as they co-sponsor a girls and boys’ tourney along with DDL under their Pepsi brand.
According to Cipriani: “We need to give our girls more opportunities.”
She noted that instead of talking about gender equality there was need to strive towards it. She further said this gesture was just another manifestation of her company’s commitment to women’s football and the overall development of sport.
Clinton Urling, Chairman of the GFF Normalization Committee said that the federation is extremely proud to partner with Scotiabank in the development of the women’s game, declaring that initiatives such as this is what is required from the corporate sector to develop the discipline.
Prior to the brief presentation, head-coach Mark Rodrigues in a brief comment said that while they has been limitations during the camp, the team relishes the adversity and does not view the obstacles in a negative light but as an avenue to work harder to achieve their goal.
Technical Director of the GFF, Claude Bolton during a brief comment said that while this is the first programme to start from the ground level under his watch, he is extremely pleased at the way the project is coming together despite the limited budget afforded to the management staff.
He further thanked Rodrigues for the work being undertaken in commissioning the project, stating that it means a lot to the federation.
Team Captain Ashley Rodrigues said while the team is excited to be here, their aim is simply not to qualify for the next round but to go as far ahead as possible in the tournament.
“We are here for the country and not for ourselves,” she declared.
Under the watchful eye of Head-Coach Mark Rodrigues and his assistant coach Clement Browne, Guyana is currently placed in group four along with St Kitts/Nevis and Cuba,
The group matches will be held in the Dominican Republic. The Lady Jags will open their campaign against St. Kitts and Nevis on August 21st before ending their campaign two days later against the Cubans. The Lady Jaguars rose to prominence in 2010 after becoming the first national team from Guyana to feature in a CONCACAF tourney which was the Gold Cup held in Mexico.
Group one of the qualifiers will be staged in Puerto Rico and fields the hosts, Aruba, Haiti and Grenada while Group two will consist of host Trinidad and Tobago St. Lucia, Antigua & Barbuda and the Cayman Islands.
Group three will be contested in Suriname and will feature the likes of the Dominican Republic, Dominica and Jamaica.
Unlike the U23 age limit of the male version for individuals born on or after January 1st 1993, the women’s event does not has such a stipulation. The top three teams from the CFU Qualifiers will progress to the CONCACAF Women’s Summer Olympic Tournament in 2016.
