Through the auspices of the Alex Bunbury Sports and Academics Academy (ABSAA), rising local stars Jeremy Garett and Shemika Marcus are set to participate in trials at the world famous football club Sports Lisbon of Portugal next month.
Chief of ASBAA and former Canada footballer Alex Bunbury said yesterday “Sporting will be giving two of our players, one female and a male the opportunity to experience what it’s like to be in a professional environment. Jeremy Garrett, a 16-year-old will be going to Sporting Academy, the number one academy in the world currently. We want young men like this to be the future of the sport in Guyana. This is a young man who not only excels on the field but off the field academically.
“That is crucial for us, this is our future. When we find young people like this we are going to give them opportunities, ABSAA is going to give them opportunities. I am going to use my name and my recognition to open those doors for these young people. I have been blessed to have that opportunity and that is a responsibility I take seriously and that’s why in Portugal I knocked on the door and said we have talent here.
“Sporting is willing to work with ABSAA to provide more opportunities for young people so Jeremy now has a responsibility to go there and showcase his God-given abilities, not only what we can do on the field but what we can do off the field and from that it opens the flood gates,” he said.
The Canadian Hall of Famer declared “On the other side we have a young lady Shemika Marcus that we are providing the same opportunity for. Shemika is 19 years of age and exhibits the same qualities so we want to showcase that we are not only doing this for boys but doing it for young ladies as well.”
Garrett during a brief address thanked the entity for acquiring this golden opportunity, declaring that while his parents did not want him to participate in the sport, he doesn’t regret the path taken to get to this point.
Echoing Garrett’s sentiments was Marcus who thanked ABSAA the once in a lifetime opportunity as well as the persons involved in fostering her ability in the sport.
The soft spoken Marcus said she moved from cricket to football due to her love for the discipline.
Bunbury also disclosed that Golden Jaguars internationals Trayon Bobb and Shaquille Agard will also be attending tryouts with European outfit Deportivo Alves.
“We want to bring two of my former teams here in Guyana, West Ham United and Marítimo to play in July 2017, we are working on that as we speak and we are going to try to put together an all-star team so we will have three teams playing.”
Bunbury said the opportunity of having the teams on local soil will provide the avenue for Guyana to be showcased in many different avenues to the travelling fandom of the respective teams.
“We came here to do the deeds and we need your support. We are not always going to get things 100 percent right but our intentions are good and we want to see Guyana flourish” he quipped.
