Rickland ‘Tallo’ Hutson, coordinator of the recent Stag Beer Linden Inter-Ward Football championships says the event was borne out of the vision to recreate rivalry amongst the respective communities.
In an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sports, Hutson declared, “We wanted to put forward a tournament that will appeal to all of the football fanatics out there in our great town. We wanted to bring back a “true” rivalry showdown that will get the fans from the various communities fired up and have them coming out to support their football stars. We wanted to recreate the time when the stars of the game were household names and were easily identifiable to the fans.”
The Mining Town of Linden has produced a number of football stars such as Bonny Anthony, Neville `Zipper’ Johnson, Nigel `Mice’ Cummings, and more recently Collie `Hitman’ Hercules to name a few.
“In order to do that we know that we had to present the tournament in an attractive and well organized setting. As you may know, Linden is well known for being a sport loving town. More so, Linden has always maintained a very knowledgeable and passionate football fan base which has gotten accustomed to coming out of every community in this region to cheer on its football stars over the years and decades,” he added.
Asked about the reasons that motivated the start-up of the event, Hutson said: “We, at CBR Hotshots Entertainment, have a team that shares almost identical views when we looked at the current issues that football in Linden is going through at the moment. We all basically had the same answers to the question, why aren’t there any legitimate, quality and organized senior football being played in Linden on a consistent basis?”
The event, which lasted for four days, involved eight communities battling in an elimination format. Silvercity Alley and Valleys emerged the inaugural champion with a 2-1 win over Block 22.
Questioned about the importance of such events to the development of football, he said: “The most satisfying thing that came out of our tournament in my opinion is that people are talking in a more positive way about football again. It brought back optimism and hope. Events such as ours are not only good for the development of football alone, it is good for all sports! It is good for a lot of possibilities, potentially. The more opportunities athletes get to perform and display their craft, the more confident they will become.
Us not them
“The people that have been trusted to turn this sport around must be selfless and know that it’s not about `them.’
“The sooner we can realize that it is not about us the sooner bigger things will start to happen. A brighter future in the sport and classroom for the young ones that’s coming after us should be of paramount importance and the ultimate goal,” he said.
Queried his thoughts on the current state of affairs, Hutson said: “I’m an optimist. For the two weeks that I’ve was in the country, very often I’ve been listening to some persons putting our sport in a very dark place with no contribution or comments of their own for solutions.
“That really bothered me every time.
“For me, I always prefer to look on the bright side and see where we can contribute or help to take the game and the players to another level. This means having a firm structure, encouraging academic excellence, making the much needed equipment more accessible and instilling the values of discipline and a positive approach towards a good career, and ultimately, a good life. With this kind of a mentality we’ll be putting our players and athletes in a position to succeed.
“I think the sport will improve and have a solid future after this little bumpy patch that the UDFA is going through. I commend the president of the GFF Mr. Wayne Forde for his unwavering support to put Guyana and Linden’s football back in its rightful place,” he added.
Enquired about the measures that will be instituted to build on the success of the championship, Hutson said, “The goal and challenge will always be to keep growing and improving this game and tournament. “This includes doing what’s best for the players, communities and the sponsors. Going this route could only add to our brand, which is still a work in progress.”
Hutson said he wanted to thank the various sponsors for their invaluable contribution to the event’s success.
“We really appreciated the journey during our preparations for this first tournament and we’ve learned so much during the ups and downs. We’re now in a much better position because we would have travelled this road already and now know what to expect, and, what is expected of us also.
A lot of our preparations for future tournaments will include the managers and some of the top players from the teams. We just want to make sure that we maintain an open mind and ear, and be easily accessible to accommodate some of their thoughts and ideas. We felt like this kind of two way communication is very important and these are the best persons to be hearing from.”