The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) yesterday signed a five-year Memorandum of Under-standing (MoU) with Blue Water Shipping at the Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel for the staging of a girls U15 Developmental League.
The MoU was signed between GFF President Wayne Forde and Blue Water Shipping Country Manager Richard De Nobrega. The tournament is penciled for commencement in April, with a minimum of 10 teams targeted to feature in every regional member association. The participation of academic institutions is also not being ruled out.
Presently, the GFF is in the process of distributing equipment and playing kits to the participating clubs, while pre-season matches will occur in March. After the intra-association leg of the event, a national playoff will occur in July to crown the overall winner. The competition will serve as the platform for the staging of talent identification and eventual squad selection for the Concacaf Championship in August.
Forde during feature remarks said, “This morning we are here to commemorate a relationship that will have a huge impact on football development over the next couple of years. Today [yesterday] we are entering into a five-year partnership with Blue Waters Shipping to launch Guyana’s first U15 girls Developmental League.”
According to Forde, “As you are aware, in August of this year, Guyana will be participating in the Concacaf U15 girls Championship and it is so timely that we are being given the opportunity through the generous sponsorship of Blue Water to launch this developmental league from which we will be selecting those national team players that will represent the Golden Arrowhead.”
He noted that the company has engaged the federation in the past by sponsoring the viewing of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifier against St. Kitts and Nevis, adding that the partnership has developed significantly since that encounter.
“Football is very important to our community and for a company that prides itself on investing in people to take that faithful step and announce their presence in Guyana through the investment in young girls; it’s something that we all can admire. So from the bottom of my heart and on behalf of the entire football fraternity and every young girl that will benefit from Blue Waters investment for the next five years, I want to use this occasion to say thank you to the management of Blue Waters”, Forde added.
Asked if only fully vaccinated players, a policy which was employed in previous GFF tournaments will be employed for participation, Forde disclosed, “We have seen as recently as yesterday, they have been an easing of the restrictions and as we would have stated in the past, everything we do must be in alignment with the Covid-19 regulations gazetted by the Government of Guyana. The tournament will actually kick off in April and in the meantime, we will be doing all the planning and preparation for the tournament so whatever the conditions and regulations are at the time when the tournament will be kicked off, those regulations will guide how the tournament is conducted and managed.”
Forde further revealed that the national Covid-19 guidelines will also guide if Covid-19 testing is utilized and employed before the start and throughout the duration of the competition.
Meanwhile, De Nobrega said, “We take great pride in supporting the football federation. Anything that brings a community together especially in Guyana, we know how dear football is to our country. Anything that brings us together and gives young people an opportunity to display their talent, Blue Water is more than happy. We have seen the federation’s work over the last few years and we are happy to support a federation like the GFF.”
According to De Nobrega, “Sport and football especially are very close to our company culture, we feel very privileged to be part of this initiative, we feel very proud to be doing this in Guyana where we can give young people the opportunity that they might not have had before to be part of a sport that they love, a sport that has been key to Guyana’s development on the sporting arena globally.”
“We see this as just the start and are happy to support Wayne and his entire team. We look forward to the talent that this development league will bring. This will be the launchpad for the selection of a national team for the Concacaf tournament and for the young ladies that are going to be a part, this is an opportunity for them to showcase themselves to the world. To be beneficiaries of a plethora of opportunities for them so we are glad to be on board and we are always going to support the football federation. We are very happy to be signing this MoU”, he further added.
Absent from the signing ceremony was Guyana National Women’s Foot-ball Association (GNWFA) President Andrea Johnson.