In a world today where more and more women’s teams, athletes, and officials are pushing for their wages, perks, and overall treatment to be on a level playing field with men, Guyana is, as usual, decades behind.
However, as the Guyanese proverb says, “One-one dutty build dam”.
Local coordinators, the Petra Organisation, with a proven track record of successfully organising tournaments at all levels of football across Guyana, are looking to do their bit in ensuring that there is female equality in the sport of football in the ‘Land of Many Waters’.
Co-director of Petra, Troy Mendonca, spoke to Stabroek News in an exclusive sit-down and explained how they are planning to chip in with their ‘dutty’.
Mendonca explained, “We as an organisation really need to change how we put things over. Overall, in football, we look at the developmental aspect by virtue of our efforts and the tournaments we do. We can safely say that at this point we understand the need, especially in the female game, to create an environment conducive to giving girls equal opportunities.”
Presently, Petra’s portfolio consists of Courts Optical Pee Wee Football, Digicel School Championship, MVP Sports Girls Pee Wee Competition, Milo Secondary Schools Championship, Petra Futsal Championship, Turbo Energy Drink Knockout Tournament, ExxonMobil U14 Championship, Limacol Secondary Schools League, and the KFC Goodwill Series. Of the aforesaid, only the MVP Sports Pee Wee and ExxonMobil U14 are of female persuasion.
Despite sponsorship being there for the male tournaments, Mendonca pointed out that it is not the same when it comes to the opposite sex. “We have observed difficulty in garnering sponsors, even though corporate Guyana has a lot of female representation. Female football is a big thing worldwide, and it is growing.
It is our hope that we can maintain a spark starting from the pee level and fuel it further”, he expounded.
Mendonca even touched on the Lady Jaguars make-up, pointing out that the majority of players on Guyana’s women’s national team are foreigners. He argued that if a difference can be made from the grassroots level and move upwards, that is something that could be changed.
“We have to change that. We have made a conscientious decision only recently to put more effort into the female tournaments. In the future, there is a possibility of having high school tournaments for females”, he further disclosed.
Citing his organisation’s ability to return sponsors’ investments by way of brand visibility and publicity throughout tournaments, Mendonca stated, “Even though returns might not be in physical sales, we hope that with the way we operate and the relationship that we share with sponsors, they can come on board and support our holistic push for the development of the female game in Guyana”.
Petra, on November 18th, commenced the 7th edition of their Girls U-11 Pee Wee Schools Football Tournament, which is sponsored by MVP Sports. If the opening ceremony and the encouraging attendance are anything to go by, they have started on the right track.
