Dear Editor,
I have been trying to follow the ongoing U-15 female football tournament presently but with two same age tournaments – Exxon & GFF-BLUE WATER – running concurrently it has become quite difficult. Why has this been allowed to happen? Sponsored tournaments are already very rare. So why the rush to have two run concurrently? It does the sponsors a disservice when fans have to choose a tournament to support while most likely ignoring the other. What about the teams? Some names that I read seem to be participating in both tournaments while others may have liked to participate in both but fixture overlap may have prevented them. And there is also the case of player burnout. One of the tournaments has the governing body of football – GFF – attached to it. Certainly with the governing body involved they should have known that it benefits everyone – sponsors, fans, players – if identical tournaments do not overlap.
And what about the sponsors and organisers? Exxon is without doubt the largest company in Guyana by some distance. It was therefore disappointing to see that its tournament is only confined to teams from the coastland and the hinterland teams that are close to the coastland. For such a massive company, it certainly can expand its sponsorship to include teams from throughout the country. That way their corporate responsibility and image is much more widespread and the intended benefits from their sponsorship will be more far reaching. GFF-BLUEWATER must be commended for having a much wider involvement of school teams. The final round when all the group winners come together to determine the ultimate champions is going to be something special.
A final observation is that many of the teams participating have zeal and enterprise but quite lacking in football knowledge. This is more a reflection of the lack of facilities and coaching at schools than it is about talent. A few years ago, the Minister of Education announced with much fanfare about appointing sports coaches to schools. Did this ever come off the ground? If sponsors are coming onboard more regularly to support junior age football – DIGICEL, MILO, EXXON, BLUE WATERS etc., – then the Ministry of Education also has to come on board and do its part. Also, since the MOE ground seems to be the venue for most junior age tournaments then it is time for the government to think about upgrading the facility. There are no proper seating facilities and there is an urgent need to have our youths learn to play on turf pitches.
Sponsorship for junior age football seems to be outdoing senior football. This is very encouraging. Here’s hoping it continues to grow. And that all involved work together so that the level of our football continues to rise and eventually the promise of His Excellency of having Guyana participate in the World Cup won’t only be a dream.
Sincerely,
M. Abraham
