The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) will commence the inaugural edition of the Youth Academy Cup on July 16th at the National Training Centre in Providence, with the nation’s premier U-16 players competing against two academies from Trinidad and Tobago.
This was disclosed in a press release from the federation. According to the correspondence, Guyana will be represented by the Jaguars and Panthers units whose roster would have been selected from the Academy Training Centres and National U-16 programmes, while the Twin Island Republic will be represented by Point Fortin Youth Football Academy and Tinto’s Sporting Academy.
A total of eight games are pencilled for the tournament, which last for the duration of six days and will be contested in a group stage format. At the conclusion of the group segment, the top two finishers will advance to the final. The visitors are slated to arrive on July 15th.
GFF Technical Director Bryan Joseph said, “Over the past few years, we have struggled to have our youth players play international games within these shores. We have always travelled abroad to play the CONCACAF and CFU youth tournaments.
As a consequence, we really have not afforded our local fans the opportunity to see our next generation of players. This inaugural tournament offers that opportunity. We want to make this a successful tournament so we can build to accommodate more international teams from the region. We will also look to possibly expand into other age groups.”
Meanwhile, GFF President Wayne Forde added that “our boys from the ATC programme have already proven themselves on the national stage. This inaugural cup adds another layer, offering them a valuable opportunity to compete against their counterparts from Trinidad and Tobago, who, like our players, aspire to future international success in senior competition. I have every confidence that our two teams will proudly represent their nation on home soil.”
Complete Fixtures
Tuesday
15:00hrs: Point Fortuin vs. Tinto Academy
17:00hrs: Guyana Jaguar vs. Guyana Panthers
Wednesday
15:00hrs: Point Fortin Academy vs. Guyana Panther
17:00hrs: Guyana Jaguar vs. Tinto Academy
Friday
16:00hrs: Guyana Panther vs. Tinto Academy
18:00hrs: Point Fortuin vs. Guyana Jaguar
Sunday
16:00hrs: Third Place Playoff
18:00hrs: Final
