Guyana Football Federation (GFF) President Wayne Forde last weekend proudly presented Omari Glasgow’s family with his prestigious Concacaf Nations League’s Top Scorer and Young Player Awards at the Beterverwagting Community Centre on the East Coast Demerara.
Glasgow, the first Guyanese football player to achieve this feat, received the acknowledgement after an outstanding 2023|2024 season in League B, Group D, competing alongside Antigua and Barbuda, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas.
During a modest ceremony on April 20, President Forde presented the awards to Vonnetta Justice, the mother of the Senior Men’s National Team forward. The event was attended East Demerara Football Association Vice-President Rickford Profit, President of the BV/Triumph United FC Dwayne Duncan, relatives, friends, aspiring players and members of the community.
Glasgow wrapped up the season with a commendable tally of seven goals, accumulating a total of 10.5 points. His consistent scoring across all five of Guyana’s matches was instrumental in him receiving the Young Player Award and contributed to Guyana’s historic promotion to League A.
In his remarks, the GFF top official shared that Glasgow’s achievements stem from the consistent backing of his family and community, as well as his personal qualities of humility, discipline, self-respect, and respect for others.
“It takes a village to raise a child and I believe this is what we are all experiencing here with the tremendous performances that Omari has been able to deliver from the time he entered into the national team programme.”
“Omari is an example of the BV community and I know many of you present here and those that might not be here now played a tremendous role in his upbringing. Oftentimes we might believe that Omari’s greatest gift is his ability to play football, but his greatest gift from my own experience interacting with the young man is his humility and his discipline, his respectfulness.”
President Forde stressed that Glasgow stands as a source of pride within Guyana’s football community and “it’s simply an honour and a privilege for me personally to be here to present to you guys the acknowledgement and the awards that Concacaf has bestowed on him.”
East Demerara Football Association Vice-President Rickford Profit also expressed pride in Glasgow’s development through the East Coast programme.
“It takes humility, it takes courage and it takes a lot of discipline to achieve such marks. I sit among you guys here to say indeed we have and we will be having more Omaris coming up from the East Coast. We will do our best to raise and to increase, (to) motivate persons and players.”
President of BV/Triumph United FC Dwayne Duncan also extended their congratulations to Glasgow, praising his parents for believing in his talent and providing the support necessary for its cultivation.
In response, Vonnetta Justice expressed gratitude to the Federation for organising the ceremony for her son and the community.
She added that she is confident that he “will take us from here further,” and shared her aspiration to witness him playing on “one of the high level teams, maybe in England or some other part of the world.” (GFF)
