By Treiston Joseph
Girls within Georgetown primary schools will get a crack at the highest football title in the Capital City when they face off in the Smalta Pee Wee Under-11 girls Tournament. Twelve city primary schools will vie for top honours in the fourth edition of tournament, which will kick off on Saturday.
At the launching on Tuesday at the National Library, Non-Alcoholic Brand Manager of Ansa McAl Trading, Sean Abel, put into focus the importance of investing in tournaments such as these.
He said sport can shape the mind of youths and help them to identify role models who they can now shape themselves around. Director of the Petra Organisation, Troy Mendonca, highlighted that the female tournament is necessary for the development of the sport.
“We at Petra are happy to join with all our stakeholders to make this tournament possible and give these girls an opportunity to play football whether they like the sport or in it because of peer pressure etc.
“We want our girls to know that football is not just a male sport, it is also a female sport and we challenge everyone involved to approach the tournament with the same vigour as the males that just concluded,” Mendonca stated.
Second Vice-President of Guyana Football Federation (GFF), Rawlston Adams, pinpointed that the tournament is a key part of youth development, and falls directly into the plans of the federation.
“After the U-17 CONCACAF qualifiers we realised that there is a lot of work to be done and what needs to be done is what is being done right now; we need to start grooming our talent at an early and that is why the GFF supports this tournament and has implemented our own youth development programmes,” Adams stressed.
Representatives from the Ministry of Education Nicholas Fraser and the Ministry of Public Health Oneka Smith also lauded the tournament for its emphasis on females.
Action will kick off on Saturday at the NIS ground at 10:00h with St Angela’s Primary looking to defend their title from one year ago.
