Petra hopeful KFC School Football could morph into Regional Championship

The KFC Goodwill School Football tournament has returned for it second installment with an expansion from four to six teams, who will compete during the tentative period of December 15-22, 2019, at the Ministry of Education ground, Carifesta Avenue.

The official launch was held at KFC’s Vlissengen Road outlet on Friday, and Co-Director of the Petra Organisation, Troy Mendonca, envisioned this is the start of hopefully a Regional champion of champions tournament.

“Since we conceptualised this tournament, the idea was to give our schoolboys the chance to compete among foreign teams so we can understand where our level is at in terms of performance,” Mendonca stated.

He noted that last year’s tournament showed gap Guyanese schools have with regards to lack of structure as compared to their regional counterparts.

“The vision is, maybe in two or three years where we can make this into an annual Champions of Champions where the top teams from most of the Caribbean come and vie for the championship title.”

In years to come, Mendonca stated they will develop better ways to select all the local teams vying to play for the tournament.

For now, Annai Secondary will make a return and will be joined by new comers Desrey Fox Secondary School (commonly called Waramadong Secondary) along with the top two teams in the upcoming GuyOil School League.

Defending champions Shiva Boys Hindu College of Trinidad and Tobago and USL Montjoly Academy out of French Guiana will complete the list.

KFC committed $2.5million and their Training Manager, Charissa Rampersaud, stated, “Football is a notable sport in Guyana and our future as a football nation looks very encouraging with the current generation of talented youth who are involved in the sport.”

The KFC representative further shared that, “We are confident that this series of games will be an exciting exhibition of skills and competition that will result in a thrilling experience for all fans.”

National Under-20 Coach Wayne Dover noted the tournament will offer the Guyana Football Federation a perfect opportunity to scout for talents as they build towards the 2020 CONCACAF Championships.