GFF kicks off Academy Boys U-13 Challenge Trophy

The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Inter-Academy Boys U-13 Challenge Trophy began last weekend with four matches and saw victories for Bartica, Georgetown and Linden with the other match ending in a draw.

On Saturday two matches were played, with the first between the lads from Bartica U-13 Academy Training Centre (ATC), who hosted their counterparts from Essequibo Coast/Pomeroon Football Association and defeated them 6-0.

Ezekiel Baldeo netted a hat-trick, while Jadan Christian and Alex Roopwah each scored a goal along with an own goal from Essequibo.

The second match was played at the Saint Ignatius ground in Rupununi where the home team and the East Bank Football Association (EBFA) U-13 team played to a thrilling one-all draw with goals coming from Danile John for the Rupununi Football Association U-13 team and Seon Grant for the EBFA.

The other two games were played on Sunday, with the first between the Georgetown Football Association ATC U-13 coming up against Berbice and downing them 4-0 with goals coming from Chadish Nurse, Jeorman Miller, and Omarion Lewis along with an own goal from Berbice.

The second match saw UDFA travelling to the Melanie Community Centre ground to confront the East Coast U-13 team and were defeated by a 2-1 margin with goals by Shaquan Frank and Brandon Gonsalves for East Coast, while Azizi David netted for UDFA.

The tournament will see all nine Regional Associations fielding a team from their U-13 ATCs, along with the National U-17 Girls team participating as a guest team.

A primary purpose of the tournament is to identify players to participate in the Caribbean Football Union Boys U-14 tournament that will be held in 2022.

Apart from talent identification for the CFU tournament, the U-13 Challenge Trophy tournament will also provide an opportunity for the GFF to assess the quality of work being done by the ATCs in all nine Regional Associations, as well as provide an opportunity to test the logistics for the inter-academy and inter-association tournaments, which will be a key feature in the 2022 national football season.

The GFF Inter Academy Boys U-13 Challenge Trophy continues this weekend with the Rupununi travelling to West Demerara to take on the WDFA team, Bartica taking on the East Bank at the GFF National Training Centre, Providence, and Berbice travelling to Linden to face the UDFA team.

This tournament is part of the GFF’s ground-breaking ATC programme, the first of its kind in the Caribbean, that was launched in 2017.

The ATC is an elite and selective national youth development programme to give girls and boys ages 6-19 a weekly, structured training curriculum that is anchored in the GFF football philosophy and delivered consistently across the nine Regional Associations. (GFF)