The inaugural President’s One Guyana Cup kicked off at the Rosignol Community Centre Ground in Region Five on Sunday, with four teams competing for two spots to advance to the next round of the competition.
The teams included Rosignol United Football Club, Paradise FC, Monedderlust FC and Number 28 Village. Rosignol United Football Club and Paradise FC have advanced to the next round of competition.
Paradise FC won the first match 4-0 against Number 28 Village, while Rosignol won on penalties against Monedderlust FC.
The tournament, a brainchild of President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, was commended by Berbician youths as well as the President of the Berbice Football Association, Shurwin Forde.
Forde said that the game is a perfect way for talented youth in the county to showcase their skills at a national level. He said the sport brings people together and is in keeping with the ‘One Guyana’ initiative.
“This is the way to get togetherness, people togetherness, sports is the only alternative that brings the people together. It doesn’t divide people, it brings the people together, so having such an initiative by the President himself is tremendous,” Forde stated.
Andrew Nestor, President of the Rosignol United Football Club, added, “Personally, as a guy who got a lot of passion for sports, I think it’s a great initiative not only for our community but also for the country. I think the kids and the players involved in sports will definitely be happy towards the initiative because it will definitely help them to have that mindset whereas you have to put in that time more to further their dreams.”
Nial Reynolds, a member of the Rosignol United Football Club was elated about the tournament.
“I feel great about the tournament because it gives the youths the opportunity to play football and it would impact us greatly because we gonna get the opportunity fuh go and compete in Georgetown against other teams.”
Meanwhile, the Coach of Paradise FC expressed, “I glad for [President] Irfaan Ali that brings out this President Cup for the big ones them to open their eyes fuh see that West Berbice get real talent in football and I glad he push more effort into football.”
Team Captain for Paradise FC, Andrew Shephard said the tournament is a great opportunity for youth to be exposed. He said they must now make use of the opportunity.
“It’s good because you gone get more exposure to the youths in Berbice and the environment more, and showcase their skill and talent. The most important thing is that they must take the chance and make use of it and not waste it.”
Team Captain of Monedderlust FC Paul McDonald relayed that this is an exciting time for football players.
“It is great to finally have football up and running in Berbice because it’s been a while since the conclusion of the Men’s Senior League and it is great to have a competition running and it would be very helpful for young players in Berbice to develop and go out and showcase their skills and talent in Guyana.”
Raul Semple, a player, added, “This is good for the youths especially in this part of the country because we really don’t get any chance to showcase our talents on any big-league football such as the elite, so I think it’s a really good competition so the youths can showcase their talent.”
Inter-ward competitions have begun in other regions and out of this phase, 10 regional teams will contest the inter-regional round-robin championship.
The winners of the final game in the region will move on to the national playoffs, scheduled for December 13, with the grand finale set for January 1, 2023.
