Day one of the Tiger Rentals Under-13 League Cup Championship saw 10 thrilling games with a total of 41 goals scored at the Guyana Football Federation’s National Training Centre, Providence, East Bank Demerara, on Friday.
GFF President Wayne Forde and Tiger Rentals Business Development Assistant Aveeka Naraine officially kicked off the three-day tournament in the presence of football officials, participating teams, parents and fans.
During a brief opening ceremony, President Forde said youth development is at the centre of the federation’s football vision and encouraged parents and fans to support the young players participating in the tournament.
“Youth development is at the heart of everything we do at the GFF. The Tiger Rentals League Cup Championship was introduced to provide our Regional Academy Training Centres (ATCs) with additional game time, while at the same time generating an exciting conclusion to what has been an exceptional competition.”
He added: “We are discovering some remarkable young talent and I would like to encourage parents and family members to come out and support these young ballers.”
Young footballers from 10 Regional Academies – East Coast Demerara, Georgetown, Upper Demerara, East Bank Demerara, West Berbice, Bartica, West Demerara, East Berbice, Rupununi and Essequibo – are competing in the championship.
Speaking on behalf of the tournament’s sponsor, Naraine wished all the players well and stressed that her company is committed to supporting long-term development of football in Guyana.
“We believe that the children are the future, we must invest in them. Tiger Rentals is committed to long term development of the football talent in Guyana and we are sure we will see massive talent coming out of our investment,” Naraine said.
Teams were placed into two groups of five. Each group will then play a round-robin format and the two teams with the most points in each group will contest in the championship match.
So far, Rupununi, Bartica and East Coast have won two games each, while Georgetown, East Bank, Upper Demerara and East Berbice have one game apiece. West Berbice. West Demerara and Essequibo have yet to win a game.
The GFF-Tiger Rentals Under-13 Inter-Association Development Football League was launched in December 2022 with the Academy Phase competition, which was won by the youngsters from the East Coast Academy Training Centre.
The tournament was specifically designed to develop young players’ ability to apply their knowledge of the game and to ensure that they have a competitive national platform to do so.
Action in the tournament will continue on Saturday and Sunday, with kick-off time being 09:30h on both days.
