The inaugural One Guyana President’s Cup football tournament kicked off on Sunday, November 13 in Region Two, at the Anna Regina Multilateral School ground.
The tournament, a brainchild of President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, was birthed following a meeting of football stakeholders hosted by Dr Ali, and led by Guyana Football Federation (GFF) President Wayne Forde. The meeting was held to discuss the implementation of a countrywide end-of-year football tournament.
The first match of the tournament saw the Queenstown Football Club going up against the Suddie football club.
President of the Essequibo/Pomeroon Football Association, Marvin Pearson, praised the initiative and stated that it would assist in showcasing football players’ talents, especially the youth.
“I believe it’s an activity that will enhance the players’ ability on the coast, so we want to be able to say thank you to the president for having us involved in this type of competition. I believe that it’s a good initiative. What it does basically, is it gives the players in Essequibo a chance to be able to showcase their talent, and given a chance to represent their county as well,” he said.
The Queenstown Football Club emerged victorious against Suddie FC at the end of the game, with a score of seven to nil (7-0).
Members of both teams expressed appreciation for the opportunity and opined that it would assist in giving youths across Guyana a platform to showcase their talent.
“Well, I think the initiative is wonderful. I mean, it will give the youths a wider vision of what’s going on about football,”Junior Jones, a left fullback of the Queenstown Football Club said.
Davon Rodrigues, centre left fullback of the Suddie Football Club, expressed similar sentiments, stating, “It’s a very good thing, cause most of the youths them coming up because many youths have a lot of talent and can’t get to expose their talents. And it’s a good thing for the youths them to come and expose their talents so we can see what we have.”
“I think it’s a great initiative, and it’s about time we have more of these competitions, especially countrywide. Not only in individual counties but countrywide. And Essequibo has a lot of talent. We just need a platform to showcase those talents,” Stanford McPherson, who plays defense for the Suddie Football Club, added.
Several football matches are slated to begin next week.