IN an effort to keep the youths of Victory Valley, one of the deprived communities in Linden, meaningfully engaged through sport, a resident, John Brown, has embarked on a community football tournament which is held every Sunday at the Community’s playfield.

Junior Minister of Natural Resources, Simona Broomes, on Sunday made a contribution of the winning trophy, medals and balls to the teams and pledged her continuous support for the community competition, since it is geared towards positive development of the youths.

Member of Parliament Jermaine Figueira also donated footballs and jerseys to the players.

 “They have youths in the Valley that got great skill but we never got the chance to go out and play for people see we, so we decide to bring the people to we…. I expect betterment for the youths in the Valley from this” promoter Brown said.

Teams from all over Linden are expected to participate in the tournament. Minister Broomes, in her short comment, said that she will continue to support not only sports development but development as a whole in Victory Valley. She stressed that this sort of community development should not be only in Linden, but the entire Region 10. “I am here to support you,” she reiterated

MP Figueira said that himself and Minister Broomes, in an effort to see community development, have been working assiduously with the youths and residents of Victory Valley. “We believe sports can be a vehicle to develop in the community and that is why we are happy that Minister Broomes has seen it fitting to partner with us so that we can continue to promote football within the community. This will have a spin-off effect on the other communities. Figueira attested to the many prolific footballers that came out of Victory Valley. “With the help and assistance, much more talent can be identified and developed.”

Renowned football promoter Kashif Mohammad is optimistic that this very little promotion will grow, as his did, into a national icon. He too commended the minister for supporting the initiative, since there is far too much negative rhetoric coming out of the Valley and this small promotion is the start for betterment.

Chairman of Victory Valley CDC,  Roberts  said, “We thank you for the support minister, because football is the youths right now.”

Victory Valley residents said that they will continue to support Minister Broomes, since she continues to support them not only in sports but in every area needed for development.  The community presented the minister with a custom-made t-shirt in expression of appreciation for all her charitable works.