PEE Wee football action will return on September 29, following the launch of the seventh edition of the COURTS and Malta Supreme tournament yesterday.

Held at the National Library in Georgetown, the event featured sponsors, organisers and Ministry of Education officials, all making remarks to the students and teachers present.

The first to speak was Troy Mendonca, co-director of the Petra Organisation, the body responsible for the organisation of the tournament.

He contended that the tournament was birthed through the body’s insistence in developing football at the grassroots level.

“Over the years, we’ve come to understand the number of schools and students that this tournament encompasses and the smiles it puts on the faces of the students,” Mendonca noted during yesterday’s launch.

Meanwhile, General Manager of COURTS Guyana, Clyde De Hass contended, “The competition has grown from strength to strength after six editions and we are very pleased that we have nurtured a very strong partnership with Petra Organisation which has helped us to put excess funds that we have in the right place.”

32 teams will take part in the tournament with 24 of them coming from Georgetown, three each from East Coast and East Bank and two from the West Coast.

The round-robin action will be played on Saturdays and Sundays from 10:00hrs at the YMCA ground on Carifesta Avenue and Thomas Lands.

Marketing Manager of COURTS, Pernell Cummings, hailed Petra for its outstanding organisational skills.

“I have never missed a Saturday of this competition since I’ve been with COURTS and it has been very exciting. This tournament has produced some talented players including four of whom have gone on to represent Guyana,” he said.

Malta Supreme, whose Brand Manager Clayton McKenzie was at the ceremony also lauded the initiative, stating that they are happy to be on board once more.

He said, “This year we will be sponsoring through two brands, Malta Supreme and Rainforest Waters, in addition to providing snacks on match days.”

Ministry of Education’s head of the Physical Education Department, Nicholas Fraser, contended, “The Ministry is quite pleased with the way the tournament has grown and it is very easy for us to approve it.”