… Teams briefed by K&S Organisation; GT&T promises continued support
SPONSORSHIP has been flowing like never before, the wheels and engines in the organising room of the 21st Kashif and Shanghai Football Festival have been oiled, which enabled the organising committee to  hold a debriefing session with the 18 participating teams yesterday at the Cara Lodge Hotel.
The opening ceremony and march past of teams will take place at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, on December 12. Prior to the briefing session, long-serving partners Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) through its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Royston Rachpaul, recommitted his company’s support to the dynamic duo.
“First of all, let me say how happy I am to sit here and see so many women in the audience representing the various clubs who will be competing in this tournament. With the present form being displayed by our very own Lady Jaguars, it would be a pleasure to have a female K&S tournament.
Having said that, let me compliment the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation for organising such a wonderful tournament, which has grown tremendously over the years and we as a company saw it fit to partner with them 21 years ago and will continue to do so in the years ahead,” stated Rachpaul.
He added; “The work they have been doing to help develop Guyana’s football is great and with the Golden Jaguars doing exceedingly well on the international circuit to elevate themselves to number 86 in the world, we at GT&T are pleased to be associated with the K&S Organisation.
“It’s a well-run, oiled machine which gets the job done effectively, that’s why we have partnered with them over the years and will continue to do so in the years ahead, as we at GT&T have no hesitation in supporting local sports and call on the members of the public to come out in their numbers and support their various teams in this competition.”
GT&T’s Marketing Officer Abena Fung told the various club representatives of her company’s promotions and giveaways during the tournament, including the opportunity to win free tickets by texting ‘FREE’ to 620-free (3733).
Added to that, the telecommunications service provider who uses the slogan ‘Is we own’, with this year’s tournament being ‘Stop the Crime, It’s Football Time’, will be giving away numerous prizes from the December 23 to January 1, where lucky patrons will engage GT&T’s mascot ‘Blueymax’ in a penalty shootout during lemon-time at the games.
In addressing the club representatives, Greg ‘Kashif’ Muhammad who, along with Aubrey ‘Shanghai’ Major, started this tournament with the view of having local footballers ply their trade overseas, expressed his pleasure at the ranking Guyana’s football enjoys at the moment and lauded the coaches and management teams of the local clubs.
“When we started this tournament 21 years ago, we were looking at bringing more exciting football to the people who loved the sport so much, but five years after, I said to Shanghai something needs to be done to ensure one or two of our players make it to the bigger leagues.
Shanghai visited neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) who was about to start a professional league and after some discussions with the owner of Doc’s Khelawalaas, four Guyanese in Collie Hercules, Charles ‘Lily’ Pollard, Randolph ‘Blackhead’ Jerome and Jermaine Scott began playing in the first 11,” stated Muhammad.
He added, “This in itself was a tremendous achievement for the K&S Organisation, who then took it upon our own to approach the president of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Colin Klass and introduce the ideas of Guyana playing friendly encounters against foreign teams.
That idea was received well by the GFF boss, resulting in the birth of Guyana’s national team christened the Golden Jaguars by Franklyn Wilson, along with the appointment of T&T’s Jamal Shabaaz as the team’s technical director.
Guyana invited Cuba and defeated them in both matches played in Georgetown and Linden, while Haiti who can be deemed one of the toughest national teams in South American football, accepted our invitation and were held to a draw and we at the K&S Organisation are extremely pleased at these developments, as it shows the fruits of our hard work are beginning to pay off and for this I wish to say thanks to you the club executives present here today.”
While outlining the tournament rules to the clubs present at the briefing session, Muhammad said the organisers will be responsible for transporting teams to and from the venue on match days without fail, free of cost once they are still a part of the tournament.
Prior to the opening ceremony, there will be two exhibition matches involving Under-17 teams from both Linden and Georgetown along with a female match, while another exhibition match featuring the Golden Jaguars and Aletico Roraima from neighbouring Brazil will kick-start the tournament after the opening ceremony.
The action starts three days later at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground with a double-header, the first match being contested between Riddim Squad and Santos from 18:00 h, with defending champions BK International Western Tigers going up against Bakewell Buxton Stars from 20:00 h.