ACTION in the second annual nationwide, Digicel-sponsored Inter-Secondary School Under-17 football competition will get cracking this afternoon at the world-renowned Georgetown Cricket Club ground. Two schools from the East Coast of Demerara – Buxton Secondary and defending champions of Region 4 Bygeval Secondary out of Mahaica – will do battle in what is expected to be a keenly contested fixture.
Buxton will be looking to exact revenge, following their first-round exit in last year’s tournament, while their opponents for this afternoon progressed further into the competition, before they were booted out by eventual champions Government Technical Institute (GTI).
According to their (Buxton) designated captain Dwight McAllister, their preparations are much better this time and that boosted their confidence in getting past the first round on this occasion.
The 16-year-old, who is also a member of the Georgetown Football Club (GFC), disclosed that they are working hard to ensure that they stay in the competition much longer this time and even go on to lift the lien trophy on July 15
“We are working on our weak areas and we have the confidence that we will win all our matches,” McAllister revealed.
Among the weak areas he was alluding to was their inability to control the ball as they attempt to pass it to one other.
They’ve scheduled training for every day which is sometimes conducted by the coach of Buxton Stars, Sheron Abrams, but not every player attends the sessions due to lessons.
McAllister said when Abrams is not available, they train on their own and those unsupervised sessions he pointed out are usually not difficult since most of the players are already part of football clubs, either on the East Coast of Demerara or in the City.
Responding to the question on the importance of the tournament and what it means to the school, McAllister said it is very good that Digicel has seen the need to come on board and support the development of youth football, as that is where the future of the sport resides
Bygeval’s Physical Education teacher, Raymond Daw, believes that the new age stipulation, which has been put in place by the organisers, will do his team a world of good this time around, despite their preparations being hampered by the inclement weather that has been plaguing Guyana of late.
“With the weather, we have had a setback in preparation, as we were unable to use the field which was inundated with water and we were forced to use the tarmac, since the multi-purpose centre was being used for exams.
However, the boys were able to undergo pre-match simulation exercises, coupled with some practice matches against Jonestown and at times Mahaica Determinators at the Jonestown or Helena, Mahaica ground,” said Daw.
As was evident in last year’s tournament, Minister of Education Priya Manickchand will deliver brief remarks, while Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr Frank Anthony is expected to do the ceremonial kickoff with Chief Executive Officer of Digicel, Gregory Deen.
The action will continue tomorrow with two more matches at Bartica, where Bartica Secondary will take on Three Miles Secondary and Kwakwani Secondary will oppose Christianburg Secondary in Kwakwani. Both matches kick off at 15:30hrs..