THE Hope Football Club (HFC) of Tucber Park, New Amsterdam, will soon be launching its second major event in the form of an Under-20 tournament for teams in East and West Berbice which is set to kick off on July 3.

Over the past weekend, the executives of the club met with stakeholders to discuss the format of the tournament while highlighting the importance of executing the summer programme which is expected to conclude on August 4.
Vice-president of the club Mark Adams disclosed that the tournament will comprise of eight functioning clubs in the Berbice sub-association and the teams will be placed in two groups with the top two teams from each group facing off in the semi-finals that will be played over two legs.
The clubs involved are: Hope Football Club, New Amsterdam United Club, Cougars Club, Corriverton Lynx Club of East Berbice, Rosignol United, Hopetown Club, No.5 Club and Paradise Club of West Berbice.
The winner of the tournament will receive $60 000 worth of football equipment, second-placed team will receive $40 000 worth of football equipment and the third-placed team will receive $20 000 worth of football equipment.
In addition, there will be individual trophies for the best goalkeeper, best defender, best midfielder, best forward and highest goalscorer.
So far several friends of the Hope Football Club and non-governmental organisations have stepped forward in contributing towards the summer event which is sanctioned by the Berbice Football Association (BFA).
The Hope Football Club is an arm of the Hope Memorial Foundation which was founded by overseas-based Guyanese Kevin Henry in memory of his late friend and village folk Wilbur Hope, a former national footballer who also participated in cricket and athletics during his boyhood days.
The HFC is currently run by an executive committee comprising of Kevin Henry – president, Mark Adams – vice-president, Jeanesse Gray – treasurer, Rosalind Forde – secretary, Michael Khan – PRO and Glendon Boodhoo – Logistics/mentoring officer.
The club currently has 30 members and is open to youths between the ages of 12 and 20. The motto of the club is ‘Developing Youth through Sport’.