`Greatest of Streets’ tourney tonight

DEFENDING champions of the Petra Organisation organised Banks DIH’s Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ Futsal Football competition, Leopold Street will kick off this year’s Georgetown leg of the tournament, the sixth of its kind at the Banks DIH, Demerara Car Park.Fittingly, Leopold Street who defeated 2011 winners and Guyana’s inaugural representative at the Caribbean Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ Futsal Football competition Back Circle in last year’s final, will go up against Castello Housing Scheme, when the action gets underway at 19:00 hrs.
Eight matches, being played at 30 minutes intervals, will take place tonight, with Norton Street West opposing North (Last Entrance) in the second game, followed by Stevedore Housing Scheme going up against Berlin, and Festival City taking on North East LaPenitence before the Guinness break.
On the resumption of play after the break, South Ruimveldt will go head to head with Bent Street, Back Circle will begin their quest for glory against Sophia (North), Hope Street-Tiger Bay will clash with California Square, while East La Penitence and Sophia South will culminate things for the night.
The tournament was launched last week at the Banks DIH Sports Club, wherein Co-Director of the Petra Organization, Troy Mendonca, said the quarterfinals and semifinals will be contested on the same night, which is the 17th December at the National Cultural Centre tarmac.
In his brief remarks, which served as a tournament briefing, Mendonca said 32 teams which will be divided into eight groups of four, will do battle in the preliminary round of the competition where they play each other on a round robin basis, following which the two top teams per group will advance to the round of 16.
“This year, in keeping with the action from the Caribbean ‘Guinness Greatest of the Streets’ Futsal Football competition, we will be playing the quarterfinals and semifinals on the same night, which is the 17th December, at the National Cultural Centre tarmac, with the finals being hosted at the National Park four days later.”
Mendonca said the top team for this year’s competition will pocket $500,000, with the second, third and fourth placed teams taking home $300,000, $200,000 and $100,000 respectively along with trophies, while all the teams in the preliminary round will pocket $25,000, $20,000, $15,000 and $10,000 each, according to their placing.
“This means that no team will go home empty handed from this tournament which kicks off next Tuesday (which happens to be tonight) at the Banks DIH’s Demerara Car Park, since a team who top their group, can pocket $25,000, while the team who place fourth in their group, will receive $10,000,” said Mendonca.
Venues such as Burnham Court, California Square, Albouystown, Banks DIH’s Demerara Park, National Cultural Center and the National Park, will be used for this year’s tournament, for which fans will have a chance to walk away with numerous giveaways, every night a game is being played.
Mendonca also revealed that tournaments of this nature would be held in Linden, Berbice, East Coast of Demerara, West Coast of Demerara and even in Bartica, where the top two finishers will join their Georgetown counterparts in a nationwide tournament.
And like the previous two years, the overall winner of the nationwide tournament which will be held some time next year, will go on to represent Guyana in next year’s Caribbean ‘Guinness Greatest of the Streets’ Futsal Football competition that is scheduled to be held in Trinidad and Tobago in June, 2014.

(By Calvin Roberts)