… successfully organising five tournaments

WHEN the curtain came down on the sixth annual Georgetown Guinness ‘Greatest of de Streets’ Futsal football tournament at 01:10hrs last Sunday in the National Park, it affirmed Queen Street-Tiger Bay as the champions of the 2013 tournament.
However, unknown to many persons, the shrill sound of referee Wayne ‘Harry’ Griffith’s whistle also brought the curtain down on five successful tournaments that were organised by the Petra Organisation for 2013.
Not even the local governing body for the world’s largest sport, namely the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) or any of its affiliates such as the Georgetown Football Association (GFA), managed to organise and complete five tournaments in one year, for various reasons.
The Petra Organisation is headed by Troy Mendonca and Marlan Cole, who were the former president and secretary of the GFA, a body for which they organised eleven tournaments at all age groups for soccer players in Georgetown,
Under-11 players had something to look forward to, with the playing of the COURTS Pee Wee tournament, which is now being played among primary schools in Georgetown and its environs, while there is the Petra/Milo Under-20 football tournament for schools in Georgetown and its environs as well.
The dynamic duo have been constantly thinking of ways to improve the sport locally and the commencement of the Guinness ‘Greatest of de Streets’ tournament in Georgetown saw similar birth in Linden, Berbice, West and East Coast of Demerara, with Bartica set to become a member of the Guinness family soon.
In addition to that, a team must be selected to represent Guyana in the Caribbean Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ Futsal football tournament; so, not being biased, Mendonca and Cole sat down with the local franchise holder and sole sponsor of all Guinness ‘Greatest of de Streets’ tournaments, beverage distribution giant Banks DIH, and conceptualised the idea of a national tournament.
But unlike 2011 when Georgetown’s winners Back Circle were chosen to represent Guyana in the inaugural Caribbean Guinness ‘Greatest of de Streets’ tournament which was hosted right here in Guyana, the two top teams from each area would meet in the national playoff.
In an invited comment with Chronicle Sport, Cole said the Pee Wee Under-11 tournament, which was contested for the second year last month, emerged from the same tournament that was being played at the club level when the dynamic duo ran the affairs of the GFA.
“Before we were unceremoniously removed from the hierarchy of the GFA, we organised 11 tournaments within the year for the clubs who were affiliated to us, from Under-11 right up to Premier league for those who had first division status.
“However, after we left the GFA, COURTS (Guyana) Incorporated, having been impressed with our organisational skills, sought us to continue the Under-11 tournament, but due to certain hiccups some clubs who are affiliated to the GFA faced with the GFF, we could not run it as a club tournament,” said Cole.
He added, “We, at Petra sat down and looked at ways in which we can give to the sponsor and also football fans alike, hence the school Under-11 programme was born and that was a blessing in disguise.
“We approached the Ministry of Education and got its blessings while COURTS and the GFF also gave us their blessings and with COURTS adding more prizes and even doubling their budget for this year’s tournament while indicating their interest to make it a nationwide tournament soon tell us at Petra that we are doing a wonderful job.”
Co-Director of the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation Kashif Muhammad had earlier told Chronicle Sport, tournaments such as the Petra/Milo Under-20 and Digicel nationwide Inter-Secondary School competitions can be used as a feeder to his Organisation’s Chico Elite Next Generation (CENG) tournament.
Quizzed on his thoughts about such comments, Cole said, “The fact that two tournaments can be seen as a feeder into another programme is great for the sport of football in more ways than one.
However, we would like to see more tangible rewards being given, such as scholarships to players who perform exceedingly well both on the field of play and in the classroom, where a player who has gotten five subjects at CSEC, will earnestly stay in school and look forward to playing in the K&S/CENG tournament, with the aim of securing a scholarship whether locally or internationally.”
Not one to rest on its laurels, the Petra Organisation will be taking on the responsibility with support from Banks DIH, to organise the East and West Coast Demerara, Bartica, Berbice and national playoffs of the Guinness ‘Greatest of de Streets’ competitions.
“This will start as early as February 2014, but while they are working out the logistics towards making their programmes for next year a success story as was evident in 2013, one must tip one’s hat to this dynamic duo for work well done, hence I say again, congratulations to the Petra Organisation.

(Calvin Roberts)