—Lake, Joseph honoured

By Michael DaSilva
TERRENCE Andrew Archer, David “Doggy” Chand and Dennis “Chow” Hunte were on Friday Night inducted into Pele Football Club’s Hall of Fame when the club staged the final event of its 45th Anniversary celebrations with an Education Awards Ceremony at the Georgetown Club, Camp Street.

Archer, who joined Pele in 1978, seven years after the club’s formation, was the club’s captain from 1983 to 1995 and also captained Guyana’s national team for a number of years, playing as a defender alongside Marlon Williams and Gordon “Ultimate Warrior” Braithwaithe.
Chand, who was Pele FC’s first-ever secretary served for four years before enlisting in the Guyana National Service and was subsequently seconded to the Guyana Defence Force, where he underwent the Officer Cadet Course. He then migrated to Canada where he is still based.
Hunte, on the other hand, started his football career at the Dorcas Club and became the first Pele player to be named national junior captain in 1971 for the Guyana versus Suriname Inter-Guiana Games.
He was subsequently replaced as the team’s captain by current Pele Alumni Corporation’s Treasurer Patrick “Labba” Barton, who made his senior national debut under then national captain Ken Gibbs.
Linden “Pin Head” Lake, who was born in 1966 represented Pele and Guyana for a number of years at the under-14 and under-19 levels and like Mark “Pone Head” Joseph, was honoured for their contributions to local football. Lake and Joseph are both based in the United States.
In his address to the special invitees, Pele’s club president Robbie Rambarran reminded them that the Pele Football Club was founded in 1971 and still exists, which according to him, is an astronomical achievement when one takes into consideration that clubs in the Caribbean usually lasted between 15 to 20 years.
“We celebrated this achievement with activities such as a meet and greet, essay competition, football festival, youth camp, coaches’ seminar, distribution of school supplies to youths in need” Rambarran stated, adding “These activities demonstrate the commitment and enthusiasm of the Pele FC and its Alumni to the improvement of this beautiful game and also the development of our youths, both academic and co-curriculum.”
To this, he (Rambarran) implored all present as well as the government, the Guyana Football Federation, Associations, Clubs, corporate businesses and all other stakeholders to collectively work to enhance the sport of football.
“It is time that the product of football is rebranded and the stigma of it being a ghetto sport and black people sport is removed. We must note [that] football is the richest sport in the world. Let’s create the frameworks and structures that would ensure we compete at the highest level, that would position it as a family-oriented sport that would bring about unity and harmony amongst our people, that can be used to develop our communities by having youths meaningfully engaged.” Rambarran, who served as the club’s secretary for four years before being elected president last November,concluded, “It must also be noted that football can no longer operate on volunteerism and as such, the efforts of all and sundry are required.”