WORKING towards strengthening the partnership for the development of the game, especially at the junior level, the East Bank Football Association (EBFA) and East Demerara Football Associations (EDFA) have agreed to collaborate by exposing their players at various levels through a number of goodwill matches.The respective presidents of the two associations, Franklin Wilson and Alfred King, with the blessings of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), have agreed that this initiative would commence with the top two Under-17 teams meeting over two weekends to give the players more exposure while testing their levels against another association.
Today at the Golden Grove ground, East Coast Demerara, the collaboration would begin when EDFA champions of the Golden Jubilee tournament, Bachelor’s Adventure/Paradise Sports Club, lock horns with EBFA second-placed team Soesdyke Falcons in the feature match at 15:30hrs.
In the opening match at 13:30hrs, EBFA’s reigning SUNBURST champs Grove Hi Tech will take on EDFA’s second-placed side Buxton Stars.
These matches will also be used as preparation for the competing teams, ahead of the inaugural GFF/NAMILCO Thunderbolt Flour Power Under-17 Intra Association Tournament, which will kick off next month. A gala launch will be held on Friday.
Each of the teams will be presented with a participatory trophy while some other prizes would be handed out. The two associations have been competing against each other at the senior level for the past two years in the STAG Beer-sponsored Super XV1 KO competition which was won by Grove Hi Tech on both occasions.