… eyes rematch with ‘Multi’

ONE of the country’s promising Youth football player, Jeremy Garrett, has ‘thrown down the gauntlet’ to the other schools in the Digicel Schools Football Championship, who are aiming to challenge his Chase’s Academic Foundation for the coveted title.

After falling 2-1 in the final of the 2015 tournament to Christianburg/Wismar Secondary School, Garrett led Chase to their first title with a 1-0 over the Linden-based school to be crowned champions.
However, Job Caesar, who scored the winning goal – a free kick in the 24th minute – is no longer with the school, but Garrett told Chronicle Sport that “we still have a strong team, so Chase is ready.”
“My team looking the same, we just lost two players out of the team. But all the players are active with their clubs, so it’s just now for the guys to come together and let’s start our final preparation,” Garrett said.
Garrett who is also captain of Guyana’s National U-17 team, pointed out that preparation has been ongoing, given the fact that most the players were active with their respective clubs, and were also putting in some sessions as a unit at school, in anticipation for the tournament.
The Christianburg/Wismar Secondary School (Multi) were singled out by Garrett as the team to beat once again.
“Of course, Christianburg; when we meet, it’s anything goes, you know. So we’re looking forward to meeting them again as well, since we all have something to prove,” Garrett said.
But the versatile defender pointed out that he’s also intrigued by another meeting with Annai Secondary; a robust and well-rounded team from Region 9.
Last year Chase defeated the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo-based team 2-1 to advance to the final, in a game Garrett said was one of his hardest in the tournament.
Garrett also expressed thanks to the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) for setting up Academy Training Centres throughout Guyana; something he noted has been more than valuable to his team.
“Most the players at Chase are in the Academy Training Centres, which have been beneficial to us since it is also helping us to keep fit, helping us to improve technically which is vital for our preparation for Digicel,” the Fruta Conquerors player said.
The Digicel Schools Football Championship was launched yesterday, and 150 schools, drawn from throughout Guyana, will vie for a $1M first-place prize which will be for a project of their choice. Second place through fourth place will pocket $700 000, $400 000 and $350 000 respectively.