_{– Guyana Chronicle among awardees at GFF ceremony}

_{THE Wayne Forde-led Executive Committee on Friday evening executed the Guyana Football Federation’s (GFF) first Football Awards since it was last held in March of 2017.}

_{Players, sponsors, coaches, media and other football stakeholders gathered at a well-decorated banquet hall at the SleepIn Hotel and Casino on Church Street for what GFF president Forde said was to “recommission the timeless tradition of gratitude, which seems to have been forgotten for far too long. Tonight, we pause for a moment to simply say, thank you, we appreciate your service, we recognise your contributions and we value the sacrifices each of you is called to make every day for football.”}

_{Forde told the gathering during his feature address that his “administration’s priorities during the past two and a half years have been deliberately focused on stabilising the football fraternity, unifying the football family, rebuilding the image of the sport and, establishing a clear vision for the game.”}

_{The Guyana National Newspapers Limited (GNNL), producers of the Guyana Chronicle, was among the list of 16 entities recognised by the GFF for its corporate support to the game of football in Guyana in 2017.}

_{Digicel, Ansa McAl, Banks DIH, the National Communications Network, National Sports Commission (NSC), and the Guyana Beverage Inc. were also among recipients of awards.}

_{In the awards given to the Media, the Guyana Chronicle’s Rawle Toney won the award for Print Journalist-of-the-Year, while Newsroom’s Avenash Ramzan won the online version of the award and Travis Seymour of NCN copped the award for TV journalist. Orlando Charles of Stabroek News was given the award for Photographer-of-the-Year.}

_{Forde presented the ‘Presidential Merit’ Award to one of the game’s most gifted coaches and former national standout Gordon ‘Ultimate Warrior’ Brathwaite and the Presidential Award for most successful National Team Coach to Jamaal Shabazz.}

_{Both Shabazz and Brathwaite, during their short but entertaining speech upon accepting their awards, thanked the GFF for recognising their role in various aspects of the game.}

_{Shabazz, whose record would make him the most successful coach of Guyana’s senior men’s national team, was his usual candid self when calling for an ‘all hands of deck’ approach from all stakeholders if football is to really develop in Guyana.}

_{The Trinidadian also made mention of his assistant during his time at the helm of the national team in Guyana, Wayne ‘Wiggy’ Dover, and others who silently and unknowingly left their imprint on his time in Guyana.}

_{GFF’s Association-of-the-Year 2017 award was given to the East Bank Football Association (EBFA) and president Franklin Wilson collected on their behalf. The GFF’s Most Improved Association-of-the-Year 2017 award was won by the Rupununi Football Association.}

_{The GFF Elite League champions, the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), were named Team-of-the-Year, Fruta Conquerors was adjudged the Junior Club-of-the-Year while GDF’s Bilaal Nantambu and Sherwyn Caesar picked up the Coach-of-the-Year and Senior Male Player awards respectively.}

_{Female Coach-of-the-Year went to Akilah Castello, Tiandi Smith was named the Senior Women’s Footballer for 2017, and 13-year-old prodigy from Kwakwani, Jalade Trim, was given the Junior Female Football Player award.}

_{Marineika Welcome (Female Assistant Referee), Kevin Stephens (Male Assistant Referee), Maurees Skeete (Female Referee-of-the-Year) and Gladwyn Johnson (Male Referee-of-the-Year) were the officials given awards for their outstanding work on the field last year.}