PRIOR to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Petra Organisation had almost full-proof plans to elevate the grassroots level of football in Guyana. The association which prides itself to prioritise junior football also has the capacity to host senior tournaments as well.
When the pandemic struck in 2020, it caused the organisation to suspend its calendar of events which had at least nine scheduled tournaments for the year. In March 2020, Petra provisionally suspended the Milo Under-18 Schools Football Championship because all the schools involved were closed due to the pandemic.
The calendar boasted tournaments such as the Courts Pee Wee 11-and-Under Boys, Smalta Pee Wee 11-and-Under Girls’, ExxonMobil Boys and Girls Under-14, Milo Boys Under-18, GUYOIL Under-18 League, KFC Goodwill Tournament, Limacol Senior Tournament, Turbo Knockout and Corona Futsal tournaments.
Speaking with co-Director of the Association, Troy Mendonca, he said it is challenging at the moment for the organisation since its programme is reliant on on how the school system functions.

“When we analyse the trend, we realised that out of guidance from the necessary authorities, it is very difficult to implement anything right now, so we haven’t been doing anything. Our programmes are dependent on the situation at school and, to be honest, we always see ourselves in the line of youth development. So since there is no schooling, to get the children back and organise them for an event is also very difficult,” Mendonca stated.
He continued: “We are hoping with the advent of the vaccine we can improve in another couple of months. However, internally we have ourselves ready to roll out our programme as soon as the situation improves.”

Mendonca believes even in the senior department it is challenging to get the ball rolling because only the National Team has been gifted the opportunity to train. He added that anything the Petra Organisation does must be under the auspices of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) for both school and club football.
“We don’t want to promise anything, or we don’t want to make public announcements that football is near then it can’t be fulfilled. So we are waiting for the appropriate time to go public and that will be when the situation improves in the coming months.”
The Petra Organisation has even pondered the option of a virtual avenue but decided against it because the youth department would still have to be training or playing the game for it to be effective.
Meanwhile, the former National footballer is urging persons to remain practising caution, to assist against the spread of the novelty virus.