THE inaugural Guyana Football Federation-Blue Water Shipping Under-15 Girls’ National Secondary School Championship was officially launched on Wednesday, setting the stage for the kick-off of Guyana’s largest girls’ tournament in just ten days’ time.

The April 24 launch ceremony took place at the GFF National Training Centre at Providence, East Bank Demerara.

From May 4, more than one thousand student athletes from 60 schools across the country will participate in the championship, which marks the start of the FIFA Football For School (F4S) programme’s competition phase.

F4S was launched, collaboratively, by FIFA, the GFF, and the Government of Guyana on May 12, 2022.

Said GFF President Wayne Forde, “We’re making history by launching the largest ever girls’ football competition in Guyana, thanks to the continued support of ‘Blue Water’ and the Ministry of Education.”

The tournament will take place in nine of the country’s ten administrative regions, with schools in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) sitting out this year’s edition.

While this season will see players from 60 out of 116 public schools, the GFF aims to expand the number of participating schools over the next four years.

“Our vision is to establish the F4S programme as a permanent fixture in schools throughout Guyana, encompassing nursery, primary and secondary levels. F4S has a lot to do with football, but it has more to do with life skills development, Forde said. “Football is a team sport, and playing football can enrich one’s life,” he added.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Blue Water Shipping and the GFF was inked three years ago for the launch of the Blue Water Girls’ Development League, which aligned with the F4S programme.

As GFF Technical Director Bryan Joseph noted, “We realised that the competition would be one of the key drivers of the F4S programme when it was initially launched several years ago. We trained over 70 teachers across the nation in the F4S philosophy.”

Richard DeNobrega, Senior Vice-President of Sales and Development at Blue Water Shipping, reiterated his company’s commitment to supporting grassroots football in Guyana.

“I see future football stars sitting among us; I see a huge amount of potential here, and it is our duty as a member of the private sector; it’s our duty as a company, it’s our duty as partners of the GFF to ensure that the potential that’s sitting right here ends up on the world stage representing Guyana,” he said.

Nicholas Fraser, Head of the Ministry of Education Allied Arts Unit, shared that the Ministry fully supports the F4S programme, and that the tournament covers “a pretty good spread in terms of its reach”.

The competition will showcase emerging talents through three stages: The preliminary round-robin matches that will be played in the regions; the Round of 16, and the Group Stage matches. The Round of 16 and the eight Group Stage matches will be held at the Ministry of Education Ground on Carifesta Avenue in Georgetown, and the GFF National Training Centre.

The national championship is designed to prioritise player development, with each player guaranteed a minimum of six matches, and the potential to compete in up to 16.

Standout performers will be identified for further training within the national-team programme.

GFF U-15 League Operations Coordinator Lavern Fraser clarified that “there will be no red cards issued during this tournament; instead, we are using what we call the ‘Sin Bin’ approach. If there is a player who the officials deemed would have erred enough to warrant a red card, then that player will be asked to leave the field for three minutes, and while they are in the ‘Sin Bin’, it means that the team will have to play without that one person. If it’s a goalkeeper, then a player on field will have to take the goalkeeper’s position”.

The winner of each region will be awarded a winner’s trophy, while the tournament, overall, will feature championship and runner-up trophies. Other awards will be presented to the leading goal scorers, Most Valuable Players (MVPs), and top goalkeepers.