THE weather may not have been as favourable, but it seemed nothing would stop the young football enthusiasts of the Vurlon Mills Football Academy (VMFA) from showing up at the KFC Under-8 fun-day at the Police Ground, Eve Leary, Georgetown.
The boys and girls seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed the exciting activities of the day, even the new ones who just showed up and got with the ball right away, as though they had always been playing with the academy.

Of the 120 children catered for, only about 70 showed up, and founder Vurlon Mills was sure it was nothing but the weather responsible for this turn out. “We catered for about 120 kids and was even going to be happy to host 1,000, but the weather affected that. However, we are still happy at the turnout,” Mills told this publication, adding, “Hopefully when we do this again, the weather wouldn’t be a factor.”

The event yesterday focused on introducing the kids to football and giving them an opportunity to take part in exciting activities like mini football matches, skills challenges, penalty shootout and dunk tank.
It was a good opportunity, Mills said, for the kids to play in an organised environment and be able to showcase their skills, make new friends, and have a blast playing the beautiful game of football.

Wheatland Fordyce, Coach and Referee at the academy, has been in the arena for some 18 years now and to him, seeing the kids come out yesterday was still heartening to see. “To see the youngsters coming out to do what they enjoy doing even though it would have been a little damp because of the weather, but they are making the best of it.”
Assistant Coach Dexter Duncan is in his first year but he couldn’t find words to describe how he felt at seeing the kids enjoying themselves. “It made me remember my childhood days enjoying the sports, and the biggest support is the parents,” he expressed.

Meanwhile, Mills told Chronicle that they are in the process of planning a big U-12 event for July before heading straight into the KFC summer camp in August, KFC being one of their biggest partners. After this, they will be taking a U-12 team to Trinidad to take part in a tournament.
The VMFA, which usually operates at the St. Stanislaus Ground, Carifesta Avenue, was established in 2019, with the motto, ‘Practice winning every day.’
It is said to have successfully facilitated football and personal development sessions for hundreds of children between the ages of four and 17 years old with flagship initiatives such as the annual KFC Football Summer Camp, the annual ENet Football Festival and SBM Offshore Guyana Women’s Development Football Programme. (Telesha Ramnarine)