BRYAN Joseph, the president of Upper Demerara’s Milerock Football Club, one of two clubs from Guyana scheduled to contest  this year’s Caribbean Football Union’s Club championship (the other being Georgetown’s Alpha United) told  Chronicle Sport  on Tuesday that “this is an opportunity to give hope to small clubs like ours to strive to attain these heights, and to show how these little experiences can motivate all involved to go after the things that seem impossible to achieve”.
Milerock open their campaign against  a  Suriname club on March 13 at the Mackenzie Sports Club ground in what is a home and away tie. Milerock, considered one of the top clubs locally after placing second to national club champions Alpha United in the Guyana Football Federation’s National League championship, earned the right to represent Guyana along with Alpha United in this prestigious championship.
Looking at the prospect of this young brigade of players at this level the Milerock coach said, “This is our first attempt at anything of this magnitude and we are working assiduously to make a good showing.
“A lot of it will depend on the support we receive from corporate Guyana and the belief we are able to instil into the players. Our focus would be on getting into the last stage but we are taking things slowly one game at a time.”
Joseph, a former national forward said that in light of this, “We also owe it to our young players who are excelling at the Junior National Level, to give them the exposure and the opportunity to be seen by scouts who may get interested in them.
These players who have donned colours at the junior national level include the likes of Clive De Nobrega, Ron Fiedtkou, Randy Small, Allister Johnson, Morty Ramdehall, and Owen Cameron.
The  Milerock coach  said that their preparations began on Monday and the emphasis at present is on conditioning. With this in mind, the  Guyana Football Federation (GFF) certified Fitness Instructor, Lindsley Langhorne, has been drafted in to assist, while National Under-20 coaches Collie Hercules and Andrew Hazel will also join the technical staff for which Joseph is the Head Coach.
He, however, expressed disappointment with the response by some players who, for various reasons, have been unable to make the initial practice sessions which are held once a day at the Bayrock Community Centre ground at Wismar .
At present only the registered Milerock players are training but a handful of guest players are expected to join the team from today.
Former national goalkeeper Richard Reynolds is among the professional players to be added to the list of players by the Milerock Technical Staff and this will boost the chances of Milerock getting past their first opponents.