– Boys’ U-15 Championship in Florida
– Golden Jaguars to kick-off campaign against St Kitts and Nevis on Monday
TEAM Guyana arrived yesterday in Florida where they will participate in the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Under-15 Championship, set to be the largest CONCACAF tournament ever, including 39 Member Associations and over 700 youth players from across the Confederation.
The developmental tournament which will take place from August 13-19 and features 81 total matches, will be played entirely at the world-renowned IMG Academy campus in Bradenton, Florida.
Guyana will open their Group F campaign against St Kitts and Nevis on Monday from 11:00 hours, and will play Suriname on Tuesday, followed by their final group match against St Lucia on Thursday.
To ensure sporting balance and fully leverage this unique development opportunity for the full contingent of young CONCACAF players, participating associations will be divided into division play in which all 39 teams are guaranteed a maximum amount of competitive matches throughout the week.
The structure includes three separate divisions, with seeding based on each MA’s performance over the last three editions of the CONCACAF Under-17 Men’s Championship, as well as qualifying for that event. Within each division, the participating teams have been divided into groups of four teams (with one group of three) for round-robin play.
CONCACAF Under-15 Championship 2017 Divisions and Groups*Participating Member Associations listed in assigned group positions
Division One (8)
Group A: Mexico, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama
Group B: United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago
Division Two (15)
Group C: Cuba, El Salvador, Bermuda, Martinique
Group D: Haiti, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Curacao
Group E: Barbados, Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico
Group F: St Lucia, Suriname, Guyana, St Kitts & Nevis
Division Three (16)
Group G: Aruba, Cayman Islands, Bonaire, Saint Martin
Group H: Antigua & Barbuda, Grenada, Dominica, Sint Maarten
Group I: Bahamas, US Virgin Islands, French Guiana, St. Vincent & The Grenadines
Group J: British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Montserrat, Turks & Caicos Islands
For the group stage, all participating teams will play in a round-robin format.
The top two teams from each of the two Division One groups, after group stage matches have been completed, will qualify for the semifinals of the tournament. The winners of the semifinals will clash in the Final on August 17, 2017.
Division Two and Division Three teams will continue play according to their ranking after group play and their subsequent results through the last match day to determine final tournament positions.
Honduras captured the inaugural version of the CONCACAF Boys Under-15 Championship in 2013, topping a field of 22 teams in the Cayman Islands.