… US$4 000 and multi-purpose facility for winner
A MULTI-purpose five-a-side facility and US$4 000 await the winner of the inaugural Guinness Caribbean Street Football Challenge which kicks off in Guyana from June 20 to 23 on the National Park tarmac, with Trinidad and Tobago and Stoke City’s Kenwyne Jones being the brand manager. This was disclosed by Carlton Joao, Sales and Marketing Executive of local beverage manufacturing giant Banks DIH yesterday, while he was giving an insight into the tournament which was launched yesterday and will see six countries represented by community teams.
According to Joao, the moment was a proud one for Banks DIH and Guyana. When they started the Guinness Greatest of the Streets competition two years ago, it looked like a one-off situation, but it has grown and now taken over the Caribbean.
“The first tournament we had in December 2009 when we launched the inaugural Guinness Greatest of the Street football championships was a model tournament that was designed entirely in Guyana for Guyanese, using a brand that is renowned around the world.
The model of this tournament has been exported out of Guyana, into the Caribbean and as we understand, further parts of the world and with this inaugural tournament, what is fitting to know is that the first ever championship for the Caribbean is being brought home to where the project started –  Guyana.”
The six countries from which community-based teams would be represented are St. Lucia, St Vincent, Antigua, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, whom 2011 Guinness Greatest of the Streets winner Back Circle will represent.
Close to US$10 000 in cash prizes will be up for grabs and apart from the first place grand and cash prize, the second-, third- and fourth-placed finishers will pocket US$2 000, $1 500 and $1 000 respectively. All teams will be outfitted in their national colours and a special uniform, compliments of Guinness.
Joao said Banks DIH, through its Guinness brand, will be outfitting Back Circle with playing gear including boots, and supplying beverage during their preparation phase, along with sponsoring a series of practice matches, adding that they are all proud to be hosting the tournament.
He said the visiting countries have held or are currently holding, their individual competitions to arrive at their representatives for the tournament, while expressing confidence in Team Guyana to make the host nation proud. The referees will also be outfitted by Guinness.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr Frank Anthony also made some brief remarks, in which he lauded the beverage giant for taking the first step, in which others have followed around the world.
“We wanted to go to the communities, especially the ones that may be considered at risk – as there are a lot of those – and provide for them other activities so that they could get themselves involved in productive things.
“I recalled when we started the tournament, some of the communities we chose were communities a lot of people were afraid to enter, but we were there and it was a wonderful atmosphere. Persons enjoyed themselves and the lighting and facilities were great,” stated Dr Anthony.
Like Joao, Dr Anthony pointed out the expansion of the game in Guyana and the Caribbean at large, saying how wonderful it is for Guyana to set a trend for others to follow.
He added, “We are very happy that Guinness would have seen it fit to take something that would have been home grown in Guyana and make it something that the Caribbean would embrace and be participating in, while it has also gone beyond the Caribbean.
Herein lays a success story as very often, we look at other people to come and tell us to participate in a tournament that has grown somewhere else. The success we have here is that we have started something, we have pioneered it and other people have now embraced it and joined it, because they see the positive benefits that can be accrued from it and we are pleased that we are very pleased to be the pioneers of this.”
“I think from that, even if there is nothing else that we can get out of it, being the champions and the pioneers of this idea and giving it to the rest of the Caribbean and the world at large is something that is really marvellous and we should all be proud of that,” stated Dr Anthony.
“In this particular tournament, there is the component that the teams that are coming can win individual or team glory. But because of the community side of it, if the team wins you get something for your community and there is no country that has every infrastructure that is needed.
“Everyone would like to see development in their country and even community and the idea to create a multi-purpose tarmac for the country that wins is a brilliant idea and that’s why, since we know of the communities where street football is being played, there is a lack of facilities.”
Dr Anthony called on Team Guyana to go out there and do their best, win the tournament and let the multi-purpose tarmac be built in Guyana, as we have inaugurated the tournament which served as a stepping stone to the Caribbean championships.
Co-coordinator of the tournament, Troy Mendonca, outlined the schedule for the matches, saying teams will be asked to play three matches on the first night and two on the second, while the semifinals and finals will be contested on the third and final night of action.
Captain of Team Guyana, Daniel Favorite, was presented with a pair of football boots along with a Guinness ball from both Dr Anthony and Joao, while the day’s proceeding was chaired by Communications Officer of Banks DIH, Troy Peters.
Admission to the National Park is $500 for the first two nights, while fans are asked to pay an entrance fee of $1 000 to witness the finals, with lots of giveaways in store.