WHILE the recently concluded Guinness Street Football competition has been declared a major success, the view is that the popularity of street football continues to soar – a revelation that was made by Banks DIH Guinness Brand Manager Lee Baptiste.

Baptiste, who will be accompanying Back Circle to the second regional tournament in St Vincent and the Grenadines, said that after careful evaluation and examination he has drawn this conclusion.
He disclosed that a lot of teams have been entering the competition thus ensuring the rapid and continued growth of the competition, adding that as the competition continues to grow so is the support by fans, confirming the opinion that street football will become a major sporting event regionally.
“Looking back at the tournament we saw that with each match the fans and crowd support base continued to grow. We noticed that more and more persons are determined and aggressive in lending support in some way or the other to street football as it is what people were looking forward to,” a satisfied looking Baptiste said.
Recollecting when street football had started some years ago in a few communities in Georgetown, he said no one had envisioned that several years after what was then regarded as a simple and community oriented challenge would be a national competition involving teams from all over Guyana.
“Looking back at where street football started in Guyana to where it is today, it is correct to state that the popularity of street football has grown tremendously,” he noted.
However, Baptiste credited Troy Mendonca and Marlon Cole whom he described as the pioneers in ensuring the growth and success of street football, especially in Georgetown, adding that it was the determination, persistence, faith and enormously hard work of these individuals and a few others that have taken the sport to where it is today.
“Troy and Marlon were the ones who had played a key role in street football and therefore it is individuals like these we must always remember who have helped in street football being where it is today,” posited Baptiste.
Confirming his company’s commitment to the sport, Lee said that Banks DIH is ready and prepared to continue lending the support and assistance needed in ensuring that street football continues on the upward trend.
He said that with the competition being able to reach out to many, creating a sense of true community spirit and friendliness he believes that with the continued corporate support his company has been giving that it will continue.
“Banks DIH through the Guinness brand is firm in its commitment and determination to continue giving all the required help and assistance in keeping street football alive and well in Guyana. We believe that this competition is achieving its set objectives and therefore we will lend the required help and assistance to keep it growing.”
Meanwhile, in commenting on the competition, Cole said he and Mendonca are very pleased with the outcome noting that street football has been around for several years now.
“When the sport got started, many were of the view that it was not going to last. But hard work, determination and overwhelming support by the fans and sponsors led to the tremendous success being enjoyed today.
When we started this some years ago there were many who never thought that this competition was going to grow and now we are seeing how it has grown tremendously into a well-organised competition. Street Football has been geared towards bringing about cohesion, unity, cooperation and maintaining love among the various communities and we intend to continue organising this competition.”
Cole said efforts are afoot to continue bringing about positive changes as they seek to improve the competition.