GEORGETOWN International Academy (GIA) and Waramuri Primary are ready to contest the finals of the Courts Optical Pee Wee Football competition today at the Ministry of Education ground on Carifesta Avenue.

Petra Director, Troy Mendonca, says the goal is developmental, but the competitive spirit of the

teams has stood out this year as teams have shown even more passion in play.

It’s about 2 teams coming together after six weeks of riveting football…youth football and

youth sports in general. People always refer to it as developmental, but we at Petra know

that there must be a competition aspect in everything we do to really bring out the effort of

the coaches and parents involved.

Courts Optical Manager, Richard Sampson, says this tournament is one of their ways of giving

back to communities through investment in youths.  

‘Pee wee football means a lot to Courts Unicomer and Courts Optical; hence, we emphasise

how important it is and ensure that on a year-to-year basis, we continue to support as best

as possible. I would like to say thank you to all the schools that are participating, all the

coaches, and all the support teams from Petra.’

He charged players to raise their heads and be proud of the way they have performed over the past weeks and play well in the finals, as they have worked hard to reach this stage.

Manager of GIA Michael Lomax says sports is a tremendous training ground for the youths, and

the school is grateful for the hard work of the players, which put them in the finals.

‘I’m proud of Coach Freddie. He took a bunch of kids and blended them into a quality

team, and I think nobody gave GIA a chance to win it, but we stuck with it. Dedicated, the

kids responded and win or lose we are proud of them.’

Waramuri manager, Roland Lewis, said it goes to show that when you invest in hinterland youths,

the sky is the limit, as he thanked the organiser and his community for the belief and financial

support in preparing the team.

‘We had over a hundred plus parents that came on board and rally behind these youngsters. In

fact, I had a parent come and donate $100,000 and said “This is to your team”; so it has

been overwhelming, and the guys felt it, and they played their best football when they came

here, and once we were given the opportunity in the hinterland, we grasped it with both

hands.’