Historic National U13 boys league launched
The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) in collaboration with Tiger Rentals, have officially launched the National U13 boys league, the first-ever for Guyana.
This youth development initiative is the first of its kind for the Federation in over 120 years since its establishment.
The league was launched with the support of Tiger Rentals, who presented the GFF with a cheque for $10.6M towards the inaugural event.
GFF President Wayne Forde noted that this will help to develop an array of life skills in young people.
Forde said, “To simply name a few, they will learn to be a team player, respect authority in the case of coaches, referees and officials, learn to play by rules, learn to win with passion and lose with dignity. They will build self-confidence as they discover the outer limits of their god-given talent.”
Additionally, he said the establishment of this league is in keeping with the Federation’s mandate to make football more accessible to everyone.
Every coach that will be a part of this initiative is required to do complete courses in Fifa child safeguarding, Fifa football for schools’ master training and enroll in the Concacaf coach licencing pathway.
GFF Assistant Technical Director Brian Joseph said that the league is vital for the development of younger players getting into the sport.
He said, “Currently, for the past 4 or 5 years a U13 player probably would play 2 or 3 games per year. This partnership, this tournament with tiger tanks, will allow the average U13 player to play between 8 to 12 games per year.” “In addition to that, the more developed U13 players will play upward of 15 to 20 games per year.”
Additionally, this will allow local D-licence coaches more opportunities to put their skills into practice.
To participate in the tournament, boys under the age of 13 must form a team of at least 14 players and must be supervised by a certified coach.
This is expected to result in the formation of more U13 football clubs with players coming from various communities and schools across the country.
The GFF further stated that an Under-11 boys and girls football development initiative will be announced soon.
