11th edition of Milo Football U18 Tournament tentatively set for March 8

The 11th edition of the Milo Schools’ Under-18 Football Tournament has been launched on Thursday, February 27, in a simple ceremony hosted at the Head Office of Massy Distribution at Montrose, East Coast Demerara.
In this year’s competition, tentatively set to get underway on March 8, twenty-four teams drawn from Regions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10 would be competing for top honours after an initial playoff stage.

Speaking about lingering anticipation for this tournament during the launch, Petra Organisation Co-Director Troy Mendonca had this to say: “For me, it’s a household name within the communities, within the schools. Actually, I dwell within close proximity to schools every day, and ever since this tournament started, it has been a household name. These boys look forward for this competition, and so we at Petra we are very happy to be standing here again today to deliver the 11th version of the tournament.”
Sharing details about the tournament’s format and the overwhelming response oragnisers have seen, Mendonca explained, “We already have overwhelming indication from schools throughout the country, and so it is definite that we will be doing some elimination games to construct the final 24 that will make up the competing teams. It will be run on a round-robin, knockout basis, and so the 24 teams will be divided into six groups of four, where each team in the group will play each other.”

He then disclosed that this competition is expected to conclude on Saturday, April 19th.
Chief Executive Officer of Massy Distribution, Troy Beharry, in sharing why the company continues to support the Nestle Milo-powered tournament, noted that the company is happy to provide youths with such opportunities.
Beharry elucidated, “So, as part of Massy Guyana’s ongoing global forces for good initiative, and honouring its corporate social responsibility, Massy Guyana and Nestle Milo are proud to partner with Petra Organisation and Ministry of Education in hosting the 11th annual Milo Secondary Schools Under-18 Football Tournament.
“Massy Guyana’s ‘Force for Good’ campaign drives us to actively support a wide range of cultural, social, and economic initiatives. Our communities are the heart of our business, and, as such, we recognize the need for sports in our schools today and are committed to supporting events such as these, that target schools across all regions.
“Over the past 10 years, this tournament has become a staple in the football calendar in Guyana. The youths look forward to this tournament; this tournament actually serves as a stepping stone to highlight the talent and promote the youths for bigger things in football; and I know (that) many of our national talents would’ve come out of this tournament. Hence, this is the opportunity that youths look forward to, and we are happy to bring that to them again this year,” Beharry detailed.
This tournament has a grand prize of $300,000; second-, third- and fourth-place finishers would respectively be rewarded with $200,000, $100,000 and $75,000. All prizes are to go towards a project of the school’s choice.
Chase’s Academic Foundation are the tournament’s defending champions.