Twelve football clubs from the Georgetown area are competing for a massive grand prize as the Georgetown Football Association (GFA) Senior Men’s League kicked off on Wednesday evening.
Members of the GFA take a photo opportunity with stakeholders ahead of the Senior Men’s League
The competition will follow a one-round format, with each team playing once. The team that accumulates the most points will be crowned champions.
Speaking at the official launch on Tuesday, GFA President Lomell Johnson announced the increased top prize and reflected on the growth of the tournament.
“As we know, the League has been growing. Last year, our prize monies for first place was $500,000. This year a greater effort was made to up that, and I’m pleased to announce that this year, the prize monies have increased from $500,000 to $1 million for first place.” Johnson said.
He added, “So, we’ve managed to secure that level of increase and I believe, with this announcement, clubs will be enthused to put more and greater effort into what we do. The League is expected to showcase the talents that we’ve produced in Georgetown and it is only our hope that we have a brand and a level of football that will be second to none.”
GFA members and title sponsors, Champs GY during the Senior Men’s League launch
Also present at the launch was GFF General Secretary Pushpargha Chattopadhyay, who drew a parallel between the competition and the game’s development.
Chattopadhyay shared, “The idea is to take the level up and nothing better than having competitions and games. Only through games and competitions can we have involvement, involvement of players, fans, stakeholders, sponsors, you know you bring everyone together in matches. The more we have games, the players develop, the mindsets develop, the culture is built. So, I’m really happy for this, and I must say on behalf of the GFF Council and the President, the fact that you are going forward to organise this, we are supporting you through the Member Financial Assistance Programme (MFAP) fund, and that is the reason why we have that programme.”
Providing sponsorship support is Champs GY, with Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dwayne Bess expressing enthusiasm about getting on board.
“With the GFA Champs Senior Men’s League, we look to showcase, obviously, 12 teams, offer prizes and the ability to acknowledge the best athletes in Georgetown, and we know and we can say the best athletes do come out from Georgetown. We’re definitely glad to be on board,” Bess shared with the gathering.
In addition to the $1 million grand prize, second-, third-, and fourth-place finishers will earn $500,000, $300,000, and $200,000 respectively.
