The GuyOil/Tradewind Tankers Under-18 Football Tournament returns next week for a second installment of league action, but this time a format would be utilised that is not often used in schools’ football tournaments.
GuyOil’s Jacquelin James, MoE’s Lorraine Barker- King, Petra’s Troy Mendonca and Tradewind Tankers’ Jorge Abukhalil take a photo opportunity with some participating students
Instead of round-robin action preceding the knockout stage, the new format being utilised would allow school teams to test their skills against every other team in the tournament, before the winner is determined by highest points scored.
At the tournament’s launch, which was hosted at the Ministry of Education Ground on Carifesta Avenue yesterday afternoon, the competition received the blessing of the Education Ministry in a message delivered by Allied Arts Administrator Lorraine Barker-King, who ably highlighted the importance of having rounded students in the nation’s schools.
“We are aware of the multiplicity of benefits to be derived from exposure to the arts in the area of physical education and sport. Some of these benefits are: development of healthy lifestyles, positive attitudes, and cognitive development; that is, we see an impact on academics, we see better performances,” she explained.
And while extending gratitude to the Guyana Oil Company for their generosity exhibited for the second consecutive year, Petra Co-Director Troy Mendonca described GuyOil’s commitment to sport as admirable.
“Most companies, as you know, will make investment decisions based on expected results, or (decisions are) results-driven; and the mere fact that, for this U18 football tournament, the officials and executives of this company can’t immediately measure what results they will get, shows serious commitment by the companies to invest in the human capital of the country,” Mendonca explained.
On Tradewind Tankers’ behalf, former Spanish player Jorge Abukhalil explained why the company got involved, and encouraged students to seize the glorious opportunity provided.
“We at Tradewind Tankers strongly believe in sports. We believe that it’s a great opportunity for you guys, not only to develop physical activity, but to learn the quality of playing as a team. We’re very happy. I wish you the best,” the Tradewind Tankers’ Representative said.
Ten secondary schools will be participating in this year’s tournament: defending champs Annandale Secondary, Bishops’ High School, St. Stanislaus College, St. John’s College, President’s College, Cummings Lodge Secondary, Marian Academy, Lodge Secondary, Queen’s College and Charlestown Secondary. Standby teams are Tucville Secondary and Carmel Secondary. GuyOil Marketing Manager Jacqueline James also encouraged the teams while declaring GuyOil’s continued commitment to partnership with the Petra Organization.
“One of the things we recognise is that you’re doing something that you love; and also it has a benefit for your school, ‘cause some teams last year were able to give back to their schools. On behalf of Tradewind Tankers and GuyOil, we wish you a successful tournament, and we will definitely continue to support the Petra Organization,” she said.
As is the norm with school tournaments, the prizes will be in kind, with the top four winning teams selecting the project to which their win would be dedicated. Cash prizes on offer in this tournament are as follows: $200,000, $100,000, $50,000 and $25,000.The top two finishers in this league will get opportunity to compete in the KFC Goodwill Tournament which will kick off in December. (Jemima Holmes)
