BFA President Alden Marslowe promises “greater things” in 2020

By Timothy Jaikarran

The Bartica Football Association (BFA) has, under the leadership of President Alden Marslowe, seen substantial increase in its football activities, and the emergence of new talent among its ranks in 2019.

And now, as it kick-starts its 2020 campaign to return football to Bartica, Marslowe has told Guyana Times that: “Spirits are high within the association at the prospect of bringing the game back to the Bartica Community Centre Ground, after a number of years.
“We expect to start the 2020 season early in February,” he said. “We want to play at as many levels as we can, and also implement a number of developmental programmes, like coaches and referees’ education. Added activities can only foster positives in the game.
“We look forward to having return games against teams outside of the Bartica Association, (in order) to give our boys more exposure to competition. Along with inviting other associations to play against us, we also intend to participate in every inter-association tournament that the GFF puts out there.
“We want to complete in leagues in at least four age categories, run off some great knockout competitions, get our grassroots programme off the ground, and crown it off with a big win at the national level.”
The BFA president also said that Bartica teams have been competitive in their home games, but have a tendency to not perform well in their away games.
He opined that exposure to more competitions would result in Bartica teams registering better performances, hence the association is looking to invite outside clubs and associations to compete against Bartica teams in home and away games.
Marslowe also declared that the BFA is extremely grateful to the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) and its president, Wayne Forde, for the unprecedented support it has been receiving through the FIFA Forward Programme and from the GFF’s corporate partners.
Marslowe’s conviction is that: “We (BFA) couldn’t ask for better support and leadership from the GFF. The input from the GFF has been tremendous, and if all goes as planned, this year it might be overwhelming.
“To our supporters, we just want to say, ‘Thanks for your patience through the difficult times’, but things are looking up now with the near completion of the community ground. The authorities are already looking into the development of the other grounds, too. So, on behalf of the BFA, I look forward to us working together to lift our game and put Bartica football back among the top players, where it belongs.”