The Blue Waters Shipping Girls Under-15 Developmental football league is expected to commence soon, with the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) presenting a complement of equipment to representatives of its 9 Regional Member Associations (RMAs), which will be utilised to train for and run the developmental league.
GFF’s Wayne Forde and Blue Water’s Richard DeNobrega are surrounded by some of the country’s Under 15 players
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the developmental league was inked back in February of this year by the GFF and Blue Waters, and will feature club, RMAs, and possibly even school teams participating.
During the launch, at the GFF’s National Training Centre, Providence on Saturday afternoon, President Wayne Forde spoke of the reach that the tournament would have, and the magnitude of its importance to the development of female players.
Representatives of the RMAs receive their equipment for the U15 League
“We are creating history. Over the next couple of weeks and months, for the first time in Guyana’s 120 years of existence, we will have 1000s of young girls in the Under-15 category learning the fine art of football. These young women will be given an opportunity to play consistently, and to discover for themselves where they have the ability to play and to play well,” he said.
“But playing well is not the only reason why we want them to be involved in football. We want them to be in football because many, many valuable life skills will be learned throughout their experience in this beautiful game,” Forde told the gathering on Saturday afternoon.
A look at an Under 15 exhibition game, in which Blue Water’s Richard DeNobrega got involved
About the intended reach of the tournament, he said, “It is so important as we implement our mission here in Guyana that we recognise the importance of making football accessible to all of our young people. And that is why this tournament will be played across every region in this country. We will have Blue Waters U15 games being played in Region One, Region Nine, Region Ten, Region Five, Region Six, across the entire area, 83,000 square miles.
“This is the mandate that we have from FIFA, and I believe Blue Waters, as an enduring partner, is giving us the necessary support we need to deliver on that mandate. I want to use this occasion to say, ‘thank you’ to the management of Blue Water.”
Blue Waters’ Country Manager Richard DeNobrega expressed hopes of witnessing an impactful tournament that will blossom bright futures for the young ladies participating.
“Our role is insignificant compared to the role these young ladies will play in not only the football fraternity, but in the role of the entire country. What we do within partnership with the Federation is to encourage, as Wayne rightly mentioned, the team spirit of football to transcend and to go in these young ladies to have a future, and also to make our country even better than it already is,” DeNobrega said.
“We’re happy to be here. This is about football.” (Jemima Holmes)
