Blue Water, GFF ink MoU for National U-15 Girls’ League

…GFF aiming to have 10 teams per region

By Jemima Holmes

A new league is set to grace Guyana’s football fraternity in two months’ time, as the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) and Blue Water Shipping on Saturday morning inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), affording young female ballers from across the country, the opportunity to showcase their skills.
The GFF/ Blue Water Shipping Girls’ Under- 15 Developmental League is not only aimed at a key developmental stage for young players, but will coincide with Guyana’s participation in a CONCACAF Championship for the same age group.
Speaking at the signing at the Pegasus Hotel, GFF President Wayne Forde revealed that the league would feed Guyana’s national team for those championships.

“As you all are aware, in August of this year, Guyana will be participating in the CONCACAF U-15 Female Championship and it is so timely that we are being given the opportunity through the generous sponsorship of Blue Water to launch the developmental league, from which we’ll be selecting those national team players that will represent the Golden Arrowhead,” Forde shared.
Blue Waters’ Country Manager Richard DeNobrega expressed his excitement at being able to collaborate with the Federation for the league, which is yet to have a price tag.
“We take great pride in supporting the Football Federation. Anything that brings a community together, especially in Guyana, we know how dear football is to our country, anything that brings us together and gives young people an opportunity to display their talent, Blue Water is more than happy,” DeNobrega said.
He went on to add, “We’ve seen the Federation’s work over the last few years and we’re more than happy to support a Federation like the GFF.”
When quizzed by Guyana Times Sport about whence players will be sourced for the league, Forde revealed that teams will be taken from clubs, Regional Associations and possibly, even schools.
“It is part of the ongoing planning discussion; we have targeted 10 functional teams in each of our nine Regional Associations. When we do the numbers, we will be putting close to 1000 young women actively involved in playing football,” he explained.

“We know that will not be a challenge in the hinterland communities, as you’re all aware there’re many players in our hinterland region. We are concerned that that may be a challenge on our coastland. So, we’re looking at a model that may also see us engaging some of the schools that have had young women participating in similar tournaments but at a different level.”
Highlighting that the GFF’s goal is to have at least 10 teams from each of its nine jurisdictions, the GFF boss appeared pretty confident that they will go above and beyond those figures.
In this regard, Forde expressed, “I have no reason to believe that we will not make that target. For a matter of fact, I actually think we will exceed that target.”
Essentially, this is not the first time that the two entities have joined forces in the name of the sport. In 2022, Blue Waters funded the livestream for Guyana’s World Cup qualifiers campaign in St Kitts and Nevis.
As such, Forde verbalised his appreciation for the company’s continued support.
He said, “I want to thank the Blue Water management for expressing confidence in the GFF, to manage and promote their brand here in Guyana and to recognise the tremendous work they’re doing to bring real value and meaning to local content.”