Digicel’s schools tourney created opportunities for young talents

Says Akeem Greene

Under its team Unite. Develop. Excel, the Digicel School’s Football Championships which is in its sixth year ultimately created opportunities for young footballers in Guyana to showcase their talents, hopefully becoming household names in the near future.
The Under-18 tournament is viewed as the Mecca of schools football in the country, unearthing a wealth of talent from across all regions.
One of the many success stories of the tournament is that of Chase Academic Foundation’s Captain Jeremy Garrett who believes his exposure in this tournament has done him immense justice in improving his skills as a footballer.
“I have been playing the tournament for more than five years, it has played very important element in my life and development of soccer”, he said.
Garrett who is also the captain of the Guyana Under-17 team which recently participated in Caribbean Football Union (CFU) tournament revealed that the players, who would have participated in the championships and played with him on the National team, had an acquired synergy.

Garrett stated, “Most of the players on the team played in the Digicel tournament and you could have seen that the combination between the Digicel players on the field was something special; most of players who played in the tournament [Digicel Football Championships] were those who catch-on quickly in the CFU tournament”.
Christainburg/Wismar Secondary School’s Keyshawn Dey explained that because of the tournament he gets the showcase his talent to a wider populace
“It has played an important role in my life because you get to travel to different places in the country that you won’t think of going, you get to meet new players, you get to be seen by scouts to play for the national team; it basically lets you showcase your talent in public so everyone can see what you are capable of doing.”
Certainly, with such a wide talent pool being developed, there should be avenues for players to attend clinics to enhance their abilities, one of which is the Digicel’s Kick-start clinic.
However, the company’s Head of Customer care Sherwin Obsoure explained that despite that there is uncertainly if there will be a clinic held this year, Guyana must continue to produce good quality youth football.
“I’m not too sure if it [Digicel Kick-start clinic] is going to happen this year but we are talks right now with the Guyana Football Federation to have not just the Digicel kick-start but to have academies where they come and scout players like they do in other territories but we do have to build our own product and quality”, the Osbourne stated.
He added, “They [scouts] are not going to show up because we gave them an invitation, we have to produce something that they think they should come and see, so it all starts from when we started six years ago, to develop these players and get it to a standard in order to build that product for persons to want to come”.
This tournament is vital in developing the nation’s future footballers, as many would have seen the likes of the Championship’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) Jobe Caesar, the highest goal scorer Keifer Brant and the energetic bunch of players from the interior regions.
Not forgetting, Omar Brewley, David George, Shaquille Campbell, Ryan Hackett, Nicholas McArthur, Kelsey Benjamin and Annai’s Vasoc Cabral. The list can go on, but the resounding truth that will be posited, is that there is undoubtedly, a fountain of talented youths.
Caesar in particularly, seems worthy of the being in an institution where professionals can help foster his growth, as that scintillating free-kick he took from the edge of the 18-yard box that won Chase Academic Foundation the title this year, is one which will be remembered by many football adorning fans for time to come.
Looking ahead, creating a stronger link between the football and the academic mobility of the outstanding players, is area that could be addressed, with some persons calling for persons to be given at least local scholarships. ([email protected])