Elite League 2025: Big signings, confidence to propel Police in Elite League 7

– Story and Photos by Jemima Holmes

In 2024, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) Football Club finished third in the Elite League, with their only slip-ups coming against eventual top-two finishers Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and Slingerz FC.

However, the Eve Leary-based outfit is pulling out all the stops ahead of Season Seven to ensure that they can not only compete with but overcome those threats.
When Guyana Times Sport caught up with Assistant Coach Dwain Babb, he shared how their preparations for the League has been so far.

“The previous League, it wasn’t that tough, it’s just that we lost two critical games and you know, we draw another game that made us bring third. But this new season, what we did is we look over our mistakes, we had some pre-season training in to strengthen some players; also, we did some tactical work which would help us to, at least, win the league,” Babb told this publication exclusively.
Reflecting on last year’s performance, the Assistant Coach went on to identify areas that they will be perfecting this time around.
He explained, “One of the main things is that we weren’t finishing our chances ,because against Slingerz, against GDF, we provide a lot of chances; we just didn’t score them. So, we trying to work on those areas so we could be better in the games.”
Alongside Slingerz FC, the Police team have had some of the more potent signings in the January transfer window.
With the likes of Ryan Hackett, Neron Barrow, Brandon Solomon and Jamaine Beckles heading to Eve Leary, Babb discussed what they were looking for in their signings and how gelling the team has been going.
“We have about three or four players which is Ryan Hackett, which is a centre midfield being one of the players and one of the areas that we were looking to strengthen. We also have Brandon, which is left- back. We’re working with these players to get, not acclimatised but the word is to be cohesive with the other players; by they now come in, we’re working with them to put in a lot of sessions, a lot of repetition, so they could gel with the team fast,” Babb shared.
On whether their efforts to get the team to gel have been effective, he explained, “I would say yes and no, or I would say in between. Tactics are not easy to stick, you know; fitness – you could just run and get certain things, but tactical takes a little more time and we’re trying we best to get a lot of repetition in, because remember, it’s not a professional league where the players just relax home and then come to session: some of them work; they have other things troubling them.
“Whenever they meet, we try to put together a programme, so that we could get the best out of them.”
All in all, Babb is pretty confident about Police’s chances in the upcoming tournament.
He divulged, “We’re very confident and the work we’re putting in, we trying to get the players as confident too. That’s one of the things I think they was lacking last year, they wasn’t so confident when they were playing GDF and Slingerz. So, those are some of the things we’re working on and getting them to be focused, technical, tactical strength so they could be ready for the League.”
The Elite League will kick off on Sunday, March 9, 2025.