Expanded Pee-Wee U11 football tournament returns for 11th instalment

Expanding its reach to include a wider range of schools from across the country this year, the Courts Pee-Wee Under-11 Boys’ football tournament is set to kick off next Saturday, September 21.
This year’s tournament is likely to feature 32 teams in an initial round-robin format, hailing from Regions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 10.
During the official launch on Friday afternoon at the company’s Main Street branch, Petra Co-Director Troy Mendonca spoke of the talents the tournament has produced over the years and how it has transformed in that time.
“We see it as our best tournament. Like Troy said, you have currently about six or seven senior national players in the team that passed through this system. You have players in the Under-20, Under-17, Under- 14 tournament that they just went and played,” Mendonca informed.

The Petra Co-Director went on, “Just to add, when this tournament started, it was kids with smiles going out there to enjoy themselves. Now, it is so competitive, you see kids excelling in the technical attributes and you know, coaches organising their team in a way that says they’re structured. We want to say a special thank you to the teachers, coaches and the guardians that give support to these kids.”
Assistant Director of Sport, Franklin Wilson later underscored the importance of developing youth football.
Wilson opined, “This is the bedrock of our football, if we don’t get the guys at this level or even lower, we will lose them because they can’t trap a ball, they can’t pass a ball, the can’t take. So, this tournament, I think, is critical to the development of football. Maybe, the Courts Optical needs to do some specs for some of our Administrators, for them to understand the importance of supporting and planning youth football. Because if we don’t do that, as a nation, we’re just wasting time.”
In a word from the title sponsors, Courts Optical’s Chain Manager Richard Simpson reflected on his anticipation of watching the football action, while sharing why the entity continued to commit to the event.
“Every Saturday I dragged my picture and I dragged my team and let me tell you, it is worth it. If adults, parents, teachers, guardians come out on the match days, they will see why this programme is important and they will see why Courts Optical/Unicomer will always support this programme. I strongly believe the children are our future and with the job that we’re doing or with the path that we’re paving, we stand to have a very bright future,” Simpson shared.
St Pius Primary is the tournament’s defending champion.