Football’s return to play in Guyana: 4 games lined up, as Milo U18 returns this Saturday, June 18

Having been abruptly halted at the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic in March of 2020, the Milo Boys’ Under 18 Football tournament never got to see its completion that year. However, in 2022, the tournament will be resumed with ‘a few tweaks here and there’.

For 24 school football teams, June 18 will be D-Day, as they take their only shot at progressing through the ranks. The continuation of the Milo tournament will see a straight knockout format being employed, with July 10 set for the coveted finals.
Prior to a team briefing on Tuesday afternoon, Milo’s Brand Manager, Rajinda Lall, expressed the company’s elation at the resumption of the tournament, while highlighting a vested interest in youth development.
“Nestle, under its Milo Brand, along with Beepat, is proud to resume sponsorship of the Milo Under-18 Tournament, which came to an unexpected halt in 2020 owing to the Coronavirus. I know this is a highly anticipated tournament, as our youths can’t wait to get back out on the field after two years of lockdown; and, for us, it is a signal that we are returning to some sort of normalcy,” the Milo Brand Manager shared.

He added, “Nestle and Beepat (are) always happy to be part of youth development in sports, and tournaments of (this) nature provide that platform where athletes can represent our country at the senior level.”
Petra’s Co-Director, Troy Mendonca, has shed some light on the temporary format of the Under-18 tournament.
“As soon as we got the chance and opportunity to return to play, we wanted to complete this tournament as part of our commitment to our sponsor,” the Petra Co-Director declared.
Shifting focus to the tournament’s format, which is moving from round-robin to straight knockouts for 2022 only, Mendonca said, “What we’ve decided, because of the fact that a lot of players who would have participated in the tournament then wouldn’t be with us this time around, and to make it even shorter, we decide that we’re going to complete the tournament through a knockout format.
“Of course, we would have used the points’ standings we had then to come up with our fixture,” he informed.
About the positive impact he hopes the tournament would make, Mendonca shared with the students present, “We, at Petra, we rather see you out here playing the sport than being engaged in other issues that (are) not related to school, and that (are) not related to sport.”
St. Stanislaus vs St. John’s College, West Ruimveldt Secondary vs Vergenoegen Secondary, Bishops’ High vs Charlestown Secondary, and Bladen Hall Secondary vs Carmel Secondary are the clashes set for Saturday, June 18, beginning at 12.30pm at the Ministry of Education Ground in Georgetown.
Every participating school has been presented with two unmarked balls and one Milo-branded ball for training purposes by the Petra Organisation. (Jemima Holmes)