Forde recommits support towards Region 9 development

President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), Wayne Forde, declared open the regional office of the Rupununi Football Association (RFA) on Thursday where he announced his continued support for the association.

“The RFA has done exceptionally well in the eyes of the GFF. The GFF has supported this association in every possible way we can. Everything that I do, everything that President Grant and his team do in the RFA, every project that the Mayor does and every funding and logistical support that the Chairman brings is a fine example of what is possible when the right people come together for the right reasons,” said Forde in his remarks at the opening ceremony.
The ceremony held at the 107 Middle Street, Lethem location sae the attendance of Regional Chairman, Brian Allicock; Mayor, Carlton Beckles and Acting RFA President, Curtis Buckley.
Forde emphasized the importance of increased administrative capacity to realize the development of football in the region and affirmed the GFF’s continued support.
“We have 13 GFF-Scotiabank Academy Training Centres (ATCs) across Guyana and four of them are in the Rupununi. The GFF is committed to the development of football in Guyana and stands ready to provide necessary support. I am pleased, honoured and privileged to be a part of a movement that will, in my opinion in the not too distant future, produce players from this region that can go all the way to professional football in Europe and further.”
For his part, Acting RFA President, Buckley, highlighted some of the RFA’s achievements since
its election on October 30, 2015; chief among them, the expansion of the membership and the
number of national players emerging from the region: “Initially, we started with only five clubs.
Despite the negatives and positives, today we stand with 17 clubs. I thought the furthest club that’s a part of the RFA would’ve been the Titan Warriors located in Aishalton Village, but the furthest club is the GoGetters from Mahdia, Region 8. I must recognize our 30 footballers that were chosen for the national camp; eight senior females, eight Under-17 males, eight Under-15 males and six Under-13 males. As a result, three of the Under15 males went on to represent us at the international level. They were Kenneth Salvador from Moco Moco FC, Orville Daniels from Paiwomak Warriors in Annai and Wayne Da Silva from Saint Ignatius FC. Within our two years we have promoted youth football and have participated in national tournaments including the Frank Watson U15 and the NAMILCO tournaments respectively.” Mayor Beckles recommended that the Rupununi should be the ‘Mecca’ of women’s football in Guyana. Coming out of that report, the next year Guyana was represented in Antigua by no fewer than nine females from the Rupununi including the vice-captain.
Meanwhile, Allicock, said he was proud of the strides made by the region in football development: “Having this office in the RFA tells us that there is development taking place and more has to come yet. We have to go a far way. We have to be a proud people from the region, because I remember the Haiti game where the Daniels boy made Guyana win that match. I feel so proud about these youngsters. I remember when our boys had to play against other regions (Digicel School Championship), there was such a crowd”.
The opening ceremony of the office, which will serve as a hub for football administration in the region, was followed by the official ribbon cutting and tour of the building. The occasion was commemorated with two novelty matches played at the Wadapna Community Centre Ground.