One building away from the corner of Camp and Middle Streets in Georgetown, the lines in front of the Guyana Amazon Warriors’ (GAW) Box Office stretched south along Camp Street and wrapped around Quamina Street on Monday morning, as hundreds of GAW fans queued up in order to be among the first to get their hands on tickets for the GAW home games in the 2024 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) tournament.
Avid fans usually begin lining up in the wee hours of the opening day, but some took it further by setting up camp outside the GAW Box Office as early as 17:00hrs on Sunday afternoon. Among the first group of fans to secure their tickets on Monday were Richard Singh, Simone Browne and Melanie Winter, who came from East Coast Demerara and East Bank Essequibo to burn the midnight oil at the Box Office.
A look at some of the GAW Merchandise on sale at their store
Some described it as time well spent with games and jokes, and the first 20 fans were rewarded with free GAW merchandise.
“It was a long wait, but the wait was worthwhile. Guyanese, come out and support the Amazon Warriors! We repping all the way,” Richard Singh has declared as he told this publication
about his night in waiting. “So, we came here about 07:30 last night, and til this morning we wait, but it was worthwhile. It was a good while; we had fun, you know. I got to meet with new people, people that celebrate the game and interacted with us. It was a good wait.”
Two best friends in Brown and Winter declared they have made it a tradition to travel from Parika and camp out for their tickets. Brown told Guyana Times Sport, “We came here at 11 O’ clock last night, and the wait…wasn’t easy. We had fun, we played dominoes and had lots of jokes going on with the guys out there; but it was a long night and a hot day. But we finally got the tickets, and we’re excited and happy.”
The first group of patrons received free GAW Merchandise
Winter added, “This is a customary this for us, always here getting our tickets. I think because of the win last year, that is why you see this magnitude of crowd out there so early in the morning.”
“Like 4 O’clock they got in the building and about 200 people were here by that time,” Browne further stated about the visibly larger crowd this year.
The tickets currently available are for the Amazon Warriors’ 5 home games in addition to two neutral games. Prices are set at $2,500 for the Grass Mound, $3,500 for the Orange Stand, $5,500 for the Red Stand, and $6,000 for the Green Stand.
Fans were eager to get their hands on tickets and Merchandise on Monday
In addition, to the Box Office, the Amazon Warriors also opened their Merchandise Store, which according to Operations Manager Dinesh Ramsahai has something affordable for everyone.
“Well, we have some new items indeed. We have the new line of replica playing shirts, we have track suits, we have the new jackets. We also have passport holders, wallets, key rings, cups, bottles, flasks, new hats, along with tote bags, backpacks and socks,” Ramsahai informed.
Speaking about the affordability of items at the GAW Merchandise Store, he said, “Yes, there’s something for everyone. Our prices have been reduced from last year. You can get the replica shirts now for $4000 and up, majority of them being $4000. Backpacks are $3500. You know the tote bags are affordable and the track suits also. The most expensive item I think we have is the varsity jacket. That’s about $10,000, but everything else is (more) affordable, better prices than last year.”
The Box Office and Merchandise Store will be open from 08:30hrs to 16:00hrs on weekdays, and from 08:30hrs to 13:00hrs on Saturdays. The Republic Bank CPL action will bowl off in Guyana on Friday September 20th with a clash between the local team and the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots. (Jemima Holmes)
Some described it as time well spent with games and jokes, and the first 20 fans were rewarded with free GAW merchandise.
“So, we came here about 07:30 last night, and til this morning we wait, but it was worthwhile. It was a good while; we had fun, you know. I got to meet with new people, people that celebrate the game and interacted with us. It was a good wait.”
