GFF hoping to ramp up work at Providence

…National team preparation to benefit from commissioned lights

By Jemima Holmes

For the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) to adequately prepare local players for the Gold Cup qualification process next year, continuous training at a proper facility would be needed. For this reason, the GFF is looking to hasten work at its National Training Centre at Providence, EBD.

This Centre has greatly aided the Federation’s planned events, and even its tournaments. Officially unveiled in 2019, the National Training Centre has been part of the FIFA Forward plan and is Guyana’s first astro turf (synthetic field). However, delay in completion of the surrounding infrastructure has greatly hindered this facility from performing at its intended capacity.

Prodded for an update on the facility, GFF President Wayne Forde shared that while he is not contented with the pace at which work is being done, he is focused on ticking some boxes on the to-do list before 2021.
“We’re moving steadily, (although) I think we could do much more. Only recently, we had a very candid discussion with all the stakeholders, and I made my sentiments very clear: that I wasn’t happy with the pace, and I needed to see certain things done. So, there’s now a ramping up of the pace. There are certain things I believe we must achieve before we exit 2020, because we simply have one year,” Forde shared.
On that note, the GFF boss shared some of the aspects of the project that he hopes to complete within the coming weeks.
“And that is: we must, at a minimum. We must commission our lights, or be very close to commissioning our lights. We must have the final engineering designs completed. We don’t have that yet, but that is also in train,” the GFF President divulged.
In the matter of Gold Cup preparation, Forde is of the view that the local players’ preparation can be more holistic if they can train continuously, irrespective of day or night.
Forde posited, “If we get our lights in before we get out of 2020, then it means that we can accelerate National Team preparation, because we’re not restricted by daylight alone. So, I’ve made my thoughts very clear on those, and the people that are responsible for making those things happen, they have their marching orders.”
Meanwhile, according to Forde, the GFF’s facility at Durban Park requires more governmental and international support, and the expectation is that it would be undertaken in 2021.
“We require a little more support from our international partners around Durban Park. It’s always been said that that’s a 2021 project, but there are still a few things we’re going to try to do before we get out of 2021,” Forde explained.
Sharing some of the plans in the pipeline for the Durban Park land, Forde said, “We want to clear Durban Park and we want to create a playable space for the community. And in the meantime, when people are enjoying it as a football venue, the final details of the engineering takes place in consultation with the Government, because they have to play a part in the final design.”
The plot of land at Durban Park was acquired through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Guyana (GoG) in February, 2019. The 7.3 acres of land have been given on a 30-year lease, and are expected to house a state-of-the-art football facility.