GTT adds mini football tournament to Pinktober calendar

Story and Photos by Jemima Holmes

The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) has delved into the sport of football for the first time ever as part of its list of Pinktober activities.

Over the years of organising activities to bring awareness to the scourge of, and assist in the fight against, cancer, GTT had never incorporated a mainstream sporting activity into its calendar of activities. However, for 2019, the Everest Sports Club was its venue of choice, as the mini tournament was contested on Saturday last.
The telecommunications company has recognised the importance of physical activity in the battle against cancer. This year’s Pinktober ambassador, Ambika Ramraj, explained why GTT chose to place such emphasis on physical activity for 2019.

“There’s a host of behaviours that we don’t really pay attention to; or lack of behaviours, such as being physically active, that can decrease our chances of having cancer. And looking back at all of those risk factors, we realise that physical activity is one of the major ones, so that’s why we decided to have a football match,” Ramraj explained to Guyana Times Sport.
This year’s event took on the form of a mini football tournament wherein four teams, namely GTT, GFF, Ministry of Public Service and a Celebrity team, were involved. The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) played a key role in organising the games, which were extremely exciting. Speaking with this newscast, GFF President Wayne Forde praised GTT for the idea, and for their work in the battle against cancer.
“Well, first of all, we want to congratulate the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company for partnering with the Federation, and for the enormous work they’ve been doing over the past couple of years to promote awareness for breast cancer and extending their work to all cancer,” Forde stated.
Forde has said he is proud of the role that the GFF has played in the inaugural event, and looks forward to many more like it in future.
“I think we all recognise that the Guyana Football Federation, apart from developing football, has a social role to play, and the fact that we can use football to further promote the work that GTT is doing to promote awareness for breast cancer is something that we’re proud of.
“Football has a wide reach, and I think it’s a great initiative; and next year, with the requisite planner, it can be bigger and better,” Forde explained.
Ramraj shared initiatives with the Football Federation boss, as she revealed that GTT would work to make the event bigger in years to come, and may even look to branch out into other sports.
“This is the first time that we’re doing this initiative, but not the last time, for sure. It is something that we plan on continuing, and maybe in future years we’ll change up the sports or add some different sports. Not everybody loves football, but we can find some other sport people can enjoy,” the Pinktober ambassador has said.