Just 6 days remain…

Guinness “Greatest of the Streets”…

It is an observable fact that the street football phenomenon known as the Guinness “Greatest of the Streets” Competition is the most anticipated event in the shorter version of the sport and the ninth edition is shaping up to provide a wonderful experience for the fans.
The Guinness brand, under Manager Lee Baptiste, has every intention of making this year’s national playoffs as inclusive as possible and all the stops are being pulled out to ensure that the tournament’s legacy is enhanced and secure.
The organiser, Banks DIH, has attempted every year since the tournament’s inauguration to improve some aspect of the experience for the fans and players, and this year’s national play-offs would be bigger and better.
Last year saw the introduction of colourful uniforms and balls in keeping with the new trend seen internationally and apart from a duplication of that effort, the organiser is planning to make seating accommodation available for fans so that more persons could share the wonderful experience of witnessing the games.
Teams have begun to intensify preparations and as usual, the quality on display over the three nights is nothing short of fantastic.
With the Bartica Zone just concluded and their representative decided, they now have the opportunity to showcase the talent of that community against the more-established communities of Georgetown, East Coast, Linden and West Demerara, and the early whispers are that the newcomers will adequately acquit themselves judging from the performance of zone winner Disconnection Crew that have a few Brazilians in their line-up.
They will definitely want to prove something against the opposition and vindicate their presence in the tournament.
Linden’s Dave & Celena All Stars, who became the first team outside of Georgetown to win the national competition, will no doubt be aiming to prove that last year’s performance was no fluke, while the Georgetown entries will be looking to reclaim lost glory.
Then, there are the dark horses from the other communities who’re yet to stamp their authority on the big tournament, but just as the reigning champions showed, the gap is closing among all the teams.
This year could prove to be a blockbuster extravaganza and one that fans will truly enjoy.
At this point, it is anyone’s guess what will be the outcome of this tournament with all the teams raring and ready to rumble.
The tournament opens on July 27, at Pouderoyen Tarmac, West Demerara and then moves to Haslington Tarmac, East Coast Demerara on August 1, before the final showdown set for August 4, at the National Stadium.

The teams that have qualified are:
Georgetown
Gold is Money-Champion
Sparta Boss
Leopold Street
Bent Street
East Coast
Uprising-Champion
Paradise
Melanie-B
Buxton Diamond
West Demerara
Showstoppers-Champion
ESPN
West Side Ballers
Linden
Silver Bullets-Champion
Dave and Celina’s All-Stars-National Champion
Swag Entertainment
Berbice
Trafalgar-Champion
Bartica
Disconnection Crew-Champion