KFC Goodwill International Schools Football Tournament: GFF President Wayne Forde welcomes Suriname team to Guyana

Guyana Football Federation (GFF) President Wayne Forde on Wednesday morning took time out of his busy schedule to pay a visit to the SVB Academy football team from Suriname, who arrived in Guyana on Sunday last, and are being housed at the GFF’s National Training Center (NTC) dorms ahead of the KFC Goodwill International Tournament. Forde and Petra Co-Director Troy Mendonca were well received by the Surinamese team.
“This is the first time that an international team is staying at the National Training Center,” the GFF President told the Surinamese team on Wednesday morning.
“Over the years, there’s been a really, really warm relationship between Guyana Football Federation and Suriname’s Association. We have a really good relationship, but we however suspend that relationship for 90 minutes,” Forde added in a statement that was received with laughter from the SVB players.
In his bid to make the team feel welcome, and to keep them in the loop about the path their presence in Guyana would pave for future tournaments going forward, Forde shared a bit of his vision for the format, established by the Petra Organization.

“There’s a shared vision between the GFF and the Petra Organization that Troy represents, to be able to host a National School Championship in Guyana, and we will be pursuing that aggressively in the next year or so. So, very likely, the model will turn out to be one where once we have commitment from a few more countries, like Suriname, Trinidad, Jamaica, the hosting of this can move around,” Forde shared. “It makes sense if we’re able to have the players experience the different environments,” the GFF Boss further stated.
Forde articulated his expectation for the tournament, which is set to commence at the NTC at Providence today, December 15th. He explained, “We expect to see some good football. I will come out and try to enjoy a couple of games. Play hard, play well, take care of yourself, and we hope that when you leave here, you don’t only leave with good experiences on the pitch, but you make some good friends.”
The tournament will commence today with a blockbuster matchup between Christianburg Wismar Secondary and defending champions Annai Secondary, beginning at 14:00hrs. Then Golden Grove Secondary and D.C. Caesar Fox (Waramadong) Secondary are set to clash at 16:00hrs.
SVB will spring into action on Saturday, the second day of the competition, when they come up against Christianburg Wismar Secondary.
St Benedict’s College of Trinidad & Tobago would also oppose Golden Grove Secondary on Saturday, and both of these matches are to be played at a venue that is still to be determined.