‘Making a positive change through sport’

– Petra Organization launches Soft Shoe tournament with focus on Gender Based Violence

By Avenash Ramzan

Gender Based Violence is a global issue, and if not tackled early it could destroy a nation.
It is a problem that has been plaguing Guyana for quite a number of years, and while strides have been made to curtail the number of cases reported annually, one organization is using an innovative way of creating more awareness about the social ill.
Making a positive change through sport is what the Petra Organization is hoping to achieve by centering its theme on Gender Based Violence for its upcoming Soft Shoe football tournament.

The competition, set to kick off in grand style on May 17, was officially launched on Tuesday afternoon at the Brandsville Hotel in Georgetown where representatives of the stakeholder bodies converged to share their plans for the 24-team event.

The consensus was that while it was important for football to be played, equally crucial was using the world’s most popular sport as a vehicle to create a positive change in the Guyanese society.
President of the Guyana Football Federation, Wayne Forde, who actually played in last year’s tournament, said the issue of Gender Based Violence “is very pervasive in our society” and the Petra Organization must be commended for adopting such a posture.
“The Guyana Football Federation is eager to endorse and support in a very conspicuous way any tournament that is promoting football,” Forde said.
In complementing the move by the Petra Organization to tackle a social problem through football, Forde urged the body to expand its reach by hosting tournaments and events outside of the city, since he believes there is a market for such.
Joy Gravesande, the Health Education Officer at the Ministry of Public Health, in her remarks spoke of the ministry’s pleasure to once again partner in this venture.
“We believe that men are not the problem in Gender Based Violence. We don’t see men as the problem, but rather we see men as part of the solution,” she stressed. “As it relates to Gender Based Violence, we intend to have some sessions with each of the team members and talk to them a little about Gender Based Violence- help them to understand what it is, help them to understand how to interact with their partner a little more.”
Director of the Petra Organization, Troy Mendonca, who delivered remarks, was forthright about the organization’s desire to use football to help provide a solution to a growing social problem.
“When we were approached to use one of our programmes to champion the cause against Gender Based Violence, the decision was automatic and easy to arrive at. So it gives us pleasure as a sport organization to utilize our talent and expertise in this respect for the wider good of our society,” Mendonca related.
The tournament, which originally set to start a bit earlier but was put on hold owing to inclement weather, will feature 24 teams from Georgetown.
The teams would be placed into six groups of four playing in a round-robin format. The top two from each group, along with the four best third placed teams will advance to the knockout round.
The winning purse is $300,000, while the losing finalist will receive $200,000. Third and fourth placed finishers will pocket $100,000 and $50,000 respectively.
This year, the organizers plan to utilize more community spaces to hold matches, thereby taking the messages related to Gender Based Violence directly to the populace. In terms of the rules, teams would consist of five persons, and players would not be allowed to play in cleats.
The goal would be the usual size used for futsal games, while admission to the venue on match days is free.
Apart from the GFF and the Ministry of Public Health, the other partners are Busta soft drink, GTT, Lucky Dollar, Nigel’s Supermarket, Juniors Jewelry, Star Party Rentals and 2J’s General Store. ([email protected])