Republic Bank-powered Schools’ Football League gets underway Sunday

The Ministry of Education (MoE) Ground, Carifesta Avenue will, this Sunday, October 27, witness the grand return of the fifth edition of the Petra-organised Schools’ Football League, now under the auspices of Republic Bank Guyana Limited.
Already with a track record of supporting multiple sport disciplines in their endeavours, Republic Bank Guyana Limited will now step into the world of football, as they take up the title sponsorship of the League.
The seven-week League will feature eight schools from across the country, who finished in the top eight of the Milo Schools’ Football Tournament earlier this year.
The league format of the Republic Bank competition is currently the only one of its kind and boosts development, as underscored by Petra Co-Director Troy Mendonca as he extended gratitude to the entity.

“In football, the league format fosters development. It’s not about playing three matches and then you get knocked out or straight knockout. It gives you an opportunity to play each other, match skills with each other and so, we at Petra continue to fight hard to have this tournament. In addition to which, if we follow school football within the Caribbean, especially the teams coming to represent Jamaica and Trinidad later in the year, we would notice that they’re actively involved in competition,” Mendonca opined.
The Petra Co-Director went on to express, “We at Petra are very, very happy and elated for Republic Bank to decide to partner with us to present this tournament. So, very quickly on behalf of myself and Co-Director, we would like to thank the Executives of Republic Bank Guyana Limited for sponsoring this programme.”
Republic Bank Manager (Internal Audit) Oral Rose, in delivering a word from the title sponsors, articulated the financial institution’s commitment to making an investment in the community.

Rose shared, “As a sports enthusiast myself, I find a special meaning in Republic Bank’s contribution in developing football within our communities. This initiative is a true collaboration between the Private Sector and the community in sports. Our partnership with the Petra Organisation goes beyond organising competitions, we’re creating a structured pathway that nurtures young football talent from schools, to national and even international arenas. While banking is our primary business, we’re deeply committed to making a meaningful investment in our communities.”
Meanwhile, Head of Allied Arts at the Education Ministry, Nicholas Fraser credited the organisers for creating a string of tournaments that would eventually lead to international exposure.
“Tournaments, I’ve always said, are a very good slave and tournaments are a terrible master. So, we shouldn’t have tournaments just for having tournaments. If you have a tournament, it must lead to something and I must say, having looked at the schedule and the system that Petra has set up, we have tournaments that lead into other tournaments. So, it motivates those who do well in previous tournaments to get into others,” Fraser remarked.
He went on to add, “Looking forward, I hope that all of the schools are able to really and truly benefit from this system. That the players that are participating, obviously once you’re moving on to another competition, you’d want to up your game. So, improvement of skills is something we’re certain of and we hope we continue to see this.”
The participating schools will be defending champions Chase’s Academic Foundation, Bartica Secondary, East, West and South Ruimveldt Secondary Schools, Dolphin Secondary, President’s College and Waramuri Primary Top.
Not only will the top two teams cart off $300,000 and $150,000 respectively for a school project, but they will advance to the KFC Goodwill International tournament in December, where the likes of Jamaica’s Clarendon College and St Benedict’s College out of Trinidad and Tobago will also compete.
Meanwhile, the third- and fourth-place finishers will have to settle for $75,000 and $50,000 respectively, for a school project of their choice.
According to organisers, the tournament is slated to kick off at 12:00h on Sunday, with a clash between Region Seven’s Bartica Secondary and Georgetown’s East Ruimveldt Secondary.