The Rupununi Football Association (RFA) was recently honoured for being the most improved association within the Guyana Football Federation (GFF).
The award has come at an appropriate time, since the association has been striving to improve the level of football within the region.
“Football is changing in the Rupununi,” executive member of the RFA, Rayan Farias, declared.
Rayan Farias
The three-year-old RFA started out with a small total of five male clubs and four female clubs. Tasked with popularizing and streamlining football within the Rupununi, the RFA had initially found its task difficult, its lone support system being the GFF. The association began to host leagues, which ran for 4-5 months (usually from February to June). Those leagues eventually gained popularity in their respective communities, and attracted much crowd support and sponsorship from various business entities.
As such, football grew within area to the point where the RFA needed to implement short tournaments to keep its male and female senior players occupied. The association now has 17 male clubs and 16 female clubs.
Speaking on the operation of the association, Ferias disclosed that the authorities have been strict with the use of drugs and alcohol, and that has had a ripple effect on the society outside of football.
“Regarding the use of drugs, alcohol and the abuse of these things, what we found is we hardly have footballers now indulging in these things, because that’s one of the areas we got serious with. They’re thinking more football,” he stated.
As testimony of their improvement, not only are they the most improved association, but one of their players, Orville Daniels, was hailed as the Junior Male Footballer of the Year. Farias is optimistic that the association would continue to develop. He says, “I think we’re heading in the right direction.Individually and as clubs they’re improving as well.”
