…as GFF appreciates victorious Junior Jaguars
BY Akeem Greene
The national under-15 team created a new chapter in Guyana’s football history by winning for the first time an overseas tournament – in this case, the Soualiga Invitational held in St Maarten from June 1-4.
There the team played with a clean sheet in six matches and it was mid-fielder Jermaine Garrett who struck the fatal blow in their 1-0 win over the host on Sunday.
In recognition of the phenomenal feat, the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) held an appreciation ceremony on Wednesday at their secretariat in Campbellville, where President Wayne Forde underscored the importance of them not losing sight on the ultimate goal.
“This is one step in achieving your destiny if you are prepared to put the necessary work in and remain humble and focused at the task at hand”.
The GFF boss went on to say “at this moment you are not stars, you are on the journey to become a star and if anyone tries to fill your head with the fact that you have arrived, that you are a big superstar in Guyana’s football, that is going to set you back”.
“Exactly who you were before you got to St Maarten and won the tournament that is who you need to be going forward, you need to be disciplined, humble, obedient, work under the guidance of Coach and TD [Technical Director] and work as hard as possible and that is when you are going to realise your true potential which may not exist in Guyana since it might be somewhere in Europe and coming back to served Guyana”.
Director of Sport Christopher Jones posited that “to who much is given, much is expected” and the Government is extremely pleased with the performance of the team and hopes they remain humble since it is a long road ahead”.
Likewise, Technical Director Ian Greenwood felt it was a fantastic achievement of the group given the fact that they played with a clean sheet and team work to underscore the “one team: one dream principal”.
Greenwood further highlighted the impact the Scotiabank Academy Training Centres (ATCs) have made in developing these players, due to their exposure to professional coaching on a regular basis.
The Technical Director told the players that the hard work has now begun since the major aim is to reproduce a similar or even better performance when they play in the CONCACAF under-15 tournament from August 13-19 in Florida.
In this regard, the players will be returning to their respective ATCs this Saturday.
Meanwhile, Marketing Manager of Scotiabank, Jennifer Cipriani, said that they are proud of the achievements of the group and noted that “it is hard getting to the top and it is even harder staying at the top”. Cipriani also assured that the Bank will continue to invest more along the lines of football.
