It was evident that failure to prepare had prepared Guyana to fail when the female and male football teams went down to French Guiana on day one in the Inter-Guiana Games (IGG) football championship which was played at the Guyana Defence Force ground yesterday.
It was the first time in the games’ 42 years history that female football was added to the calendar and so Guyana’s match against the French team was considered historic but they lost by an emphatic seven nil.
The males did not lose as badly but they, too, were unable to score and went down two goals to nil.
In seeking answers for these failures, this writer spoke with the coaches of the two teams and they both openly stated “we were not prepared.”
Denis ‘Chow’ Hunte, coach of the male squad said that yesterday was only the second time that the players were brought together as a team and since this writer is a big fan of football, from observation his statement was obvious.
The players were not fit and they played ‘follow the ball’ as they say in football and most of all they played selfishly. Hunte said: “We played well, and most of our opportunities came in the first half. But we only had like about three clear goal chances, but the strikers were just not finishing.”
He said further, “This team didn’t have enough time to prepare because some of the players were from Linden and Berbice and we only came together once. But tomorrow (today) we will come out and take a lot at Suriname and hopefully we can correct our mistakes. But I think we can still pull this off.”
Of course no coach will want to lose but the fact is that once they are unprepared this would be the result. However, the Suriname and French Guiana coaches told this writer that their players were in constant training because the IGG meant a lot to them and their respective country.
In Guyana the proper training regimen was stymied since the National Sports Commission (NSC) who are the organizers of the IGG were saying that they were broke. Except for the female football team, no other contingent was encamped and brought together on a regular basis since they were told that insufficient funds did not permit such an arrangement.
Berbice team
Meanwhile, regarding Guyana’s female team, the NSC chose to bring all the players from Berbice, most of whom had never played football before and more so at this level. But while the players at some time or the other would need the exposure it is baffling to see how the team could be a national one when the players are all from the Ancient County.
Last year, this writer had the opportunity to travel to the Rupununi and was astonished at the level of football displayed by the young ladies who are all students.
And looking at the game yesterday, it was obvious that if some of them were given a chance to play in the IGG team, it could have been better. And in Linden too there are active female players within the IGG age limit as well as in Georgetown.
But the Ministry of Sport is fully aware of this since they are the sponsors of the annual Amerindian Heritage Day football tournament which is played in Georgetown.
Coach of the Berbice team, Nigel Humphrey said that his ladies had a combined 28 days of preparation since most of the players were tied up with school exams.
In describing his team’s performance, the coach said: “I think today it was good enough for encouragement. In the first half, the girls were nervous and I think that the magnitude of the game had a part to play as well because it is the first time Guyana is fielding a female team and a lot will be expected of them.”
“But I think they went out and gave a 100 percent because they are in a learning stage still and I think we will do better against Suriname tomorrow (today).”
I’m sure that indeed the young ladies went out and gave their all and that must be commended. But will the NSC or the Government of Guyana see now the need to invest in sport and ensure too that that sport is played in the outer regions of this country?
