The disappointing performance of Guyana’s female football team at the just-concluded Inter-Guiana Games (IGG) caused dismay to football enthusiasts and raised questions about why footballers from the Rupununi were not included.
A total of 20 goals were scored against the ladies who failed to find the back of the net even once and as a matter of fact they never even came close to scoring.
On the first day out, all booming with confidence after being given some words of encouragement by Director of Sport Neil Kumar and Minister of Sport Dr Frank Anthony, and donning the national colours, they got a pin in their balloons, suffering a 7-0 whipping by the visiting French Guiana side.
If they thought that this was bad, it got worse playing against powerhouse and eventual overall first leg winners Suriname; they lost by an astonishing 13-0.
Their coach Nigel Humphrey had described their performance as good enough for encouragement, but acknowledged that the team was ill prepared.
When Kumar was contacted last week he told Stabroek Sport that he was satisfied with the team’s performance at their first outing based on the time they had spent together.
Without GFF
Kumar also said what made him even more overwhelmed at their showing is that his office, the National Sports Commission (NSC), was able to put the team together without the assistance of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF).
According to Kumar, 20% of the GFF’s US$250,000 annual funding from the world governing body FIFA should be spent on the development of women’s football and so the NSC had informed the GFF some time last year about the staging of the IGG women’s football tournament and the need for assistance in providing a team.
This, he said, did not materialize and so they hastily selected a team from Berbice since some programmes by the NSC last year made them aware that there were women footballers in the ‘ancient county’ who were ready to play. He said they had less than three months to get a team up and running. However, they have come under fire for not seeking females from other regions, more so the Rupununi, which is considered the breeding ground for extraordinarily talented women in this and other sport disciplines.
Stabroek Sport posed the question about his games’ committee not looking outside Berbice and Kumar said, “time did not permit”.
He said that at several meetings with the sports directors from French Guiana and Suriname to discuss the IGG he had pushed for them to drop women’s football because he knew that Guyana was in a predicament to find a good team. After having his idea dropped off at the curb, it left them no choice but to field the ‘Berbice team’ to represent Guyana.
Kumar said, however, that he was disappointed with the preparation of the male team and more so at the level of coaching they had received. Under the guidance of Dennis ‘Chow’ Hunte, the male side played to a 2-0 loss against French Guiana on the opening day and drew 0-0 with Suriname.
Last year the NSC and GFF had collaborated in putting together the male team. The GFF was in preparation for the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and used the IGG event as a warm-up.
The side was coached by Wayne ‘Wiggy’ Dover and lost the title to Suriname by a one-goal difference after playing to a goalless draw against the Dutch side.
General Secretary Noel Adonis told Stabroek Sport last week that it is not a given for the NSC to make contact with the GFF for assistance in getting teams prepared for the IGG, but once asked the GFF would comply.
He said given the fact that the IGG is controlled by the governments of the three countries, the GFF has a more “hands-off approach”.
In the case of this year’s event, Adonis said, they were only asked by the NSC to help in officiating at the games and making sure that they were administered at an international level. He made it absolutely clear that the GFF had nothing to do with Guyana’s male and female football teams.
Meanwhile, Kumar said that after the games he was approached by several persons, who were disturbed by the female team’s showing and they offered their assistance to strengthen the team for next year. The NSC, he added, is already planning to get in contact with players outside Georgetown and Berbice.
