The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) in partnership with FIFA, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, officially launched the Football for Schools Project yesterday at the National Training Centre, Providence.
The programme, which is a first for the Concacaf region, and has a 4-14 age designation encompassing nursery, primary and secondary schools, will be primarily funded and supported by FIFA and the Government of Guyana, though the exact amount was not disclosed by officials at the launching. Project Leader Alexandre Gros of FIFA, heaped praise on the government via the two ministries, for their involvement in the initiative.
“For FIFA, its President Gianni Infantino, the FIFA Foundation, and its CEO Yuri Dkorkaeoff, we here today from FIFA firmly believe that by embracing football for schools, you will see the exceptional power that football has to bring together a multicultural, multi ethnic, multi faced nation such as Guyana. The long-term benefits of such a programme, if applied at full capacity, will be felt for years in terms of public health, both physical and mental,” he declared.
Minister of Education Priya Manickchand said the aim of the collaboration was to produce more well-balanced students.
“The programme that we’re launching today is unprecedented in Guyana, we and our sister Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, now have an opportunity through this collaboration with the Guyana Football Federation and the FIFA foundation to advance our efforts to ensure every child, in every school, of a more balanced and well-rounded educational experience,”
She added, “It has been widely recognized that our schools are the most ideal environment for engaging young people in all dimensions of sports, thereby inculcating a love for the games. Primarily, this initiative will introduce the sport of football to our children spread across all regions of Guyana.”
Similarly, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr., said:“This is a huge achievement for the country. It is something that I am particularly proud of, and that when I look back at my tenure four years from now, this will be one of the moments that I identify as being seminal, that I will remember as one of the huge achievements on behalf of the people of the country and young people behind me and all across this country.”
Meanwhile, GFF President Wayne Forde said the programme could be a catalyst for football development in Guyana.
“We believe F4S will act as a catalyst to create a brighter future for football and for all of our communities. We are all stakeholders in this process, in this mission, and I would therefore like to call on our teachers who are now certified master trainers to summon the determination to spread the knowledge you have acquired over the past three days.”
Also present at the launch and signing ceremony was Dr. Douglas Slater of Caricom and Caribbean Football Union’s Camara David.
