The Petra-organized Limacol Schools Football league came to a head on Sunday evening as Chase Academy finished as unbeaten champions with Carmel Secondary and Bartica Secondary occupying the other top three spots to seal berths in the upcoming KFC Goodwill tournament.
Defending KFC champions DC Caesar Fox (formerly Waramadong) and St Ignatius occupy the other two spots to complete the five Guyanese schools which will play against Surinamese team VWO 4 (Voorgezet Wetenschappelijk Onderwijs 4), Trinidad and Tobago’s St. Benedict’s College and Jamaican school football powerhouse Clarendon College.
With the Guyanese slate now complete, Petra Organisation Co-Director Troy Mendonca in a sit- down with Stabroek Sport expressed his confidence in the five schools’ ability to compete with the visiting schools. Quizzed on his thoughts about the competitive level of the just concluded Limacol league, Mendonca had this to say. “I think the top four or five teams in the league were reasonably competitive. I think that we just need continuity and some level of assurance (in reference to sponsorship) because going into the tournament we weren’t sure, we weren’t confident that yes the tournament would be on, so it fed down to the competition.
“In my opinion, a league format is always the backbone of any structure in any geographical area for football. While we didn’t have eight teams really competing hard at each other, I think the top five was okay”, he said.
Speaking to the three teams that have qualified for the KFC Goodwill tournament from the Limacol league, Mendonca stated; “The three teams that are going forward to the KFC Goodwill tournament will step up to the challenge. I have seen before, where teams came to this country and were supposed to be dominant but then our boys stepped up to the plate and really showed their mettle”.
Mendonca especially singled out repeat school football winners Chase Academy as one of the frontrunners for the KFC title. “I expect these teams to do well, especially favourites Chase (Academy). Carmel, while they have their particular star (Ian Daniels), as a unit I think they will hold their own. Bartica of course will get their support, they will prepare properly and their community will support them. We know of course what Waramadong (DC Caesar Fox) and St. Ignatius (Region 9) are capable of. I think it will be a good test and we hope for the best, that the Guyanese schools rise to the occasion”.
This year’s tournament will mark the fourth time that the KFC Goodwill football will kick off. Last year was the second instance of a Guyanese school winning it. DC Caesar Fox went undefeated throughout the tournament and beat Trinidadian school St Benedict’s College in the final. The previous winners include Annai Secondary (Region 9) and Trinidad’s Shiva Boys’ Hindu College.
This year the tournament will kick off on December 12 and conclude on December 22. The eight teams will be divided into two groups of four. In the group stage, the teams will play each other once with the top two from the respective groups advancing to the semi-finals.
On each match day, there will be four games played at two different venues. At 2PM, two games will be played at the Queen’s College ground while the other two games will be played at the Ministry of Education ground under lights. The prize money for the winners will amount to USD $2,500 (GYD $500,000) along with a trophy and medals while there will be accolades for the Most Valuable Player, Best Goalie and the highest Goal Scorer.
