Parents, fans, teachers endorse Digicel Nationwide Schools Football Tournament

Jun 23, 2012 Sports

By Rawle Welch
Many parents, fans and teachers witnessing this year’s Digicel Nationwide Schools Football Competition in invited comments firmly believe that the initiative taken by the Company to sponsor the event is a good one that deserves emphasis.
One such individual is Denise Lovell, an executive member of West Demerara Football Association and an ardent fan of football.
Speaking with Kaieteur Sport recently, Lovell, who was present at the game between hosts West Demerara Secondary School and Leonora Technical Institute (LTI) said that the act of goodwill expressed by Digicel was a good one that allows the exposure of a lot of young talent in the sport and by them doing so the sport and Guyana by extension will benefit in the future.
She pointed out that through the staging of the Tournament, many more students who previously did not know anything about the game are more familiar with it now and that is a plus for the sport.

Part of the large gathering of fans that attended the match between Kwakwani and Christianburg Secondary Schools.

“A lot of the young children who were not familiar with the rules and how the sport is played are now excited to be part of it, they’ve now gotten to love the sport of football and I must say a big thank you to Digicel because it all happened due to their involvement,” Lovell said.
What Digicel is doing every year is commendable and I would personally like to thank them on behalf of the West Demerara residents.”
Lovell, who told this newspaper that her primary reason for being present at the match was because of her love for the sport, especially at the junior level, but it was also to see two players Omari Haynes and Akeem Hector, two members of her club play.
In emphasizing how important the step taken by Digicel is, Lovell gave as an example a game between Vergenoegen  and Leonora Secondary Schools, citing the contest as a ‘David versus Goliath’ scenario.
Vergenoegen was the smaller team size wise and even though they suffered a heavy defeat, they never gave up and showed a lot of grit and determination.
According to Lovell, many members of the team were around first and second form students and the disparity in size was noticeable, but they fought on and never gave up despite the one-sided nature of the game and that display in itself shows that they’re excited and eager to participate.
She added that what she saw demonstrated there was passion and no quitting from the younger and smaller team and that according to her was one of the positive aspects that the tournament has brought out.
Lovell said she felt that with Guyana’s football on a high, the country and the sport of football will in the near future benefit from what Digicel has done.
A point to note is the fact that more and more females and parents have been attending the matches in droves.