The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) led by their Technical Director Ian Greenwood and his team undertook a scouting and development exercise at the Albouystown tarmac (opposite the Masjid) on Sunday aimed at extracting the ‘raw talent’ of the young players to hopefully become future national team stars.
According to Greenwood, the project which is in its infancy stages is already promising to be a booming success should the GFF garner the required sponsors to extend the federation’s reach.
“This is the first one of these projects and we are looking to do a lot more around the city. We know there is a lot of raw talent and this morning [Sunday] we have seen a lot of it and some very positive play from a lot of the young boys and girls. It is well received”.
When Guyana Times International Sport visited the scene budding footballers from as young as four and up to eighteen years-old were engaged in various team and skill enhancing drills under the watchful eyes of technical officers and GFF President Wayne Forde.
“The idea is we come in and develop their game, given them some more technical understanding. A lot of it is about decision making. We have seen they want to keep the ball for themselves and do tricks but the key is understanding when to move the ball, when to run with it and when to pass”, Greenwood added.
Aside from the scouting exercise, the programme was aimed on helping to stimulate players social development and then gravitate the players into their academies. GFF are understood to have 13 Scotiabank sponsored academy centers for boys and girls, in the nine member associations.
The academies will offer at least five age-specific, professional training sessions per week in line with the new national football coaching and playing philosophy. There is also a grassroots participation sessions for boys and girls aged 5-11, while there will are sessions for Under-13, Under-15 and Under-17 boys and Under-17 girls. (Akeem Greene)
