GFA Newsletter Issue3 - December 2012

The THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE GRENADA FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION

Holiday Greetings from the President of GFA

A

s the season of giving, reflections and merriment approaches, I wish to express my deepest appreciation to all at home and abroad.

The 2012 season has concluded with much to celebrate, contemplate and rethink.

The year started with much hope for progress and the GFA initiated for the first time the Grenada Super League. We congratulate St. Patrick’s Chiefs on winning the inaugural tournament.

Our Women’s program has taken a sharp U-Turn and we are delighted at the accomplishments made this year. During this year we appointed a Women’s Coordinator, Nat Simpson and an assistant Dean Jules to chart the way forward for Women’s football on the island. In addition, training in coaching was afforded to Ms. Alisha John and Melessa Bruno in St. Vincent and Turks and Caicos respectively.

Our Referees had much success on and off the field of play this year. Valman Bedeau and Alison Phillip represented Grenada with distinction in CFU tournaments. Mr. George Phillip also represented Grenada as a Referee Assessor in St. Kitts and St. Vincent in CFU Tournaments.

Our Grassroots Programs were a major success with centers springing up all over the island. Grassroots Centers were established in St. Patrick, St. Andrew, St. David, St. George, Carriacou and Petite Martinique and many more parishes will be addressed in the New Year.

Our domestic competition saw Hard Rock winning the Premier League and Happy Hill taking the First Division while Mt. Rich secured the Second Division.

The GFA wish to place on record our sincerest appreciation for the partnership we have established with one of our partners, Mr. Wayne Redhead who has just concluded his fourth annual Waggy T Super Knock-out Tournament. This event has now become a trademark event in our football calendar and we wish him future success. On this note we congratulate Lime Paradise on winning the coveted title in 2012.

The Grenada Football Association is pleased to announce that we have secured the approval of FIFA in awarding us with our second Goal Project. This will be used to construct the G.F.A’s own multi-functional building.

On a more solemn note, we remember some of our fallen heroes who have gone to the great beyond. Mr. Kellon Baptiste, a former national Goalkeeper, Mr. Jude “Yoey” Mitchell better known as Don George a former national player in the nineteen sixties and seventies, Maurice Sullivan and Ben Barry both former GFA referees.

Our focus in 2013 will be on the further improvement of development programs at the youth level, more competitions for ▪ GFA First Women Referees Certified our women’s program, ▪ Carriacou Football League back on track and improvement of ▪ St Andrews R.C. triumph in the Boys our Club structure. We Primary School Championship will also provide more ▪ Grassroot Center launched in Carriacou training and coaching ▪ Melessa Bruno joins the Women’s opportunities.

Team Committee

In This Issue

On behalf of the entire Executive Committee, our thirty five members and players as well as our staff please let me extend a very merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to one and all and best wishes for 2013.

▪ The G.F.A promotes Gender Based Violence Awareness ▪ St Marks wins “Champion of Champions” Tournament ▪ Spice Girls and Vincy Heat enjoy victories in Women Friendlies ▪ Future Development Avenues ▪ A Year of Reflection ▪ LIME Paradise wins Waggy –T Super Knockout Tournament

1

GFA First Women Referees Certified

Thirty –one women participated in the Grenada Football Association Women’s Refereeing Course. The course was conducted by FiFA MA Technical Instructor, Valman Bedeau over a 10 week period.

The rules of the game laws and fundamentals were taught; these included Law eleven –offside, Law twelve- fall and misconduct, match management and match official techniques.

Mr. Bedeau “believes that once the women continue to apply themselves within two years Grenada can have a female referee affiliated with FIFA”. He also stresses on the importance of hard work and discipline.

President of the GFA, Cheney Joseph congratulated the women on this accomplishment and assures them that the Association will continue to provide more opportunities for women in Football in the New Year.

St Andrews R.C. triumph in the Boys Primary School Championship

Six schools participated in the 2nd Annual GFA & GUT “Champion of Champions” Boys Primary School Championship at the National Stadium.

These schools included St. Marks - Bonair Government, St. Patricks - St. Patricks Anglican Primary, St. Andrew’s - St. Andrew’s Roman Catholic, St. David’s - St. David’s Roman Catholic, St. John’s - St. John’s Anglican and from St. George’s- St. George’s Anglican.

It was a day of pure excitement as all schools showed off their skills but it was Bonair and St. Andrew’s RC who ended with the same amount of points making it a tough challenge for the two teams.

The boys from the East of the island came prepared to win and they took home the glory based off a goal difference.

Both teams when they played each other shared the points as the match ended in a goal less draw.

Twenty-two women received certificates of participation in this course.

The Grenada Football Association extends Congratulations to the coach and players of St. Andrews Roman Catholic.

Carriacou Football League back on track

After many years in the doldrums, Carriacou Football has finally been given the attention from the G.F.A. The sister isle is slated to receive assistance with technical and financial support in 2013. President of the Association, Cheney Joseph has mandated that greater attention be given to the sister isle as he embarks on a mission to take football nationwide. Joseph also stated that the G.F.A focus will be placed on the youth structure which includes both primary and secondary schools on the island.

Head of Carriacou Interim Football League, Stephen Alexander wants to return the sister isle to organized football Alexander a veteran administrator has been working with the local communities to revive the sport on the island.

Following the finals of the Carriacou Football League Alexander felt charged with the responsibility of linking the Grenada Football Association with the League initiatives.

2

The interim body responsible for football on the sister isle concluded their men’s senior and junior competition on December 1st and 2nd at the Hillsborough Playing Field.

Grassroot Center launched in Carriacou A new Grassroot Center was established at the Lauriston Mini Stadium in Carriacou. The Grenada Football Association Technical Director, Lester Smith visited the sister isle along with the President of the Association, Cheney Joseph.

Over thirty kids participated in the activities organized by the Association. G.F.A President stated, that for 2013 they will be working on developing more centers nation-wide. He also stressed that the Grenada Football Association is adamant about ensuring that its Grassroot Programs reaches all over Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique; we hope to double our reach next year through local sponsorship, volunteers and coaches.

Special thanks to Mrs. Venita Thomas and her husband for their assistance in mobilizing this event.

Melessa Bruno joins the Women’s Team Committee

The G.F.A promotes Gender Based Violence Awareness

Melessa Bruno is no stranger to football, having spent most of her life surrounded by the sport.

After completing her studies in 2005, Melessa migrated to Antigua where she became a member of Lady SAP (Spirit Attitude Performance) Football Club. She carried her team to three Championships, where they won the league title two years in a row as well as the FA Cup. Two years later, Melessa returned to Grenada and got right back in the swing of things. Melessa made a name for herself as she was the only female player on two men’s team (Boys on the Block and later Honved). Yearning for something more, Melessa decided to obtain her level 1 coaching license from the Jason Roberts Foundation which she was actively involved in.

The Grenada Football Association has teamed up with the Division of Gender & Family Affairs of the Ministry of Social Development in bringing awareness on the issue of Gender Based Violence.

All the while, The Grenada Football Association monitored her progress and noticed the passion and talent she had.

When word of a coaching course was made available it was only suited that Melessa Bruno was sent to acquire such knowledge.

National Women Footballers and the Women Referees attended the session held at the National Stadium. The event was conducted under the theme “From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let’s Challenge Gender-Based Violence”.

Melessa Bruno recently traveled to the Turks and Caicos where she learnt new approaches, techniques and creative ways of building and developing players.

Plans are being finalized to have Melessa’s training applied to the Women’s National team in 2013 in hopes of producing and enhancing the quality of female footballers in Grenada.

The GFA has a social responsibility to its players, shareholders and the public and was please to partner yet again with the Ministry of Social Development to engage healthy discussion on the matter. This year the campaign had a number of activities planned, one of which was series of forums across the island.

3

St Marks wins “Champion of Champions” Tournament

St. Andrews, St Patricks, St Marks and St Georges all teamed up at the National Stadium on Wednesday 5th December to participate in this event.

Each Team played each other once in 20 minutes matches.

Second place was St. Patricks on 4 points, third place St. Andrews with 3 points and St Georges finished fourth with one point.

The tournament concluded with an awards ceremony with the Chairman of the Women’s Committee, Patrick Francis and Coordinator of Women’s Football Program, Nat Simpson presented awards. Awards were presented to the team and individual outstanding performances.

Technical Director of the GFA, Lester Smith congratulated the girls and encouraged them to join one of the many Grassroots centers within their parish. He also emphasized that they would not be left alone as the GFA continues to create more avenues for women in Football.

The Grenada Football Association in collaboration with the Grenada Union of Teachers hosted the first inaugural Girl’s Football Inter-Parish Primary School “Champion of Champions” Tournament.

In the end St. Marks emerged as champions with the most valuable Player of the Tournament –Alisha Charles (St. Patricks) and the player scoring the most goals (Golden boot) was Calika Peters (St. Marks)

Spice Girls and Vincy Heat enjoy victories in Women Friendlies Technical Director of the SVG team was quite elated with the victory and spoke of the impact it can create for football back in his native homeland. “We came here not knowing what Grenada has in terms of the standard of women football on the pitch but we knew that women’s football is developing in all the islands, so we stood a chance and tonight the girls are happy. Certainly, the win will provide a boost to women football back home.” said a jubilant Keith Ollivierre.

Football history was created in Grenada for the first time as the Grenada Football Association hosted two international Women friendly matches against the National Women Team of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

The first match was played on Saturday 8th December at the Grenada National Stadium. Kandice Franklyn scored the lone goal for SVG late in the second half to win the match in front of a capacity crowd of six (6) thousand fans. The Spice Girls squandered numerous opportunities in the first half and early into the second half but it was the ‘Vincy Heat’ that was too much for them in the last fifteen (15) minutes of normal play.

4

The second friendly match took place at the Fond Recreation Ground the following day, in the north of the island. Both teams made some changes in their lineups from the first game taking into consideration the wet conditions they were faced with. After playing a scoreless first half, the local girls spiced it up in the second half as the trounced their opponents 3-0 to end with a sweet victory. Goals came from the boot of Sabrina Richards, Jermiella John and Monica Charles.

While both teams shared victories, both countries have agreed to a reciprocal arrangement and its left to St. Vincent and the Grenadines now to set a date for the return leg of the Friendly Matches arrangement to be hosted in St. Vincent in 2013.

Future Development Avenues

Technical Director of the GFA, Lester Smith believes this is the way forward if we are to make strides in the region.

“Other Caribbean Islands are catching up on us, and this is because we have not focused enough on our development programs” Smith lamented.

The Grenada Football Association (GFA) is placing major emphasis on its youth development in 2013. The Association has confirmed that its current foundation of youth football will be re-evaluated come the New Year.

“What we need is a pyramid which is broad base and focuses on development from an early age. We must work closely with the schools, ministries of education and sports as well as communities and clubs if we are going to make a mark in a few years” said Smith.

With the National Senior Men’s Team failing to qualify in the FIFA World Cup Preliminaries and bowing out in the semifinals of the Caribbean Football Union CFU Cup, there have been questions circulating on the type of foundation being given to our football players.

The GFA is currently working on ensuring there are more people involved in developing the game while identifying talents which will then be streamlined for specialize trainings on weekends.

As a result, the GFA will be embarking on establishing proper technical structures including a Little League, Youth Cup and Elite Programs to better prepare for future tournaments.

The GFA is hoping to secure the support of the business community to make this a reality and plans to engage the private sector in supporting this program.

A Year of Reflection

LIME Paradise wins Waggy –T Super Knockout Tournament

2012

was a year of success, challenges and opportunities for the Grenada Football Association. With the financial crunch hovering over the world at this time Grenada is no exception to the difficult times experience whether financially or mentally.

President of the G.F.A, Cheney Joseph believes that for 2013 the moral and enthusiasm within the sport would be increased. He stated that for the first time in many years all three of our national teams failed to secure a spot in the finals of any of the Caribbean Football Union Tournaments and this was a huge blow to our efforts. Yet despite such news he continues to believe in his executive team and hopes that with new personnel and more efficient methods of operation our footballers will receive the maximum amount of time needed to produce results. He further explained that health and wellness would be placed as a priority as many of the player’s lifestyle limits their performance.

“This news has not dampened my confident in Team Grenada” says Joseph but reminds me that there is much more work still to be done.

In 2013, the GFA will look to continue the establishment of its Grassroot programs nation-wide and further its mission of bringing Women’s Football into the forefront.

LIME Paradise is the 2012 Champions of the Waggy T Super Knockout Tournament.

Hurricanes and Lime Paradise played to a 4-4 draw at the end of regulation time. The faith of the winner was now left in the hands of their goalkeepers as penalty kicks had to determine the result of the match. Hundreds of spectators flooded the boarder of the field as the game went into sudden death. No one could have predicted a winner but someone had to win.

Lime Paradise emerged as the champions.

Wayne Redhead awarded the victorious team with a trophy and a cheque for EC $25,000.

CONGRATULATIONS TO CUBA ON WINNING THE 2012 CFU FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP 5

Town of Greenville

Lauriston, Carriacou

Worburn St. George’s

Ahoma St. Andrews

Petite Martinique

Town of Gouyave

Pearls, St Andrews

Grenada Football Association

National Stadium, Queen’s Park, St. George’s, Grenada Tel: (473) 440-9903, Web: www.gfa.gd, Email: gfa@spiceisle.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/GFAGrenada, Twitter: NewsGFA

6