$1/2m to host football tourneys

Barbados’ football is entering a very active period where the hosting of a zone of the Digicel Cup in October and competing in the second round of the Under-17 Concacaf competition will demand over $500 000 from the Barbados Football Association (BFA).In a wide-ranging presentation by president Ronald Jones, it was disclosed that corporate support was being sought to host St Vincent, St Lucia and the British Virgin Islands on October 10, 12 and 14, as part of the Digicel Cup leg at the National Stadium.  The finals will be held in Martinique.Jones said Barbados had to meet all of the visiting teams’ expenses while they were on the island and the Martinique government had pledged a large sum of money for that French state to host the finals. “Barbados’ players have been training very hard and although such players as John “Nobby” Parris and Gregory “Lalu” Goodrige have moved on to another area of football, the fans can expect some exciting football all three nights,” Jones promised.He also heaped lots of praise on the outstanding performance of the Under-17 players who defied tremendous odds to come from two goals down in Suriname, in front of a very large and vocally partisan crowd, to draw 2-2 and advance to the next round.The second round was to be held in Jamaica next month, but BFA general secretary Charles Husbands, said that Concacaf was looking at restructuring the groups for the next round, as well as examining a change of date and venue.  Even so, Barbados is hoping that the new date will not be too close to when school reopens, and Jones added that a budget of close to $50 000 would be needed for the Under-17s to go on to the next round.While acknowledging that plans for the 100th celebration of the BFA were rather low-keyed in the present economic climate, Jones said that October was still the month when the BFA would hold a banquet and honour 100 people who had contributed to football in various areas over the years.The youth tournaments later in the year will also see a greater input from the BFA as the “Win in Concacaf” programmes have seen a lot of football gear being distributed to clubs to boost their youth clinics.  The expanded tournaments are to be staged between October and December and will see most of the youth clubs battling with junior teams from the premier clubs.