A NEW chapter will open in Barbados’ football history when the richest ever local tournament with $250 000 in prize money kicks off tonight at the National Stadium.
With a record first prize of $100 000 and $10 000 Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, 220 of the island’s best footballers, split evenly among ten competing franchises, will be eager to showcase their skills.
Following all the pre-tournament hype and build-up marked by some intense training sessions, a capacity crowd is expected for the opening two matches.
Conquerors, the team owned by Sherlock “Nat” Yarde and coached by Rodney Barker with the nucleus of the players from top Premier League team Notre Dame, will square off with Combined Stars, the St John-based outfit owned by Kelvin Howell and coached by Anthony “Zebulon” Prescott in the curtain-raiser at 6 p.m.
Ironically, the Stars, who will benefit from the class and creativity of out of favour Barbados midfielder Malcolm “Buju” Marshall, will have the Dames’ goalkeeper Kareem Farrell between the uprights.
Also Tristan “Fish” Parris and Jemar Parris, who play for the Premiership-bound Dayrells Road, along with the impressive John Stoute, will be going head to head against their more illustrious cousin John “Nobby” Parris, the Conquerors’ captain.
This match will also showcase a few of Barbados’ most promising teenage footballers with Raheim Sargeant and Diquan Adamson on the Conquerors’ roster and Romario Harewood in the Stars’ line-up.
Conquerors have noticeably chosen four very experienced former Barbados players in Wayne Sobers, John Parris, Brian Neblett and Rudy Grosvenor among the five free picks while the Stars also have the seasoned Jefferson “Butler” White and defender Alvin “Gate Man” Holder in their squad.
The feature match at 8.15 p.m., will be a Group A showdown between Broad Street Men and Women Red Tridents and T.S. Strikers.
The Tridents, coached by former national midfielder Hendy Williams, are one of the favoured teams as they include present World Cup players Riviere Williams, Jonathan Straker, Omar Archer and Romelle Burgess. There is also Dwayne “Boot” Griffith, Duwayne Peters and teenaged Kick Start defender Ricardio Morris, who have made their national senior debuts in international friendlies.
Additionally, the Deacons-based outfit has former Barbados footballers Rondelle Vaughan, Alvin “Ellie” Griffith, Walton Burrowes, Terry Odle and goalkeeper Vasco “Ninja” Husbands, plus Quincy Atherley, a standout national Under-23 striker and Youth Milan’s winger Corey “Santa” Barrow.
The Christ Church-based T.S. Strikers, comprising a host of Gall Hill players, will welcome back skilful striker Sherwin Success while the defence will be bolstered by the recruitment of Dames and former Barbados sweeper Rommell Brathwaite.
There is also Jarvis Forde, Andre Daniel and the diminutive Andrew Tudor, who have all had a taste of national football as well as goalkeeper Omari Eastmond, experienced striker Dwayne Gale and winger Jason ‘Fowlie” Blackman. .
New Barbados midfielder Renaldo Marques, hard-tackling Rico “Sas” Baptiste, the Chandler brothers Jamal and Jabarry and Jason “Bullet” Goodridge and Jamal Hall complete the Gall Hill factor.
Silver Sands’ quartet Rhon Cox, Shane “Plucky” Welch, Craig Sargeant and Chris Harris will be joined by Wales’ midfielder Jamar Walters and Cleve Boyce, giving coach Jerry Skeete and owner Terry Sealy plenty of options.
Not since the BESS Tournament, ironically organized in the mid-1990s by Randy Harris, who is also one of the driving forces in this venture, has a local competition generated such interest with the players showing a refreshing change to their attendance at training sessions.
Mia Mottley, the former Attorney General and Deputy Prime Minister, who is chairperson of Pelican Creative Services Inc., the organization behind the historic event has promised to make a major announcement of a special prize during today’s opening ceremony which starts at 5 p.m. with the parade of teams and feature address by Minister of Sport Stephen Lashley.
Mottley and her crew made a final tour of the National Stadium yesterday after the cancellation of the planned motorcade and she told SUNSPORT that the outfield was still quite firm, holding well despite steady rain over the past two days.
The second prize is $20 000, plus stipends of $4 700 while the third and fourth placed teams will receive $12 500 and $7 500 respectively. In the preliminaries there will be a $500 Player of the Week award which will increase to $750 for the quarter-finals; $1 000 for the semi-finals and $2 000 for the grand final which will be contested on Independence Day, November 30 at Kensington Oval.
