Guinness Street Football Challenge kicks off this evening

Beginning this evening at 6 p.m. at the Sion Hill Hard Court, local small goal soccer teams will begin to compete for a chance to represent this country in Jamaica at the 2015 regional edition of the Guinness Street Football Challenge.{{more}}

The local leg of the 2015 Guinness Street Football Challenge was launched last Tuesday, March 17 at the St Vincent Brewery Ltd in Campden Park.

Speaking at the launch, Marketing coordinator at the Brewery Kelvin Franklyn said that this year’s challenge will see teams competing at seven different venues throughout St Vincent and the Grenadines.

After the match this evening at the Sion Hill Hard Court, the Challenge moves to the Chili Hard Court on Saturday, March 28, the Rose Bank Hard Court Friday, April 10, the Calliaqua Hard Court Saturday, April 11, the Keartons Hard Court Friday, April 24, the Campden Park Hard Court Saturday, May 2 and the Bequia Hard Court Saturday, May 9.

Said Franklyn, “we are proud to announce the highly anticipated and excitement driven Guinness Street Football Challenge back for another year.”

He added that the competition has been around St Vincent and the Grenadines for the last four years, “and St Vincent has had a very good track record, as a local team (Team Crew) would have won the regional leg of the competition in 2012 and we hosted the regional finals in 2013.”

Last year, Team Crew placed third in the finals in Trinidad and Tobago and as a result, they have gained a pass straight into the finals of the local leg of the competition this year. The local finals will be held on Saturday, May 30 at the National Tennis Centre in Villa.

Teams that win in the preliminary rounds will receive EC$500 and five cases of Guinness, while the team that wins on the night of the finals will get EC$6,000 and a trip to Jamaica for the regional finals, which run from June 27 to 28.

“We anticipate that this year will be another nail biting and captivating four weeks. Teams will have to bring their A game to display that they are made of more and will have an opportunity to demonstrate their skills as we take the tournament to seven different locations in the preliminary round,” said Franklyn, who stressed that they are looking forward to the usual buzz that the games are known for.

“Guinness is a brand that strongly believes in building community presence and we are using this sporting platform to communicate that message and enhance the consumer experience,” Franklyn noted, while thanking the Ministry of Sports and the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation (SVGFF) for sanctioning the games and providing technical support.

Trade Marketing coordinator at the St Vincent Brewery Ltd Lamont Medica said that this year, the tournament has taken on some new variations as it relates to registration.

He said that each team must be registered in the name of a bar. Teams will pay EC$40 to register and can give the money to the bar to register them.

He said that teams must comprise seven players, five on the field of play at one time, and team members must be 18 years and over to participate.

Forms may be had from the Brewery’s sales trucks and from local bars.

“Each team [is] required to be registered with a bar. They must come with the name of that bar as their sponsor. We are doing this to encourage bars to participate more in the challenge and to have them participate more in their community activities,” said Medica, who stressed that while it is preferable that a team register with a bar in their own community, it is not restricted to that.

“They can register with any bar in St Vincent and the Grenadines,” said Medica, who added that there is no limit as to how many teams one bar can register.

Medica noted that females are also allowed to participate, while the competition will see a number of side promotions running, which will allow persons to play ‘Crown Flick Games’ and dice games among other challenges, where they can win T-shirts and Guinness glasses, among other items.

He also added that the bar that sponsors the winning team will receive an event sponsored by Guinness, in which the Brewery will pay for the sound system and the DJs, among other things.

The press launch was also attended by acting director of Sports in the Ministry of Sports Woodrow ‘Killy’ Williams and general secretary of the SVG Football Federation Trevor Huggins.