T&T’s widest and most inclusive street football competition, the Guinness Street Football Challenge was officially launched yesterday at the VIP room of the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Wrightson Road.
The community-based challenge is an invitation for 768 players, comprising 96 teams to represent six zones across the two islands including central, south, north-east, north-west, east and Tobago.
Challengers over the age of 18 will compete for a grand prize of $30,000 beginning with in Central Zone, next week Saturday at Edinburgh 500 Recreational Grounds basketball court in Chaguanas from 10am.
Each zone will consist of four groups of four teams with each group playing in a round-robin format over a two day period.
The winning team of each group will play in a knockout round against another top team of the same zone to determine the team that advances to the final round.
The final round will begin with a quarterfinal then to the semifinal and then final. The “quarterfinal” will also be played in a round robin format of two groups. The best two teams of each group will advance to the semi-final stage.
There will be one winning team of eight players. A maximum of five players are allowed to play at a time with three substitutes to make up the team.
After hosting a similar competition last year in Guyana, which proved successful, Guinness will be hosting the Street Challenge across the Caribbean in an effort to “establish Guinness as a brand of football in T&T and across the Caribbean,” according to Melicia Wilson, Guinness Marketing Manager.
The street football format promotes skills involved in close control and short passing as “small goals” will be used, removing the place of goalkeepers in the competition.
To add to the excitement of the pacier version of the game, Guinness has promised the attendance of a renowned English Premier League footballer, who will be named in the coming weeks.
Teams are free to enter, but will require a deposit of 24 Guinness bottle caps to register and can do so through popular bars and pubs across the country.
All players must be over the legal drinking age. Further information can be accessed on facebook.com by searching the keywords “Guinness Caribbean”.
Schedule of match days
Central — Sat April 16 (10am-6pm) Edinburgh 500 Recreational Grounds
Tobago — Fri April 29 (6pm-9pm) - Sat April 30 (10am-6pm) Roxborough Complex Carpark
East — Fri May 6 (6pm-9pm) - Sat May 7 (10am- 6pm) Malabar Basketball Court
South — Fri May 13 (6pm-9pm) - Sat May 14 (10am-6pm) Skinner Park Basketball Court
North-East — Fri May 21 (6pm-9pm) - Sat May 22 (10am-6pm) Lower 6th Avenue Barataria Basketball Court
North-West — Fri May 27 (6pm-9pm) - Sat May 28 (10am-6pm)
Mucurapo Road Basketball Court
Final PlayOffs — Sun May 29 (10am-6pm) Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo