Joe Public begin Super League defence.
By Ian Prescott (Express).
Bmobile Joe Public will begin the defence of their bmobile National Super League title on Sunday with a 4 p.m. clash against St Francois Nationals at the Marvin Lee Stadium, Macoya.
Yesterday the eighth edition of Super League football was launched at the Queen's Park Oval where title sponsors bmobile announced a $325, 000 injection in prize money for the 2010 competition—an increase of $25,000.
This season, East qualifiers Valtrin have come up from the zonal Champion of Champions competition, along with Tobago club Stokely Vale, who have returned to the Super League after being demoted in 2002.
This year's Super League will be contested by 11 teams vying for prizes of $125,000 (first), $75,000 (second) and $40,000 (third). The Knockout competition will see sides vying for prizes of $40,000 (first) and $20,000 (second).
However, in 2011, the Super League will be trimmed to just 10 teams, via the demotion of the bottom three sides at the end of this season and the promotion of just two from the Champion of Champions series.
"At stake this year is over $300,000 in prize-money, and we will play over the next few months about 150 games," said Anthony Harford, the marketing director of league organisers All Sport Promotions.
Yesterday, Harford said the agreement which All Sport Promotions made with the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) to manage the Super League, had been a resounding success.
Harford noted that four Super League clubs have since migrated to the professional league and that another, WASA Sport Club, had won the FA Trophy.
Yesterday, TTFF president Oliver Camps commended the Super League for their development over the years, including the establishment of a youth league.
However, Camps warned Super League teams that world football's governing body (FIFA) had issued a directive that senior teams must also have a junior component to facilitate long term development.
And Harford announced that most Super League teams now also had youth teams, and that the two that didn't, will be banned if they do not comply by 2011.
At yesterday's launch, Dianna De Sousa, TSTT's vice-president customer care and corporate marketing, said that every player in the league is a potential national footballer, and urged competitors to play with passion and determination. "The journey to good football is a very long one," she declared.
