Blackheart Football kicks off!

Today (Saturday) at the Beausejour Cricket Ground (BCG, the exciting Blackheart Knockout Football Tournament is back and from all indications it will be even better than the previous year. That’s the consensus following Monday’s launch at Bay Gardens Hotel. The tag line for the ninth edition of the competition is “Rebuilding Our Nation Through Sports.”
This year’s tournament has 16 district teams playing under a knockout basis for the top prize of $15,000 and the humongous championship which was on display at the Monday’s launch. Following the opening ceremony at the BCG slated for 5pm, Dennery will take on Laborie in the opening game at 7pm. On Sunday at 7pm, Mocoud go up against Desruisseaux.
The launch which was a lively affair was well attended. Special guests included Director of Youth and Sports, Victor Reid; President of the St Lucia Football Association (SLFA), Patrick Mathurin; Lime Corporate Communications Executive, Terry Finisterre; Guinness Brand Manager, Sylvester Henry; Director of Blackheart Productions, David “Shakes” Christopher and the rest of the Blackheart team including Tennyson Glasgow and Brian McDonald.
Lime has renewed its support for this annual tournament and this year contributed $40,000 in cash and kind towards the event.
Finisterre said: “LIME is very excited about this sponsorship, because football continues to be the most popular sport in St Lucia and throughout the world. What better way to give a boost to the game in St Lucia than to support events like the Blackheart Kashif/Shanghai tournament. It is from there that our promising young footballers, move into the national level and hopefully from there to the regional and international level.”
He pointed out that LIME’s support is also indicative of their belief of the power of sports, to enhance the personal development of our young people and promote unity among our citizens and a sense of pride in being St Lucian.
Guinness which has been associated with this tournament since its inception nine years ago was represented by Henry. He referred to their continued sponsorship as a proud venture which continues to grow from strength to strength.
Having just sponsored the highly successful Guinness Street Football Challenge, Henry said: “We are a big sponsor of football in St Lucia and continue to support it at every level from the grass roots, community and national level.”
The St Lucia Football Association (SLFA) and Blackheart management have had their differences relating to the tournament, but on this night it seems all was forgotten.
Mathurin who is President of the SLFA said: “The association is once again pleased to partner with Black Heart Productions in the staging of this annual tournament. We will not go back into the past in terms of the road it took to get there. The important thing is we are here and as we have indicated, the winner is football.”
For his part, Christopher of Blackheart Productions spoke about working together with the SLFA, towards elevating the standard of football here so we can compete with the rest of the Caribbean.
His speech was not just about football. Christopher spoke passionately about the problems facing Soufriere and Choiseul following Hurricane Tomas.
He said: “We need to focus and help our brothers and sisters around the island, hence the theme for this year’s tournament Rebuilding Our Nation Through Sports.It is the right vehicle to really unite people in St Lucia.”
He was happy to see Soufriere not only win Sunday’s first ever Guinness Street Football Challenge, but be back in the saddle when it comes to this year’s Blackheart Football Tournament.
I have a feeling and it’s just a feeling, that the man who also goes by the nickname Shakespeare,
would like nothing better than to see Soufriere come away with the title. What do you think?