UNIVERSAL HAULERS Impact FC were crowned champions of the UPSL Esmeralda sponsored “6-a-side” football tournament after they defeated Ball Runners 3-1 in the final held at the club’s grounds in Enterprise, Chaguanas on Sunday.
Impact FC showed great sportsmanship and divided the $2,400 winners cheque in half with runners-up, Ball Runners. Each team took home $1,200 after the day-long tournament and fund-raiser bar-b-que.
Vice-president of Esmeralda, Rafi Ali revealed that even though they were expecting a larger turn out, they were grateful for the support received by the footballers and patrons of the fund-raiser. Ali mentioned that all proceeds gathered at the event would go towards the further development of the club’s youth programmes.
“We have a comprehensive budget for the new season and all our earnings will be injected into our younger and senior players. Esmeralda’s average player age is around 20 to 22 and they’re a significant factor to us, and we must invest in them.
Our success as a club helps them in their personal development. Monies would be used toward attaining the proper equipment and gears for the cricketers,” stated Ali.
In August, UPSL Esmeralda was promoted to the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board Premiership League after they were crowned champions of the South Championship division. Ali declared that the club is taking their Premiership preparations seriously and would begin their pre-season training on October 3.
“We are confident going into the Premiership for the next season. We begin our training next week and will be focussing a lot on the players’ physical fitness. This is most important for us because we know we have to elevate our overall potential now.
This a new league and we will be facing stiffer competition all-round. Once we have the proper physical and mental preparation, only then we can go into the fielding, bowling and batting practice,” Ali said.
He added that the team is carrying a positive mind-set as the new season approached. Ali hailed the officials and players for holding the club together and praised the club’s ongoing youth system.
The club’s vice-president continued, “However, we are happy with the combination of players that we have. We have a well-rounded team and the players are eagerly anticipating the start of the new season.
Our technical staff has also played a major role in the growing of the team. The senior team has about four players that passed through our youth programmes, so we know that our developmental work is going in the right direction,” concluded Ali.