TT Pro League CEO Dexter Skeene was in a celebrative mood on Wednesday morning during the launch of the 2011-12 season Digicel Pro Bowl knockout tournament at the Digicel Corporate box at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain.
“I welcome you to the launch of the Digicel Pro Bowl 2012,” said the Skeene in his opening remarks. “A launch I would want to call the dawn of a bigger, better and brighter era.
I say that because in my view this is the juncture that we are now at in the history and evolution of the TT Pro League.
We are at the end of what for the League is a historic and significant season in that we changed our season to the European calendar. That we have had significant challenges and adversity need not be recounted.”
The Digicel Pro Bowl which kicks off on Friday 4 May and ends on Friday 18 marks the end of the 2011-12 Pro League calendar but also the end a second spell of the calendar in the European format which the League adopted two seasons ago, running from August to May instead of the traditional April to December.
However Skeene’s excitement stemmed from new discussions with mobile network powerhouse Digicel which is now at the end of a third season partnership with the Trinidad and Tobago professional football league—the TT Pro League.
“But why the dawn of a new era… and why should that dawn begin with today's launch?” the Pro League CEO continued.
“We have just completed discussions with Digicel and while I cannot go into the details what I can say is that both Digicel and the TT Pro League share a common vision and that is to see professional football achieve the sustainable excellence that it has the potential to so do.
But in order for us all to realize that potential we must come out of our respective comfort zones. We must stop the self congratulation.”
He added, “We are at the point now where we must improve and reengineer almost every aspect of the league. We must innovate and make our marketing and promotion more dynamic more relevant.
To simply sit back and place our collective destiny in the hands of others is a sure road to ruin and despair.
All of us here today must raise the bar. We must push each other harder. We must demand more of each other. We must insist that excellence is the goal line.
In this regard the Digicel Pro Bowl stands for excellence.
I am as always particularly pleased that Digicel continues to partner with us and I am confident that the plans that we have on the drawing board for this year's Pro Bowl and the Digicel Pro League next season will take both events to bigger, better ,brighter standards of achievement and excellence.”
The quarter-final round matchups for this season’s Digicel Pro Bowl on Friday 4 May based on a random draw on Wednesday morning will see last season’s finalist W Connection against Police FC from 6pm at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium and two hours later DIRECTV North East Stars are against T&TEC FC from 8pm at the Marabella venue.
Meantime St. Ann’s Rangers will take on recently crowned Lucozade Sport Goal Shield winners Caledonia AIA from 6pm at the Hasely Crawford Stadium and from 8pm at the very same Port of Spain venue Adam’s Construction San Juan Jabloteh are against Defence Force, as clubs begin their quest for the winner takes all Pro Bowl title and over $100,000.