Reigning Courts Pro Bowl Champions CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh seeking their 3rd consecutive title were drawn to face strong rivals and last year’s finalists Vibe CT 105 W Connection in the quarter finals.
The launch of this year’s competition was held in the Kayak Room of the Kapok Hotel, St Clair on Friday and was attended by managers and team captains of the Pro League Clubs, Courts Marketing Director Cindy-Ann Gatt and Marketing Manager Melanie Foster.
Of course the feature clash of the quarter-finals would be Jabloteh against W Connection as both teams have met in all three finals in the Courts Pro Bowl competition, with the San Juan based team surfacing as champions in 2005 and 2006 and the ‘Savonetta Boys’ winning the first ever title back in 2004.
In this year’s episode things are surely going to be different based on the draw as one of the traditional powerhouses will face an early exit and competition seems to be wide open with all teams already producing some quality football so far this season and it can prove difficult to pinpoint a clear favorite.
The other quarter-final draws saw top of the table and defending Pro League Champions Joe Public pair off with United Petrotrin, Caledonia AIA clash with Superstar Rangers and a qualifying round between the bottom four teams which includes Police FC, Tobago United, North East Stars and Defence Force will be decided next Tuesday.
Courts Marketing Manager Melanie Foster spoke on behalf of her company, the official sponsor of the tournament and she expressed their commitment to the League.
Foster said, “The TT Pro League is a beacon of hope to many young players, especially those in disadvantaged communities who may have no other avenues when they leave school. From these Clubs comes some of our future stars and these are the players that may bring us future glory in the World Cups yet to come and this is why a third year in a row we at courts continue to contribute substantially to the League.”
Already this year’s competition has a great stir with a boost in the prize structure as well as some exciting prizes for the fans and media explained by Melanie Foster.
“There would be door prizes, our exciting ‘Kick for Cash’, a ‘Bow Flex’ sports home gym for the most valuable player of the tournament and of course the prize money.”
The marketing Manager concluded her speech by saying she hopes the Courts Pro Bowl starts with a ‘Bang’.
In the opening remarks Chief Executive of the TT Pro League, Dexter Skeene, thanked Courts for their dedicated sponsorship of the competition.
He said, “The League has initiated several efforts to highlight and develop the players, our number one asset of the Pro League and we are making every effort to motivate them and make sure they are given the right incentives and in addition Courts has stepped up to the plate again this year for the first knockout competition of the season.”
“This one is exciting. It’s once again winner takes all with only the winner going home with the substantial amount of prize money. Last year the winner took home over a hundred thousand dollars, starting with fifty thousand dollars from courts, but this year Courts have started at seventy-five thousand dollars and I want to congratulate Courts again on their giving of over a hundred and fifty thousand dollars in sponsorship,” said a delighted TT Pro League CEO.
He also commended the Clubs for their impressive start to the 2007 season and their dedication to the Pro League, “We have a line-up of ten teams this season of which Police FC has been added and they are making it much more competitive. We are going guns and we are very happy with the start of the 2007 season. We have had some upsets with the likes of Superstar Rangers and Caledonia being at the top of the League at one time and this arguers well for the Pro League.”
Mr. Skeene also made more aware of a couple of Media related entities produced by the Pro League and their goal of being self-sustainable, “Over the period of time we would begin to develop a sustainable and viable industry. We are currently negotiating a television contract and we expect that to be launched soon where you would have live matches every weekend and we are going to make sure football in Trinidad and Tobago is in the homes of each and every individual. We are also delivering twenty thousand copies of the Pro League Magazines each month throughout Trinidad,” explained Mr. Skeene.
Courts Pro Bowl Schedule
Qualifying Round
Hasely Crawford Stadium—Tuesday 8th May
Police FC vs Tobago United – 5 pm
North East Stars vs Defence Force – 7 pm
Quarter Final Round
Larry Gomes Stadium & Mannie Ramjohn Stadium—Friday 12th May
A=Joe Public vs United Petrotrin
B=Caledonia AIA vs Superstar Rangers
C=(Police vs Tobago United) vs (North East Stars vs Defence Force)
D=W Connection vs San Juan Jabloteh
Semi Final Round
Mannie Ramjohn Stadium—Friday 18th May
A vs D =M
B vs C =N
Final
Mannie Ramjohn Stadium—Friday 25th May
Winner M vs Winner N
Loser M vs Loser N