The Atlantic Primary Schools Big-16 football will kick off on Thursday in Tobago with a double header. This was revealed at the official draw yesterday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo.
Tobago, winners in the girls competition, will come up against Port-of-Spain runners-up, while the Tobago winners in the boys competition will face North Eastern runners-up.
So far the teams battling on Thursday have not been decided, as the Tobago District competition was due to come to an end yesterday. Dates for the rest of the matches that were drawn will be decided after the completion of all the district matches later this week.
At the launch yesterday were members of the defending boys and girls champs. St Agnes Girls out of the Port-of-Spain and Santa Flora Boys from St Patrick Division. On hand to address them was Caroline Toni Sirju-Ramnarine, head of sustainability and corporate communications at Atlantic.
Sirju-Ramnarine had the children glued to her delivery, as she told them that Atlantic’s vision for them went beyond kicking a ball.
“Our vision for this league, when we first partnered with the National Primary Schools Football League in 2005, was not only to offer a forum for the competition at the junior level, but more importantly, to bring football to as many young people as possible. Because you see, this game goes beyond kicking a ball around for 90 minutes.
It speaks to human values such as teamwork, discipline, perseverance and respect. Values that will serve the children well in whatever they choose to do.
She continued: “This is how we build future talent. While we recognise that not every single child will advance to the senior level of the game, the fact is we have facilitated an environment that is fun, exciting and allows for the social development of our boys and girls.”
Sirju-Ramnarine also announced that Atlantic, through their association with Manchester United will be providing tactical skills training and leadership development to the top 50 boys and girls coming out from these championships.
Now in its third year, the Atlantic Football Development Camp will run from November 30 to December 2.
ROUND OF 16 FIXTURES
GIRLS
POS winners vs Victoria runners-up
Caroni winners vs Tobago runners-up
St. Patrick winners vs East St. George runners-up
South Eastern winners vs North Eastern runners-up
Tobago winners vs POS runners-up
East St. George winners vs South Eastern runners-up
Victoria winners vs St. Patrick runners-up
North Eastern winners vs Caroni runners-up
BOYS
St Patrick winners vs Tobago runners-up
Victoria winners vs Caroni runners-up
North Eastern winners vs POS runners-up
East St. George winners vs South Eastern runners-up
POS winners vs East St. George runners-up
South Eastern winners vs St. Patrick runners-up
Caroni winners vs Victoria runners-up
Tobago winners vs North East runners-up