THE La Clery Football League in collaboration with the Saint Lucia Football Association launched the inaugural Bruno Hunte Promotional Football Tournament with six participating teams at La Clery playing field last Sunday.
Organizers and sponsors decided to dedicate the tournament to the memory of the late Bruno Hunte, proprietor of Hill Side Plaza. Hunte was well-known to sports enthusiasts as the man who provided great support to sports for decades not only within the La Clery community, but Saint Lucia to a greater extent.
Speaking at the opening, Parliamentary Representative for Castries North, Stephenson King, said, “The La Clery Football League has seen the need to return football to its glory days and to commence with a very important competion in the name of a great son of the La Clery soil in the person of Bruno Hunte. He was passionate about sports, the community and the young people in La Clery. He was a businessman in the community; he went about his business with due diligence and compassion and continued to give support through his Club, the VBCC, up until his passing in early April.”
He continued: “As we commence this competition, it will be the premier competition in La Clery and one of the most sought-out competitions in Castries. The very attractive prizes offered and the opportunities that are being created will see further professional development of footballers in the community that will attract not just six teams, but I am sure other teams will come to the fore to participate. We shall see the transformation of teams to clubs in keeping with FIFA’s regulations and objectives of making sure not just teams participate, but clubs in general.”
King said he had given a commitment and only last week Thursday he was at the La Clery playing field with a professional in lighting playing facilities and they were looking at the redoing of the lighting fixtures, either to upgrade what exists to deal with the problem or possibly to retrofit the entire field with first-class lighting.
He said, “This year it’s my intention under the Constituency Development Programme to allocate EC$100,000 to the La Clery playing field to commence a master development plan to put some of the required facilities.”
King noted, “The SLFA will work closely with the parliamentary representative and the government in putting in some changing room facility for you the players of this community as well.”
King also sent out a strong message to the residents of La Clery who continue to destroy the facility. He said, “Those who live in this part of the constituency, you must preserve the playing area for the footballers. The damage that has been done to the playing surface … must stop immediately. This is not a grazing ground for cows or horses; this is not a race track for vehicles; this is a playing field for the young men of this country, so we must keep it in a standard for safe playing. I will work with you to ensure the development of the playing field. The preservation and protection of this facility will not be vandalized or abused.”
In the opening game, Radix defeated LA All Stars 2-1 with both goals scored by Joel Pierre while Ronaldo Emmanuel scored for LA All Stars.
In last evening’s double-header, Active Strikers took on Bisee Lions and Radics played Better Finkers.
On Saturday, Bisee United will play Hustlers United while on Sunday LA All Stars will take on Active Strikers. Both matches will commence from 4:30 p.m.
Meanwhile, for the first time in football history in La Clery, the winning team will collect $10,000, the championships trophy and gold medals, the second place finisher $7500, a trophy and silver medals and the third place will receive $5000, a trophy and bronze medals.
