By Anthony Foster, Freelance WriterPARTICIPATING SCHOOLS in this year's Pepsi/Sports Plus Schoolboys' football competitions (Manning and daCosta Cups) will for the first time be playing for cash incentives.
Details of this year's sponsorship were disclosed by the sponsors at yesterday's press conference held at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston. Denise Dixon, marketing manager of Pepsi Cola Jamaica Limited, disclosed that $500,000 will be shared between the Olivier Shield finalists (Manning & daCosta Cup winners) and that there will be more major prizes this season.
Plans for either the All-Island champion school or an All-Star team to travel to Trinidad & Tobago to play a two-match series over three days are also being discussed by Inter-Secondary School Sports Association (ISSA) heads.
AWARDS
As usual there will be the Most Disciplined School Award, the Golden Boot award to the top overall scorer in both competitions. Last year the winning coaches got weekends in Cuba but this season the sponsors said they will be sending them to a hydration science workshop in Chicago while the principals' award will stand.
"We at Pepsi are truly committed to this competition which engenders schools identification and loyalty," Dixon said.
"We are a Jamaican company, committed to this wonderful country of ours. We stand committed to the development of Jamaican youth and the sustainable development of programmes which
benefit Jamaica socially and economically," she said.
Pepsi Cola Jamaica Limited will also continue to provide Gatorade for all teams in the competition.
A HIGHER LEVEL
In his remarks, ISSA president Clement Radcliffe thanked the sponsors for coming on board once again and said "we (ISSA) intend to take football this year to a higher level".
He also asked Portia Simpson Miller, Minister of Local Government, Community Development and Sport and Crenston Boxhill, Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) president, to help ISSA secure the National Stadium for the Manning Cup final.
Guest speaker Simpson Miller said she takes pride in the accomplishments of young citizens in the areas of sport, culture and academics.
"Now let us also strive to make these competitions important in making football a vehicle for instilling self-respect and responsible citizenship. We can do this by insisting on high standards of conduct both on and off the field, and this includes players and spectators," Simpson Miller said.
Boxhill said: "I hope all the teams, players and the various arms involved in the competition will make the sponsors, parents, fans and indeed this nation proud."
