The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

WITH two devoted fanbases, championship football clubs and the anticipation of elite level soccer, the Bahamas Football Association expects a large crowd and fierce competition on the pitch tomorrow night.

The Bahamas Football Association, through the sponsorship of BTC and the support of the National Sports Authority, will host the Montego Bay United Football Club against the Don Bosco Football Club 8pm Friday (July 29) in the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium.

“The teams are here and we are ready to go,” said Anton Sealey, president of the BFA.

“Based on what I know on the passion both the Haitians and Jamaicans have for the sport of football, I expect to have a very good, enthusiastic and energetic crowd on hand so I expect a great event on Friday.”

Sealey said the objective is to be able to host a series of matches between champions throughout the region and eventually have the involvement of the Bahamas in the series.

Also serving as an executive with the National Sports Authority, he said the improvement of the facilities will provide the framework.

“This is just the beginning of one of many events we host at the stadium. We are investing quite a bit of money in upgrading our facilitates, once we make that effort to upgrade our facilities we have to use them. We have to showcase our facilities to the world,” he said, “Certainly, we begin by doing this regionally with our colleagues in the Caribbean and with the emphasis being that down the road we can host more world class events, expose our young athletes to world class athletes so that they can look and emulate them and that can only auger well for our sports programmes in the country.”

During the evening, there will be a number of performances to keep the fans entertained in and outside of the stadium.

Also at the halftime, the Humming Bird Dancers, an arm of the Humming Bird Association of Jamaican residents in the Bahamas, are expected to perform. Sharon Purser-Cooper is the cultural director who leads the dancers. A group of Haitian dancers will also perform.

BTC CEO Leon Williams presented $30,000 cash and in-kind cheque to the National Sports Authority to assist in hosting the event.

Williams said as their responsibility as a corporate citizen, they reinvest portions of their earnings back into the community and with a large block of Caribbean nationals rising in the Bahamas, especially from Haiti and Jamaica, they are elated to sponsor this tournament.

“Both Haiti and Jamaica are fanatics about football, which we call soccer,” Williams stressed. “So we are delighted to join the National Sports Authority in making this event a success.”

As a part of their partnership with FLOW TV, Williams said all territories in the region will be able to watch the soccer match live on channel 104 or on BTC website www.btcbahamas.com/btctv.