By Carl Spence, Star Writer

Stewart Stephenson - Ian Allen

The Kingston and St. Andrew Football Association (KSAFA) Under-17 league will this year benefit from a combined half a million dollars in sponsorship money after both Victoria Mutual Building Society (VMBS) and Nestlé, through its Milo brand, announced their commitment to the association's competition at a press launch hosted at the Pollyanna Restaurant in Kingston yesterday.

The competition, which will this year operate under the name the Victoria Mutual/KSAFA Under-17 Football Competition for the Dickie Coke Trophy, received much of its funding through KSAFA's first-time sponsor, VMBS, who forked up $450,000 of the competition's total while Milo, a long standing sponsor of the association's youth competitions, added $50,000.

Shows gratitude

A very delighted Ambassador Stewart Stephenson, president of KSAFA, expressed his gratitude to VMBS for sponsoring the youth competition.

"Our young Under-17 players are the future adults and citizens of this country, so we applaud Victoria Mutual for their foresight in recognising that you don't always invest at the top, but that you have to nurture from the beginning and move throughout the age group programmes," he said.

Stephenson also stressed the importance of the competition to youngsters at home during the summer period.

"Parents today are happy because of KSAFA's approach in structuring its competitions. Young players ages 10-17 will be in a disciplined environment throughout the hot summer months and I want to entrust to our managers and coaches that you are the role models which we are providing for our society to continue to nurture many young boys who do not have a father by their sides," Stephenson added.

VMBS President and CEO, Richard Powell, was present at the launch to explain his company's sponsorship of the Under-17 league and endorsed his company's youth, sports and community development focus.

"A central trust of our outreach programme is youth and community development and we see sports as a very important avenue through which a nation can develop its young people," Powell explained.

"Sports teaches a lot of life skills and attributes that are important to be successful in life. Individual effort with the constitution of teamwork, discipline, commitment, hard work and sacrifice are the important attributes people need in a society's development," he added.

This year's competition will see 29 teams competing from four zones for the Dickie Coke Trophy as well as $20,000 in awards. The competition is scheduled to commence on Thursday with defending champions Bully Bay playing the tournament's opening game.