Howard Walker, Staff Reporter
Roger Williams (left), General Manager Grace Kennedy Remittance Services, displays his company's two-million dollar committment to the 2005/06 Kingston and St. Andrew Football Association (KSAFA) Jackie Bell KO competition, at yesterday morning's press launch at Alhambra Inn. Others who took part in the handing over of the cheque are Lorna Bell, widow of the late Winthorpe 'Jackie' Bell, in whose honour the competition is played, and KSAFA president, Ambassador A.B. Stewart Stephenson. - RICARDO MAKYN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
WHEN THE Western Union/Kingston and St. Andrew Football Association (KSAFA) Jackie Bell Knockout kicks off on October 1, there will be an improvement of $300,000 in the sponsorship deal from last year.
GraceKennedy Remittance Service (GKRS), through its brand Western Union, increased their sponsorship of the Corporate Area competition to the tune of $2m from the $1.7m last year.
"It is with great pleasure and pride that I announce that Western Union will be title sponsors of the annual Jackie Bell Knockout competition to the tune of $2m ... mainly due to our satisfaction with how the competition was organised last year, with the quality of play and the brand exposure," said Roger Williams at a press conference at the Alhambra Inn yesterday to outline details of this year's competition.
Among the items that the $2m will cover are first place prize money of $350,000, second $200,000, third $100,000 and for fourth, $50,000.
A total of $640,000 will take care of gears for some of KSAFA's 40 clubs. Last year only the top eight teams received sets of gear but that number has been doubled and there will be 16 sets of gears for 20 players each at $40,000 per set.
CLUB INCENTIVES
There will also be club incentives of $5,000 for the teams eliminated in the preliminary round and $7,500 for teams eliminated in the first round.
The sponsorship also cover referees fees of $150,000, administrative costs $250,000, and $100,000 for trophies and awards.
Stewart Stephenson, president of KSAFA, noted that people "sometimes take a lot of things for granted in this country and moreso in football".
He added: "The fact that Grace endorsed our Confederation and this competition utilising the brand name Western Union is something that we are very proud of. We call it a partnership which we started last year in KSAFA and it continues this year.
"Those of us in football need to appreciate that private sector companies always have an option with their dollars. That option is to pass it as dividend to their shareholders. So when you get a corporate enterprise like GraceKennedy coming to support football we regard that as a very special endorsement of not only our administration, but the effort the clubs are making in building football," he added.
The Jackie Bell Knockout is played in honour of Winthorpe "Jackie" Bell, a former national coach and football administrator. He, along with another coach Dennis Zaidie, died in a car crash in Mexico at the 1986 World Cup.
The Jackie Bell competition, which was started in 1987, is contested by Corporate Area teams from the Syd Bartlett, Major, Super and Premier Leagues.
Constant Spring won the first edition but Arnett Gardens, last year's champion, is the most successful with five titles, followed closely by Waterhouse with four.
