A new tournament is set to ignite West Ruimveldt from this evening when the “King of Soft Shoe” competition kicks off at the St Pius Ground.
The brainchild of national footballers Jermin Junor and Ryan Hackett, the tournament will feature 16 futsal teams competing for a $500,000 grand prize in a straight knockout format.
During a simple launch on Monday morning, Junor gave more details behind the soft shoe concept, revealing why he was previously unable to host such a tournament and how that has changed.
“Basically, we wanted to come different than all the futsal tournaments. So, this tournament is being played on field, why it’s named soft shoes is because it wouldn’t be played with pegs. So, that’s why the name comes from,” Junor informed.
Organiser Ryan Hackett
He added, “It’s something that I’ve wanted to do a very long time, but basically, the ground wasn’t up to standard and no lights. So, the Ministry made it possible to put in lights and get the ground up to standard with the sponsoring of this tournament. I want to say thanks to the Ministry for helping us with this.”
While first place takes home half a million, the second-, third- and fourth- placed finishers will pocket $300,000, $100,000 and $50,000 respectively. Awards such as MVP, highest goal scorer and best goalkeeper will also attract a $25,000 cash prize.
On the other hand, Hackett shared some of the vision behind the tournament, citing its benefits to the community and players’ personal development.
Hackett divulged, “This is activities that a lot of young players in the communities look out to, so we just come out with this new tournament and see if these players could get into it and get a better understanding, going forward, of field ball too.”
“Why we doing it on the grass? It could transfer into the original pitch. So, that’s why we come with this tournament just so the players could get more activities in the community,” Hackett further noted.
Sparta Boss, Festival City, North Ruimveldt, North East, Showstoppers, Back Circle A, Back Circle B, Stabroek Ballers A, Stabroek Ballers B, Gunners and Team Cruel are among the 16 teams slated to compete.
The tournament is scheduled to conclude on Sunday, February 16.
