Harris Paints donates Prize Cup for David Thompson Memorial

With preparations for the David Thompson Memorial Football Classic moving along swimmingly, the secretariat in charge of organising the event has received even more assistance. Harris Paints, which has over years shown keen interest in sporting and community-based activities, has donated the trophy for the winning team. The gold cup which will be hoisted high by the winning team at the end of the December 4 final, scheduled to be held at Kensington Oval, was handed over to Minister of Social Care, Constituency Empowerment and Community Development, Steve Blackett, yesterday in a media conference held at Harris Paints' Wildey offices. The company, which has been a long-time corporate partner of the sporting enterprises of the Pine and Wildey areas, also donated a Best Team on Parade trophy which will be given out on the tournament's opening night at Gall Hill, St. John this Sunday. During the briefing, Regional Sales Performance and Business Development Manager at Harris Paints, John Marshall, stated that his company was extremely pleased to have the opportunity to be affiliated with the competition and was looking forward to watching the tournament go through the various rounds. "Harris Paints endeavours to enrich the lives of all our customers and associates throughout the Caribbean and we are very fortunate that the Minister has allowed us to be part of this sporting endeavour which we are also very keen to participate in this effort to drive the culture of Barbados forward," he said. Minister Blackett who noted that everything would be in place for a seamless start to the competition on Sunday evening said that the tournament, which is being viewed by some as a rival to other ongoing out-of-season tournaments, was really a drive to give a new breath of life back into the communities. "This tournament was conceptualised to bring communities in Barbados together because over the last few years we have seen some fragmentation in our communities and this tournament endeavours to foster the kind of togetherness that Barbadians have grown to be known for," he mentioned. Member of Parliament Hamilton Lashely, who was also in attendance, highlighted the fact that response to the competition has been massive right across the board. "Across the communities in Barbados everyone is anticipating this tournament. The response on the ground has been tremendous and the cooperation that we are getting is something else! Everyone believes that the tournament conceptualised by the Minister is one that is needed particularly at this time in the communities so people are saying that it is more than a football tournament," Lashley said. (MP) http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/newsitem.asp?more=sports&NewsID=20360