In the future, Christopher says, the games will continue to foster community building and unity.
“We saw all the different factions in Vieux Fort come together on the 13th of September at the Philip Marcellin Grounds. We saw guys from Bruceville, Shanty Town, the Manng, et cetera, all the different bosses,” Christopher explained. The theme, he adds, not only applies to scoring a football goal. “They were shooting goals on the field, had a sense of goals in their lives, and everybody was there in peace and unity. It goes to show that peace and unity can be achieved through sports.”
This year, he clarified, businesses had an opportunity to be a part of the execution of the tournaments. “The communities were very involved, the vendors too, there were more economic spinoffs. There was more ownership of the tournament, as we didn’t use sponsorships this year, we used partnerships. So businesses partnered with us to make it happen,” he said.
One issue fans had was with the venue of the tournament’s finals. They were at the Daren Sammy Cricket Grounds instead of the Philip Marcellin Grounds in Vieux Fort. The Blackheart Founder said the venue was chosen due to the different activities that were part of the match.
“Any time something has momentum you’ll always find controversy. The finals of the tournament were held at the Daren Sammy Cricket Grounds where it’s normally held every year. In 2019, it was held in Vieux Fort, but this time around we stayed with the Daren Sammy Cricket Grounds because of the concert (Peace & Unity Concert) which is new to the tournament. Those venues would not be able to accommodate an event like that,” he explained to SNO.
Soufriere is this year’s champion, defeating the defending champs from Dennery.