Tourers meet visiting CaribLanta tomorrow
Published:Saturday | July 23, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Western Bureau:Having savoured Sunday's intriguing Steve Bucknor Western Masters League final, the fans of vintage football will be in for yet another treat tomorrow when Original Tourers match skills with the visiting Atlanta-based outfit CaribLanta at the Lion's Den in Irwin, Montego Bay, starting at 3:30 p.m.
"This should be a nice game, so I am encouraging the fans to come out and enjoy it," said businessman George Evans, a veteran member of the Original Tourers team. "We are looking forward to having a good time."
The CaribLanta Sports and Cultural Club, which is based in the Metro-Atlanta area in the United States, was officially registered with the State of Georgia in October 2007 as a non-profit social incorporation. The club features nationals from Antigua, Costa Rica, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Vincent and Trinidad and Tobago.
The club, which has been making annual sports and cultural trips to Jamaica for the past six years, has a mandate to, 'positively promote community involvement through sports and cultural activity', and has impacted local communities such as York Town, in Clarendon.
"The club has provided educational tools to York Town Primary School and, of course, provided entertainment through the annual Local versus Foreigners football game," said CaribLanta spokesman, Kirk Richards. "Cariblanta's aim is to continue this effort to all the countries represented within the club to build a better, safer and progressive community."
For tomorrow's game against Original Tourers, CaribLanta will feature familiar faces such as former Reno and Jamaica's midfield star Donald Hewitt and former Charlie Smith and Arnett Gardens player Everton Bunsie. The team also includes Anthony Flemmings and Richards.
Original Tourers, the more senior of Violet Kickers' two master league teams, is known more for the fun-filled antics of its players and as such are like Montego Bay's version of the United States' famed Harlem Globe Trotters basketball outfit.
For this game, the Original Tourers should feature the likes of George Evans, Edgerton Forrester, Brian Miller, Patrick Reid, Vinton Williams and several other former stalwarts of St James' football.