SANTA Cruz, St Elizabeth — Young footballers from St Elizabeth and neighbouring parishes are gearing to converge on the 150-year-old Munro College football ground, when the sixth annual Jonathan Hibbert Football Tournament gets underway.

Between 20 to 30 football scholarships will be on offer when coaches and scouts from several colleges and universities from United States gather in the cool hills of Malvern on January 8 for a day of football in memory of Hibbert, a former Munro student who died in a motor vehicle accident in 2002 at the age of 16.

Following his death, a number of past students who were very close to the talented footballer got together and in January 2004 they formed the Jonathan Hibbert Foundation and decided to have this annual event in his honour, which first kicked off in 2005.

Former Munro and Jamaica Youth player who captains the National under-17 team, Copeland “Ziggy” Lewis, who is one of the organisers of the event, said it will be a case where young footballers, males and females, will get an opportunity to impress the coaches from overseas who will be in attendance.

“It’s a one-day tournament where we try and get the best talents from each school team, both past and present players, that meet all the requirements to come out and showcase their talents.

“We select teams randomly, play games, then out of all those games the coaches select… 30 players that they all like, then we will give those players another chance to play and showcase their talents with longer playing time,” Lewis said.

“The coaches will be staying at Jakes Hotel and Treasure Beach Hotel from Friday to Monday. We ask everyone to be on time for the opening ceremony.

“Those who didn’t register online will have to do so in order to play. We ask each player to give a donation of $100 or whatever they can donate to help cover costs since everything is paid for out of pocket and we are a non-profit organisation.

“We are looking for sponsors to come on board, if not this year defiantly for next year,” Lewis added.