THE annual Jonathan “Johno” Hibbert memorial football tournament will be held today at Munro College in St Elizabeth.

The event, which is in its seventh year, is for aspiring student-athletes, and it provide opportunities for Jamaicans to receive football scholarships from universities in the United States, a release from the organisers stated.

“The tournament enables bright student-athletes to display their football skills to invited coaches from prestigious universities in the United States with the hope of gaining an athletic scholarship.

“More than 400 male and female student-athletes attend the tournament each year. To date, the competition has offered over 260 soccer (football) scholarships and more than 80 Jamaican student-athletes have studied or are currently studying in the US as a result of the tournament,” it said.

An average of eight coaches from US universities attend the showcase each year, according to the organisers, with last year boasting a record number of 12 US coaches attending.

“Eight universities from the USA have already committed to attend this year’s tournament and we are eagerly awaiting others to get back in touch with us,” a statement read in part.

Reggae Girl Nugene Nugent has been one of the lucky candidates who received a scholarship the last time the event was held.

A freshman at Navarro College, Nugent, who plays midfield “is the name on every one’s lips at the moment; she has scored 22 goals with 19 assists. She is now one of the two top-10 goalscorers in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).”

“The tournament caters to both male and female young footballers between the ages 17-21,” Copeland Lewis, a member of the organising committee, was quoted as saying in the release. “A 16-year-old can come, but they will have to be very good so that a coach might want to take them for the future.”

Lewis added: “The students have to also be academically sound; good GPA, have already taken the SAT (Standardised Aptitude Test) or are about to take the SAT.”

Registration is currently being done at https://www.jhibbertfoundation.org and will also happen on the day of the event.

Tournament organisers are asking that all student-athletes arrive by 8:00 am for registration on the day of the tournament and take the SAT.

The tournament was founded in memory of Jonathan “Johno” Hibbert, who was tragically killed in a road traffic accident in May Pen, Clarendon in December 2002. A foundation was established in January 2003 and the first tournament was held in January 2006.