TASTEE will be the title sponsor for the third annual Vaz Prep/Jamaica Grassroots Football company pre-season 20/20 invitational football tournament, which will be held at the National Water Commission (NWC) football field this Saturday from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm.

At yesterday’s press launch at Cuddy’z in New Kingston, it was announced that Tastee will provide $100,000 in sponsorship, plus the company will provide its flagship product, patties, on the day. Refreshment will be provided by associate sponsor, Hy-lyte.

According to tournament director, Simba Harris, this year’s tournament has been extended to include primary schools, and this he reasoned is to help bridge the social divide and encourage interactions among children from varied backgrounds.

Jamaica Independent Schools Association (JISA) president, Wayne Robinson, was also fully behind the idea to incorporate primary schools in the tournament for the said reasons.

“The social divide is always evident among us, but we have a responsibility to change these perceptions that our youngsters have and I must commend Harris and his crew for starting to help make that change,” he said.

Nine of the top prep school teams, including Vaz and Mona, along with three primary schools — Holy Family, Port Royal and Rollington Town — will make up the 12 teams that will vie for the top spot.

The teams will be put into groups of four with the top team from each and a best second place advancing to the play-off round.

Harris also believes the tournament, although the games are shorter, is an excellent opportunity for coaches to fine tune their squads ahead of the upcoming season.

“The coaches will get a good chance to evaluate their teams and make adjustments before the actual season begins,” he said.

Meanwhile, Tastee representative Wayne Tai said when they were approached by Vaz to assist with the sponsorship, Tastee owner Valerie Chang made no hesitation in offering her support.

He also pointed out that Vaz and the schools involved are big supporters of Tastee and they wanted to give back.

“And this is a good venture to assist with sports and development… and Tastee is always ready to give support in the endeavours of sport development,” he said.