The annual St George’s Cup preseason schoolboy football tournament kicks off this afternoon with a double-header at St George’s College’s Winchester Park base.

In the opening game at 2:00 pm, St James-based Herbert Morrison Technical oppose Lennon High of Clarendon in an all-daCosta Cup contest. At 4:00 pm, old North Street-based Manning Cup rivals Kingston College and St George’s College clash in the day’s feature.

Tomorrow at Winchester Park, Lennon lock horns with Kingston College at 2:00 pm, while at 4:00 pm Herbert Morrison battle St George’s to bring down the curtain on the seventh staging of the tournament.

The school with most points at the end of the competition will be awarded the Western Sports Trophy and cash prize of $70,000. The second-placed team will win $50,000, while the third- and fourth-placed teams will pocket $30,000 and $25,000, respectively.

If teams are tied on points, the head to head method will be used to separate them. If head to head is even, the next tie breaker will be goal difference. If they are still joined, the number of goals scored will be taken into account.

The pre-season tournament offers valuable preparation for teams ahead of the September start of the schoolboy football campaign.

Hosts St George’s College, who have participated in all six previous editions of the tournament, have won it three times. Other past winners are Wolmer’s Boys’, Jamaica College and Jamaica’s Under-17 team.

Only St George’s have been repeat entrants to the invitational tournament.

— Sanjay Myers