Dominica State College arrived in the island yesterday for the inaugural AFNA (Americas Federations of Netball Associations) Champion of Champions High School Netball Tournament, which will be held at Leila Robinson Courts from tomorrow through to next Saturday.

The team coach Jennifer Nantan and captain Kaila Winston were both upbeat about their chances of winning the tournament. They said that they had been preparing for the past two months and were now ready to do well and win the tournament overall.

Coach Nantan said that though she did not know much about the other teams in the competition, her experience of Jamaica having played here in 1990 will help her to steer her team to victory.

All 10 teams in the competition will be housed at G C Foster College, where the consolation matches will be played next Friday and Saturday.

The Welcome and Candlelight Ceremony will be held today at G C Foster College beginning at 6:00 pm, while the opening ceremony will get under way at 2:00 pm tomorrow at Leila Robinson Courts ahead of the 3:00 pm start of the first match, which will feature Christ Church Foundation of Barbados and Holmwood Technical.

Excelsior High will also take on Springer Memorial of Barbados at the same time. Another two matches will be played at 4:00 pm.

The teams will be playing for bragging rights, medals for the top three teams, and trophies for the top two teams. The 10 competing teams will be playing consolation matches that rank them from five to 10. One player will receive a financial award of US$500. The amount was donated by a sponsor out of the USA bwho wishes not want to be named. The MVP of the tournament will receive amount towards her education.

The inaugural tournament will feature 10 teams from six islands in the region. They are

Excelsior High and Holmwood Technical from Jamaica; Springer Memorial and Christchurch Foundation from Barbados; Scarborough Secondary and Toco Secondary from Trinidad &Tobago; Micoud Secondary and Soufriere from St Lucia; Dominica State College from Dominica; and Anglican High School from Grenada.

The teams had to be champions in their respective countries, in order to qualify to compete in the champion of champions tournament. In the case of Jamaica, Excelsior High and Holmwood Technical met in the championship earlier this year and so will be featured in opposing pools in the tournament.

The tournament format consists of two pools of five teams. They are: Pool A — Dominica State College, Holmwood Technical High, Christchurch Foundation, Scarborough Secondary and Micoud Secondary.

Pool B — Excelsior High, Toco Secondary, Springer Memorial, Soufriere Secondary and Anglican High.