Fast food franchise Burger King are back on board as major sponsors of Jamaica’s junior squash team serving up a sumptuous $400,000 support package just ahead of the Caribbean Area Squash Association’s (CASA) Junior Championships which will be held in Trinidad and Tobago July 14-20.

The latest contribution marks the sixth-consecutive year that Burger King has been instrumental in sending the youngsters to the prestigious tournament — a highly anticipated event on the region’s squash calendar. This year, expectations are high for siblings Lukas and Savannah Thomson, who both won age-group titles when Jamaica hosted the championships last year.

Having blown through the field to take the Under-13 title last year, Savannah, 13, is expected to face stronger competition this time around, as she will do battle in the Under-15 age group. However, she goes into the championships on a high as the reigning national Under-15 girls’ champion, maintaining an undefeated record on local soil this year.

In a similar vein, Lukas Thomson, who was last year’s under-11 Caribbean boys’ champion, will have to step up his game as he moves up to the Under-13 ranks. But there are high hopes that the gutsy youngster will have a successful debut in his new age category.

Other players to watch are, national Under-15 boys’ champion, Tobias Levy and his older sibling Sebastian, the under-17 champion. The brothers, who have several local titles between them, are both eager to add a regional crown to their trophy case.

Also, junior team veterans, Mia Mahfood and Mia Lake, will be looking to come through in the girls’ under-19 competition. The experienced competitors will also add depth and utility to the squad in the team competition.

Chris Hind, president of the Jamaica Squash Association, beamed about the team that is fielded for this year’s Caribbean Championships.

“We expect to be a threat in several individual age groups, and have a strong performance in the team competitions. Our junior players have been working hard, they have been entering competitions locally and overseas, and we expect all of that to pay off in the regional arena which is where it matters most,” Hinds, shared.

Burger King’s Sponsorship and Public Relations manager, Ricardo Brooks, reaffirmed their commitment to the growth and development of non-traditional sports.

“We believe they can offer opportunities for our athletes comparable to our more popular sports like football and track and field. We are long-standing supporters of Jamaica’s youth squash programme, and each year we are proud of how of our young players perform on the Caribbean stage, and we are happy to continually contribute to their success,” said Brooks.

The team, which departs the island today for the twin island republic, met with the minister of sport, Olivia “Babsy” Grange at the Liguanea Club on Wednesday, following one of their final training sessions.

Grange, encouraged the youngsters to deliver a strong performance and put their sport on the map.

“Squash is an up-and-coming sport for Jamaica, and all of you are writing the history of your sport as you play these competitions now; so I want you to play hard, do well and be great ambassadors for squash and for your country,” she said.

The championships will kick off with the age group competitions from July 14-16, followed by the high-stakes team competition from July 17-20. In addition to Jamaica, players from Bermuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Guyana, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago will all be in the mix.

Team: Girls — Mehar Trehan, Savannah Thomson, Mia Todd, Mia Lake, Mia Mahfood, Elle Wilson, Cai Manley Drummond, Eleanor Hind, Samantha Azan, Sanjana Nallipati, Asher Deleon.

Boys — Lukas Thomson, Tobias Levy, Sebastian Levy, Karan Chatani, Karan Dhiman, Lek Manley Drummond, Rhys Greenland, Donell James, Alexander Desnoes, Brady Holmes, Dylan Vaz