The High School R. S. McLaughlin of Canada recently completed a very successful tour of Barbados. The Girls U-17 team played unbeaten in their three (3) games against Barbadian teams.

In the first two (2) games, the McLaughlin girls defeated Genesis Football Club and the Technique Football Club by an identical 3-0 scoreline. Playing at the Dover field, McLaughlin took an early lead in both games and extended it in the second half. In the 3rd game, McLaughlin came out 1-0 winners over Pro-Shottas by defending their slim lead for the entire second half.

The McLaughlin boys on the other hand drew their 1st match 1-1 against Paradise but suffered heavy defeat 5-0 to Kick Start and 4-1 to Pro-Shottas. In addition to football, they enjoyed the beauty of Barbados through sightseeing tours and a catamaran boat ride.

The curtains came down on the XXIII annual Barbados Cup with the playing of the finals on Friday, the 2nd day of April 2010, at the National Stadium. At the end of the tournament, the honors were split evenly between local teams and visiting teams.

In the U-13 category, the St. Kitts Lions defeated Pro-Shottas 2-1 on penalties after the scores were tied 1-1 at the end of regular time. The U-15 final was won by the visiting Step-by-Step of Trinidad 1-0 over Pro-Shottas. The U-17 final featured the same teams as the U-15 but this time Pro-Shottas finally won a trophy by defeating Step-by-Step 2-0.

Kick Start of Barbados won the U-19 category which was played on a league basis. This same team won the U-17 last year and have now moved up to the U-19 and have won the Championship in their first year.

The individual award winners were:

The 23rd annual Barbados cup will be staged from the 28th March 2010 to the 3rd April 2010.

The tournament will kick off with a parade of all participating teams at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, 28th March 2010 at the National Stadium. Over 100 teams are expected to participate at the U-13, U-15, U-17, U-19 and women’s categories.

The parade will be led by the Cadet Corps band and will also feature performances by other youth groups. The U-13 category with some 24 teams will be played at the Banks Brewery grounds while the U-15 category will be played next door as Barclays and Dover Playing field.

The Police Sports Complex and Harrisons College will be the venues for the U-17 and U-19 age categories featuring 20 in each division.

The Barbados Community College will be the venue for the women’s section. Trophies and medals will be given for the first two (2) teams in each category, in addition each category will have individual awards for the best Striker, the best Mid-field Player, the best Defender and the best Goalkeeper.