By – Shaun Fuentes
Top El Salvador beach football player Francisco ‘Frank” Velasquez will be one the star attractions at the upcoming BagoSports Beach Football Invitational tournament slated to come off at the Turtle Beach Bay facilities, Tobago on November 19 and 20.
Velasquez will be part of the Florida Beach Soccer FC which has confirmed its appearance at the tournament. Florida Beach also includes United States Beach Soccer team member Oscar Gil and US Team captain Francis Faberoff.
Velasquez was the Most Valuable Player and topscorer at the 2011 CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup with 13 goals, leading El Salvador to the runners up position behind Mexico. They subsequently finished fourth at the FIFA World Cup with Velasquez earning the Bronze boot award.
Kyle Lequay is one of the founding members of BagoSports along with Tobago-born, ex-Signal Hill Senior Comprehensive player, Derek Dickenson. And according to Lequay, the Jamaica National Beach Football Team is also carded to be part of the tournament, as well as the Guyana national team, the 2010 champions Sancho All Stars and the 2011 Guinness Street Football champs Untouchables FC. Four Tobago-based teams are also expected to participate in the action-packed event which is free to the public.
For the 2011 edition of the tournament, the winners will walk away with a first prize of US$10,000 prizes will also be awarded for Top Goal Scorer, Best Goal Keeper, Best Goal of the Tournament and Most Valuable Player (MVP).
“We are really going out to ensure that this year’s tournament is even better than last year and that we could bring a level of beach football that is second to none in the region right here to our shores,” Lequay told 90Soccer as he looked ahead to the event on the island which has produced players such as ex-Manchester United star Dwight Yorke and Philadelphia Union midfielder Keon Daniel.
BagoSports also hosted a Sports Journalism and Communications workshop for Tobago Secondary School students at the Dwight Yorke Stadium recently.
Additionally, BagoSports will also be hosting a Youth Beach Football Clinic on Friday November 18, 2011 at Heritage Park, Turtle Beach. This clinic will be led by the 2011 North American Sand Soccer Champions- Florida Beach Soccer FC team along with the Jamaica National Beach Football Team.
This clinic will be used to introduce the sport to the youth of Tobago and provide the opportunity to interact with beach football professionals.
For more information visit: www.bagosports.com or contact [email protected] or [email protected]
