ONE HUNDRED YEARS, one hundred honourees!

The Barbados Football Association (BFA) will be marking its 100th anniversary by honouring exactly 100 people in the football fraternity at a posh awards banquet on September 26.

The BFA, which was founded in 1910, started its year of activities yesterday with a church service at The Santuary (formerly Dove Convention Centre).

Later in the year, Barbados will be hosting phase one of the Women's CONCACAF Gold Cup Qualifying Tournament, which starts on March 28 with competition against Grenada and Anguilla.

The BFA will also be holding a cruise on board the Harbour Master on August 13 to bring together the entire football fraternity, and clubs can benefit by gaining $10 from each ticket they sell.

There will also be an International Masters series between Barbados and arch-rivals Trinidad and Tobago, while the BFA will be teaming up with the University of the West Indies to stage an Inter-Parish League in the off-season at the UWI's all-weather Astro Turf facility.

"[It will be] part of our own celebrations but also part of the outreach of the University of the West Indies through sports into the community," said BFA president Ronald Jones.

A lecture on sports and its impact on the development of the country also will be held.

Jones added that there would be a fun day - with the theme Footballers On Show - in one central location where all members of the football family, including the media, would be able to showcase their talent.

Jones said the BFA had made a bid to host the finals of the Digicel Caribbean Championship, but since the format for the number of teams in the final round was still to be determined, the association was still awaiting confirmation of whether Barbados would be the host country.

"Until that is decided, we won't be able to state emphatically if we have been successful. We know that it is a costly exercise, but we are hoping that based on resources provided and resources generated through gates and things of this ilk, that we would be able to host that tournament," he added.

During the year, Jones said there would be paraphernalia such as ties, hats, tees and polo shirts, pins, and pens on sale. (EZS)