The second half of the S-League season has received a major boost in the form of the first tranche payment from competition sponsor Our Telekom.
Our Telekom management board chairman John Beverly handed over a cheque for SBD $400,000 to Aloysio Ma'ahanoa, Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) treasurer and chairman of the S-League.Beverly says the company's sponsorship of the competition is aimed towards promoting football amongst the youth of Solomon Islands.
"We want the children of Solomon Islands to play football and a decision was made several years ago for a commitment from Our Telekom to support this goal with $5 million," he says.
"Our Telekom has always maintained its support for the development of football - the much-loved sport of our nation. We are pleased to provide assistance that reaches all the teams participating through SIFF competitions."
Beverly says the partnership between Our Telekom and SIFF has helped increase the exposure of football in Solomon Islands but there is still a lot of untapped potential.
"This partnership is visible through an expanded television coverage of global football events and young Solomon Islanders are able to see some of the top players in the world play the game," he says.
"Our Telekom greatly supports the hosting of the Telekom S-League matches in the provinces as the competition grows. At the same time we are venturing into live TV coverage of matches in the Telekom S-League broadcast to Auki, Gizo and later for Lata."
Ma'ahanoa is thankful for the grant and says SIFF places great value on the partnership with Our Telekom.
The $400,000 payout is part of a $1.6 million sponsorship package for the second season of the S-League, the Solomon Islands' premier club competition.
A similar amount was received by SIFF for the first season of the Telekom S-League. More than a third of this fund will go towards meeting the prizemoney fee for both the league and championship series while the remainder will go to marketing, administration and logistical expenses.
Our Telekom is the current major sponsor of SIFF in a partnership that operates under a SBD $5.3million deal signed in 2010. Our Telekom also sponsors other SIFF events including the Solomon Cup, the National Kids Football, Cultural and Education Festival, the National U-20 Championship, the National Futsal Championship and the National Beach Soccer Championship.