Staying true to its tradition of introducing novel concepts to the Sri Lankan basketball fraternity, the St. Eugene's Association has decided to inaugurate an award, which seeks to reward a key contributor to the game's local growth, during the third edition of the St. Eugene's Trophy five-a-side inter-club basketball tournament this month.
The maiden recipient of this accolade, dubbed the Fr. Herbert Medal, will be Francis de Almeida, an eminent coach synonymous with Sri Lankan basketball during the past 40 years.
In the past, the five-a-side tournament has seen the launch of other such innovative awards like the Spirit of Basketball Award, which rewards fair play, and the Best Player trophy, a title conferred on a respective player by his opposing team's coach.
This year's St. Eugene's Trophy tournament is scheduled to get underway on October 15 and 16 at Police Park with twenty men's teams and eight women's teams vying for glory and cash rewards amounting to Rs. 200,000.
The side which will be carrying numerous crosshairs on their back going into the men's segment of the tournament will be Wattala BC, who will be looking to secure their third consecutive crown. In the women's bracket, defending champions Track Masters will be looking to re-stamp their dominance over a tougher and larger field of competition.
The method by which play is structured for the men is the top three teams from each of the four preliminary groups will move on to play in the Cup Championship, while the group runners-up will battle it out in the Plate Championship and the teams placed third in their groups will play each other in the Bowl Championship.
Meanwhile, in the women's competition, the top four teams from the initial field of eight will advance to the semi-final round.
The St. Eugene's Trophy is named after St. Eugene De Mazenod, the founder of the Congregation of Oblates of Mary Immaculate and is organized by the St. Eugene's Association of Former Oblate Seminarians.
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