The sunshine city's best comm-unity footballers were rewarded during the e-Services-sponsored Portmore Football League (PFL) awards presentation at the Twyn City Restaurant, Port Henderson Road, recently.

Racing United, now playing in the LIME St Catherine FA Division One league, were the most celebrated team on the night. They topped the e-Services Portmore Division-Two league title, and also the Genus Pharmacy mid-season crown, and their captain Oneil White snatched the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.

Christian Pen, which were also promoted to Division One, copped the Colin Fagan KO trophy.

Christian Pen's pair of Andre Thompson and Fabian Byfield also walked away with the Top Goalscorer and Best Midfielder awards.

Wanderers copped the Pines Imaging Centre's U-17 title; Portmore United won the Senator Arthur Williams-sponsored U-15 crown; Passagefort United topped the Leander Marshall U-13 trophy, while newcomers East Portmore Portals, which played in the Pines Imaging Centre's U-17 league, took the Most Disciplined Team award.

South East St Catherine Member of Parliament, Colin Fagan, heaped praises on the Portmore Football League and its president, Leander Marshall, for consistently maintaining high standards for football.

In congratulating the winning teams, Fagan encouraged the players to pay attention not only to football skills, but also to see to their academic attainment. He pointed out that the days when the football skills alone could get you a scholarship to a university or a contract at professional level are long gone.

He gave examples of players' ability to use computer animation programmes to work out weaknesses of opposing teams, as well as to be able to prepare their own technical strategies going into games.

In speaking to sponsorship, he outlined the economic challenges facing the country at this time and reminded the teams that they will have to do more for themselves. "Things like cutting, maintaining and keeping the grounds clean must now become your responsibility as sponsors can no longer take on those responsibilities," he said.

He committed to continue supporting the teams in his constituency which participated in the PFL through the Constituency Development Fund and further seek to continue the Colin Fagan Knockout Competition through his own source of funding.