Leighton Levy, Star Writer

The 2012 Jamaica Netball Association/Berger Paints Super League season gets under way today at 3 p.m., at the Leila Robinson Courts, with an opening ceremony and Fastnet competition.

This season promises to be even more entertaining than in previous years as teams have a special incentive to play harder each match and fans attending games will not go home empty-handed.

Berger Paints, title sponsors for the past 24 years, is injecting more than J$3million into this year's competition from which the winners will collect J$220,000, second place J$150,000, third place J$100,000 and fourth place J$80,000. Winners of the Fastnet rally will take home $42,000 while the runners-up get J$30,000. In competition, teams will get $3800 for each match won. In addition, Berger Paints will be adding special paint giveaways to spectators leading up to the finals.

Seven teams, defending champions Jamalco, runners-up Waulgrovians 'A', Tivoli 'A', Windalco, UWI Pelicans, Mico and Tivoli 'B' - will compete over eight weeks for the Super League title this season. Tivoli 'B', winners last season of the 'A' League, have this year been promoted to the Super League. Teams will play each other on a home-and-away basis and at the end of the schedule, the top two teams will participate in a best-of-three play-off for the Super League title. Similarly, the third-and-fourth place teams will play off for third and fourth; while the fifth-and-sixth place teams will play-off for fifth and sixth. The seventh-place team will be the only team not to enter into a play-off and will most likely be demoted back to the 'A' League.

One new innovation this year involves how points are awarded to teams during competition. In a move to encourage teams to play hard to the very last whistle, organisers have decided that any team that wins by five points or more they will be awarded five points. However, if they do not, they will earn only three points while the losing team will get a bonus point for keeping the scores close.

There is also special incentive for the coaches as two UTECH coaching scholarships are to be awarded to the coaches of the teams making the finals.

For the Fastnet competition that will be the highlight of the opening ceremony all the players from the respective teams will be pooled and hand-picked to form teams that will take the name of Berger Paints colours. The teams will be placed into two groups and will play each other within each group. The group winners will play for the Fastnet title and the cash prize.