THE third staging of the St George’s College Invitational gets under way today at the Winchester Park playfield on North Street and will see the hosts compete with Manning Cup rivals Calabar High, as well as rural area teams Glenmuir High, and Clarendon College.

In the first match starting at 2:00 pm, Manning Cup and Olivier Shield title-holders St George’s College entertain Calabar, while Clarendon College challenge daCosta Cup champions Glenmuir in the 4:00 pm fixture.

In tomorrow’s matches at the Winchester Park venue, Calabar battle Clarendon College in the 2:00 pm curtain-raiser, and in the 4:00 o’ clock feature, St George’s host Glenmuir.

The format of this season’s two-day competition mirrors that of last year, leaving the team with the most points to lift the title. If teams are joined on points, the first tie-breaker would be the head-to-head results, while the goal-difference method would follow.

The winning prize of $75,000 is a step up from last year’s $40,000. The team which finishes second this season will pocket $50,000.

Sports gear outfitters Macron/Kitstar are the major sponsors this year, while Hi-Lyte Sports drink will provide hydration. Toyota Jamaica are also sponsors of the event.

Wolmer’s Boys’ beat St George’s College 3-1 in the deciding match of the inaugural tournament in 2011, while Jamaica College prevailed in last year’s edition.

Neville ‘Bertis’ Bell, the head coach of kingpins St George’s, said the pre-season tournament will provide “serious” practice for the teams ahead of September’s start of the 2013 schoolboy football competitions.

“It’s important for us even though we haven’t won it. It is pretty serious football for us and it should be for other teams as it tells us where we are. We are a new team and we lost a lot of the kids from last season,” Bell told the Jamaica Observer.

Entry to the venue is free of cost.