KEETMANSHOOP: The annual Jeremiahs Christians’ Heroes Cup tournament, the biggest-ever soccer tournament in the Karas Region, will take place from Saturday until next week Monday.

The Heroes’ Cup is always held on Heroes Day – 26 August – at the Joseph Stephanus Sports Field in Keetmanshoop.

All first and second division teams from the Karas, Hardap, Khomas and other regions are invited to enter for a mere N.dollars 1 500.

It was first launched in 2011 with the aim to improve local soccer levels, collect money to finance development projects, to keep young people off the streets and to help them build a career in football.

A maximum of 30 teams are expected to enter, where the winner will walk away with N.dollars 18 000 as cash prize, a floating trophy and gold medals.

The runner-ups will receive N.dollars 9 000 and silver medals, the semi-final losers N.dollars 3 200 while those who exit at the quarter-final stages will be rewarded with N.dollars 1 650 in prize money.

Keetmanshoop Rural Constituency Councillor Jims Christiaan officially launched the tournament on Wednesday evening at the Women’s Action for Development (WAD) centre here.

Christiaan said the total amount of tournament monies stand at N.dollars 60 000 this year, sponsored by the Karas Regional Council through his constituency office.

Another sponsor is KH Burger Construction.