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Prostar lands international team kit deal
Wakefield-based sportswear brand Prostar has landed its first international team kit deal - with the Turks and Caicos Islands Football Association (TCIFA) as they embark on a bid for World Cup qualification in South Africa in 2010.
The deal comes ahead of the team's qualifying matches on 6 February and 26 March against nearby rivals St Lucia, with the winner going on to play Guatemala to enter the CONCACAF qualifying group stages of the World Cup.
Prostar's designers have created a new look for the TCIFA's home and away kits. The first choice strip features an attractive turquoise to reflect the island's tropical seas and a white design second kit. Both team strips feature a new shirt badge based on the island's traditional emblem. This is the first time a UK-based supplier has been used by the TCIFA.
Prostar is one of the UK's leading sports brands for performance team wear. It supplies team kits for clubs such as Wycombe Wanderers and around 60,000 teams across the playing fields of Britain.
The company, which was established in 1901 and has a pedigree that includes supplying the socks for the first triumphant Everest team in 1952, was the subject of a management buy-out in 2007.
The Turks and Caicos Islands are currently ranked 179 in FIFA's world rankings, above teams like San Marino, Puerto Rico, Afghanistan and the Faroe Islands.
The team features centre forward Gavin Glinton, a former team mate of David Beckham at LA Galaxy. Gavin now plays for the St Jose Earthquakes. Partnering Glinton up front is an exciting young prospect Billy Forbes, just 18 years old and top scorer for the past two seasons in the Turks and Caicos National League. The National Team is coached by Matthew Green, the TCIFA's Technical Director, whose formative years were spent in Hull. The squad also includes a few former UK nationals who have made the Turks and Caicos their home and are now permanent residents in the islands.
The islands' Football Association was formed in 1996 and gained admission to FIFA in 1998. The team won its first match in September 2006, beating the Cayman Islands 2-0.
Commenting on their new deal with the Turks and Caicos Islands, Shane Bray of Prostar said: "For Prostar this kit deal is another significant landmark, supplying our very first national team. With the island's British connection we are hoping fans of the beautiful game will get behind the team playing in perhaps one of the most beautiful places on the planet and support ‘our boys' in tropical paradise - and perhaps take their minds off their own national teams not being at the forthcoming Euro 2008 championship!"
Welcoming the boost to their UK support and new links with Prostar, Stephen Wilson of the Turks and Caicos FA said: "We take our football seriously and are excited to be taking part once again in World Cup competition. With our close ties to the UK, we look forward to working closely with Prostar and welcoming the support of as many British-based football fans as possible. Hopefully we can be successful in making the Turks and Caicos Islands national team ProStar shirt recognizable throughout the world."
To encourage interest in the Turks and Caicos national team a special Facebook group has been created where fans can register their support and find out more about the team and its World Cup plans. They can also take part in a competition to encourage British fans to devise new chants to inspire the Turks and Caicos team for World Cup glory. Prizes of a new team shirt signed by all the players are being offered for the ten best entries.
