The Metropolitan Cup (traditionally known as the BayHill Cup) for under 19''s has steadily grown into one of the most prestigious junior tournaments in the country and indeed the entire continent, if not the world.

The first competition had its humble beginnings in Mitchells Plain and took place in 1989, after the Spark Hill United and Bay City Ramblers clubs merged to form the BayHill club.

The venue in those days was not the Erica Park complex in Belhar, but rather the Rocklands grounds in Mitchells Plain and the first ever winners were Matroosfontein, while St Johns (now Wynberg St Johns) won the following year.

The first ever team from outside the Western Cape to take part in the BayHill were Park United (PE), while the first ever international team was the Manchester Schools side which took part four years ago.

The Metropolitan Cup now brings in well over 30 000 people over the long Easter weekend. With the cream of young talent from around South Africa on display, the BayHill serves as the perfect venue for talent scouts, managers, administrators and soccer enthusiasts to come watch the next generation of stars in action.

Amoung many well known soccer ''celebrities'' attending this year''s tournament in Belhar were the former coach and captain of the 1996 African Nations winning Bafana Bafana side, Clive Barker and Neil Tovey, who were no doubt scouting out talent for Santos and Sundowns respectively.

This year''s competition was once again extremely well run and provided the perfect atmosphere for soccer fans and their families to enjoy some of the country''s most exciting young talents parading their skills.

Probably the biggest name to have graced the tournament is Benni McCarthy, while of course the likes of Shaun Permall, David Kannemeyer and Bradley August have all made names for themselves at the Premier Cup, but PJ Willians tournament director says "for me one of the best players to have come out of the competition is Nasief Morris, formerly of Santos and now a Bafana Bafana regular playing for Panathinaikos".

The Premier Cup has also proven to be a breeding ground for match officials, who are able to use this tournament as a stepping stone to bigger things. Top PSL referee Jerome Damon started out here, while the likes of Abdullah Ibrahim and Nicky Haupt also refereed at the Premier Cup.

It has also given coaches a chance to gain valuable experience and make a name for themselves. A coach like Colin Gie (now with FC Fortune), enhanced his reputation greatly by winning the cup an incredible four times while with Hellenic.

Now that the 2005 Premier Cup is completed, the job does not stop for the organising committee as they have to start preparing for next year''s edition, providing the chance for the soccer stars of tomorrow to once again come to the fore.

TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR Patrick J. Williams (Known as PJ Williams)

DEPUTY DIRECTOR Patrick Connolly (Known as Pat Connolly)

TOURNAMENT SECRETARY Ganief Abrahams

MEDIA LIAISON Roger Clayton

MATCH AND REGISTRATION Michael Bruyns

TOURNAMENT TREASURER Martin Ekard

CLUB CHAIRPERSON John Rangoli

LOGISTICS OFFICER Patrick Stevens

HOSPITALITY OFFICER Linder Bruyns

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