Soccer of an international flavor comes to the Bronx on Friday evening July 6th when Bronx-based club Kandia, one of the oldest Jamaican clubs in the New York Metro area, hosts the British Royal Navy in a challenge match beginning at 6:30 pm at the Evander Childs HS stadium on Gun Hill Rd. The British Royal
Navy's largest ship the HMS Illustrious, docks in New York from July 3rd to the 9th and are scheduled to play at least two matches in the city against Cosmopolitan League teams, including Kandia. The Cosmopolitan League is one of the top amateur soccer leagues in the entire country.

The evening, dubbed Friday Football Fiesta, also features top Jamaican team Arantes playing a Honduran All Star team at 8:15 pm. Kandia's management are seeking to bridge the different cultures through soccer.

"Having been to Honduras and to games in the Honduran Leagues and experiencing the comraderie with them, we hope to bring that same flavor and experience to the wider Jamaican and Caribbean communities in the New York area," said Kandia boss, Colin Hemmings. "I'm quite confident the evening will be a memorable one for the fans who come."

The weekend actually kicks off a big weekend of soccer at Evander Childs HS as all the top teams in the Bronx Soccer League will be in action. The marquee match up of the weekend is the Arantes-Baldwin clash on Sunday at 7pm, right after the Kandia-Shaka match up. The
three games on Saturday features five unbeaten teams with 214th Street and Yardaz kicking off proceedings at 3pm followed by Youth Uprising and Caribbean United at 5pm. The other unbeaten team on Saturday is Mandela who plays new team South Stars in the feature match.