A new competition, the Konica Cup, kicks off the women's 1998-99 soccer season tonight at BAA Field.

Women's league officials in Bermuda Football Association have struck up an agreement with office suppliers, Tops Ltd, to sponsor the round robin tournament which will crown its first winner next month.

Prospect are the new team in the league this season and they play their first match at 7.00 tonight when they take on BAA Royals. The second match sees Rude Girls meeting PHC Teasers, while the fifth team in the league, Wolves Girls, have the night off.

The top two teams after four round robin matches will advance to the November 21 final at BAA Field.

The league campaign won't begin until the first week in December, with officials "still looking into how to run it successfully'', said organiser Vance Brown this week.

One main issue is the scheduling of the matches.

"We're looking into ideas how to run it successfully,' said Brown, co-chairman of the organising committee for the Konica Cup.

"We've toyed with taking the games away from before the men's games to playing nights to playing Sunday mornings,'' said Brown.

"We're looking for what's in the best interests of women's soccer. The feeling is that fans stay away when games are played in front of men's matches and women are sometimes intimidated.'' One aim of the league is to attract more young women to the sport, possibly even setting up a youth league. There has also been talk of introducing it into the schools.

"I think they should start in the high schools,'' said Isabel Sousa, a midfielder for BAA Royals.

"When I was in high school they mainly focused on basketball, volleyball, the typical sports. The boys are involved in soccer but the girls aren't. They should start in the high school and work their way up.'' More opportunities are opening up to female players with scholarships being offered by US colleges as the sport continues to flourish in the States.

The US have long promoted the sport at youth level and now are reaping the rewards with their senior team the best in the world.

Anti Williams, player-coach with PHC Teasers, also sees the need to develop and encourage the young female players in Bermuda.

"We have a particular player who has been with the PHC pee wees (boys) for awhile, but now she's a bit older, and the skills that she has developed in that amount of time are really good,'' said Williams.

"Sometimes when they get at a certain age they tend to drift away but as a coach you have to try to keep them in the game. Also I think it is a great opportunity for some of the players who can get offered scholarships.'' Brown agrees. "The committee is looking at how to educate the ones who can go off to school as to the potential of them getting a scholarship. With the NCAA ruling where the college must give the same scholarships to the girls as the men, the opportunities are that much greater but they just don't know the opportunities are there.

"That's the committee's goal, to get the information to them about the opportunities.''