PHC Zebras had four players picked in the first five selections in the opening round of the 2008 ISL SuperDraft this past weekend at the Ruth Seaton James Auditorium, with striker Cecoy Robinson being the first overall pick.

Robinson, along with Zebras teammates Dennis Russell, Raymond Glasford and Keston Lewis, highlighted a night where PHC dominated the opening round of the draft.

Last year's last placed team, Arsenal, selected Robinson, and the speed merchant is excited about the prospect of taking his team off the bottom of the table.

"It feels good to be picked first," said Robinson. "I didn't expect it but it feels good to be in the position I am in right now.

"I hope I can live up to the first pick reputation, as many people will be expecting a lot from me."

And with Robinson joining last year's worst team, he intends to carry on his winning ways from his club side to his new ISL team.

"I am looking to carry the winning mentality over to this league and hopefully Arsenal can win the trophy this year.

"I want one of those championship rings.

"Personally I want to be on top of the scoring charts, and put my team on top so people can talk about Arsenal and not the Kings or the Knights."

The draft had a new format this year, which was intended to spice the selection process up a bit.

Each team was allowed to protect four players from last season's ending roster from the draft. The four players protected made up the first four selections of the draft for each team.

The selection order was determined by the previous season's team ranking.

Coaches had one minute to select their players, with teams who went over the time limit losing their selection choice.

Last year's champions, Kings, protected Dion Stovell, Cud-Joe Matthew, Ki-Juan Franks, and Jahnai Bean, and have a new coach in Marvin Belboda who is taking over the reins from John Rebello.

With big shoes to fill, the new boss will have to use what he has learnt as a player and turn it into a winning formula.

"We want to pick up where we left off last year," said Belboda."That's why I protected the players I did, to keep the base of our winning side.

"Last year we said we were going out to win it all, and that is our focus this year. Defend what is ours."

Belboda made no hesitation in stating what is the most important element to winning in this version of the game.

"The defence is where it is won in this game, because if you don't score you don't win."

Belboda said there isn't much difference in coaching styles between himself and his predecessor, but knows what makes a team competitive.

"The two defenders I kept are to me the best defenders on the Island, so I started from the back and worked the rest out as it came.

"The players we drafted this year are good players, and some might even exceed what some of my previous players did last year.

"This league is for the young guys. It is a smaller field with more action, so I went for a few younger guys who have the energy and work rate to carry us a long way."

Belboda also stated that the ISL league benefits not only players who play regularly, but also those who don't have a club side and are looking for something to do.

"David is doing something really constructive, and something that guys can focus on during the summer when there is no football to be played.

"Usually during the summer some people get carried away, and this league will provide a lot of players with something to do instead of sitting around doing nothing.

"The idle time that they would be using to get into mischief, they can put that energy towards the league."

The season kicks off on Sunday, May 26 with the Kings receiving their championship rings, and then clashing with the Knights, the side whom they beat 10-9, 10-7 in the best of three championship series.