Nobody wants to go to Hell but I’ve just been there and found it very pleasant. In fact, I want to go to Hell again, very soon.
Actually, I went to the popular tourist district in West Bay where one of the best sporting successes in the Cayman Islands can be found; the rapid rise from conception of Future Sporting Club.
The club came about in 1998 out of the Under-11 school team at the John A Cumber School, aka West Bay Primary. They were league champions that year and instead of breaking up the group when they went on to middle school at George Hicks they formed Future SC, entering the Cayman Islands U-14 league. From there they progressed so fast that last season five of the eight Future SC teams – including two girls’ teams and one women’s – won their leagues. An amazing emergence for such a fledgling club.
The best achievement was at U-19s level because the average age was only 15. Only one player was 18 and another 16.
Technical director of the football programme at Future SC is Roy ‘Huta’ Ebanks, a gentle giant with a burning passion to see Caymanian kids excel not just in football but in life generally. He is also West Bay Community Football Instructor.
Coach Huta is particularly pleased with the U-19s because they were so much younger than most opponents. ‘That’s because the human resources in Cayman means that when the Cayman Islands Football Association puts these age groups together the majority of our kids don’t fall within this age range,’ he says.
‘Our success I put down to a combination of many things; coaching, administration and parental and community support. You cannot say that good coaching will always bring success. There has to be a lot of the other contributing factors.
‘The programme that I coached last season was the U-19 boys and the senior men but I assisted the coaches of the other age groups and the girls’ coach.’
Ebanks prides himself on the quality of players he’s helped developed over the years. There are two little gems in the boys U-13s. ‘We have one little guy here, Nicholas Bush. He is exceptional at 12. Very skilful. We tend to refer to him as a Michael Owen. He’s a goal poacher and very good individually also. Oliver Smith is doing well too.’
Ebanks singles out some other players for praise. ‘The catalyst behind the older boys was James Ebanks. He was the goalkeeper for the U-19s and Michael Johnson and Davey McLaughlin, who has moved on. Of the other age groups, I’d say Courtney Duval, the captain of the U-16s deserves a mention, a very good player.’
Ebanks, 56, is happy that some girls are flourishing in his sides and that many are prepared to travel just to be associated with Future.
‘Of the girls who were exceptional we had the top scorer in the U-17s, Shanice Moneith. Some of them come out of George Town. They had some football programmes in George Town but they didn’t fully materialise and true some of the girls were in school together they decided to play for us, it’s more a word of mouth thing.
‘I definitely feel the Future programme has the capacity to produce a professional player. That materialised this summer. We sent four kids to England. They played at a Glasgow Rangers youth tournament in Scotland before moving on to the Watford International Festival tournament and one of them, Dion Brandon, went for a try out with Luton Town. He’s a 20-year-old central defender. They offered him a full contract with a monthly wage, an apartment and transportation but he opted to continue his studies at university at FIU in Miami in sports science and mathematics.
‘Everybody’s up in arms here about it because this would have been the first time in Cayman that a kid has been offered a contract with a known club. Even though Luton Town are only playing in Coca Cola Division One, it is a top professional club, a household name. So I would say that even though he didn’t sign the contract we feel that we have produced a professional footballer.’
So what happens in the, eh, future, coach? ‘We have three or four more kids who have the potential to go on – they have the discipline, the work ethic, enthusiasm – all the ingredients. It’s just a matter of getting the exposure. That’s another thing that Future has done over the past seven years that every summer we take kids away to expose them to higher levels of competition.
‘Dion plays for the U-23 Olympic team, we have a goalkeeper that plays for the U-12 national team, Miguel Peter and we had four or five players in the U-15s who just went to compete in Trinidad. Also, a year ago we had nine players in Cayman’s women’s team.’
The importance of producing well rounded young adults is just as important to Ebanks as quality players. That’s why he initiated an after-school programme to ensure that nobody’s academic development is compromised.
‘The after-school programme was always an aspiration of mine so over the last couple of years I approached the government to establish offices here and I have to commend the present government that they gave me a classroom. Then they gave me the funding to start implementing the programme in April last year.
‘What we try to do at Future SC is not just about developing athletes, it’s about developing the whole person.’
The emblem on all Future uniforms reads: The way to a better life. Underneath the lettering is an open book representing the bible and a football with a mortar board perched on top.
‘The emblem means that you have to have God in your life which means some spiritual values. The mortar board means that you have to have some good academic foundation and the football is for the athletic side. Everybody likes the football aspect but we do not like to just focus on athletic attributes. We try to develop the whole person. We feel that there is too much focus on just the athlete and leaving out the social and academic issues. If ignored, those things tend to destroy even their natural athletic ability because they get involved in many different things.’
Sylvester Coleman is Future’s U-13 coach. He singles out
Smith, Bush, Jermaine Wilson and Aaron Farrington as potential pros. ‘These kids are dedicated right now,’ says Coleman. ‘Nicholas is a phenomenal player. Every game he has played for the U-13s he’s scored. It was 21 last season.’
Future SC does not have their own home ground. Ebanks hopes the government will rectify that soon. ‘The government has just purchased four acres by the Ed Bush complex and are putting on a new Astroturf there. Our field will be located there with a pitch and dressing room eventually. We just play where CIFA says we should. We either play at the Annexe or the George Hicks fields or in Bodden Town. We are appealing to the private sector and also the government to give us a base. It will not just be exclusive to Future but benefit the whole of Cayman and especially the kids in the West Bay community.
FUTURE SC’S 2006-07 SEASON
Senior women league………..champions
U-17s girls league……………champions
U-15s girls league……………champions
U-19s boys league……………champions
U-16s boys league……………runners up
U-13s boys league…………… champions
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
Shanice Moneith – leading scorer girls U-17s girls
Shalisa Barnett – leading scorer girls U-15s and defender of the year.
Breeann Wright – midfielder of the year’
Monique Roberts – midfielder of the year U-15s
Rebecca Bush – MVP senior women league.
Priscilla Connor – defender of the year women’s league.
Mark Ebanks – leading scorer and MVP U-19s
Michael Johnson – defender of the year U-19s
Kimberly Pitta – goalkeeper of the year senior women’s.
Janique Samson – most improved player, senior women’s
Paul Brown – defender of the year U-16s
The Future SC programme at the West Bay Primary School Fields runs from Mondays to Thursdays from 5-8pm and Saturday mornings, 8-10am. For more information, ring Mike Barnett on 926 3469 or Coach Huta on 321 0749.
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