Many comments have been made following the senior national football team’s disappointing 2010 World Cup Qualifying campaign, specifically the recent home defeat against Bermuda.
Sitting in the newly refurbished Truman Bodden Sports Complex watching the game among fellow former national team players – some of the finest talent the Cayman Islands has ever produced – I was deeply disappointed to see our team falter yet again.
So upsetting was the result, it drove me to put pen to paper and express my concerns regarding the current state of our national football programmes.
These are solely my comments and if readers take offence or disagree with what I’ve written, so be it.
Let me begin with the 3-1 defeat to Bermuda. (Cayman went out 4-2 on aggregate.) I’ll not focus on the game itself because those in attendance have formulated their own opinions by now on Cayman’s performance.
A large portion of my disappointment stems from the fact that two of Cayman’s most promising youngsters, namely midfielder Ian Lindo and defender Donald Solomon Jr, were not good enough to make the final 18.
The coaching staff must surely have had their reasons for omitting the two players and that’s a decision they made, whether it was tactical or injury related, we’ll never know, but I have a question: If injury was not the reason, how can two players, who, to my understanding, played a significant role in the away game in Bermuda and the recent warm-up games against Jamaican opposition, not even make the bench for the return game?
Mystifying to say the least. Any football fan who has watched local games over the last two seasons cannot dispute the fact that Solomon has been one of the best and most consistent defenders Cayman has seen in a long while.
In addition, Lindo’s first season since graduating from university has been equally impressive and he is clearly one of Cayman’s most promising midfielders. Other promising local players were also omitted from the squad, which only adds to the mystery.
A lot has also been said of the lack thereof of ‘local boys’ on this current national team. I have a very big problem with players who are quickly provided with the necessary documentation to make them eligible to play for the Cayman Islands because of their abilities, especially when it means the omission of our younger, talented, but yes, inexperienced players.
It bothers me even more when these particular ‘new Caymanian’ players have not resided here for any significant length of time or have no family connections to these Islands.
This inclusion of foreign players first raised its ugly head in the days of Brazilian Marcio Maximo’s tenure as national coach in the early 2000s when players from England, some who had never even heard of the Cayman Islands, were invited to play represent this country.
What a debacle that was as CONCACAF quickly put a stop to that plan. To me, that entire episode was an embarrassment and disgrace. English players representing the Cayman Islands at the expense of our local players? No way!
I firmly believe that our senior national team should consist of players who have come through the local system, competing in our youth leagues and representing the country at the national youth level. Only then can you produce quality players who have a feel for what it means to represent their country and the valuable experience it brings.
Case in point. Let’s compare the Cayman side that played Bermuda on that fateful night with the Cayman team that played Caribbean powerhouse Trinidad & Tobago in the semi finals of the Shell Caribbean Cup on the night of July 28, 1995 at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex.
There were only three born and bred Caymanians, Carson Fagan, Jedd Ebanks and Tuda Murphy, who were in the starting line-up against Bermuda.
These three players have grown up within the local system and played in the Cayman leagues since the Primary School level. Because of their abilities, they have also been privileged to sample football at the highest level with professional tryouts in England and Brazil for Carson and Jedd respectively, and resulted in Tuda’s current successful tenure in the Irish Leagues.
Now, let’s go back 13 years and view the starting line-up as Cayman squared off against the Trinis in the semi-finals of the Shell Caribbean Cup.
Cayman fielded an entirely local but experienced team with three veterans from the 1980s in Lee Ramoon, Antonio Smith and yours truly, along with Anthony Ramoon, Nigel Parchment and Sylvester Coleman who were part of coach Winston Chung’s very successful youth programme and who won the renowned Miami Classic Tournament four times in succession in the 1980s.
Rounding off the starting 11 were mainstays Clay Coleman in goal and Paul Parchment, as well as talented up-and-coming youngsters Gary Whittaker, Frederick Wilks and Al McLean.
Other notables in the Cayman squad included Locksley Haylock, Michael Myles, Carlos Welcome, Olsen Bush, Vincent Mitchell, Kim Samuels, George Smith, Arden Rivers and Anthony Lawson.
For those not familiar with football history in the Cayman Islands, Lee Ramoon and Antonio Smith represented Cayman in their early teens playing with Cayman legends Renard Moxam, Gillie Seymour (now the assistant coach of the national team), Bradshaw Watson, Albert Anderson, Dale Ramoon and Andy Myles – just to name a few.
This particular Shell Caribbean Cup team in 1995 finished fourth in the Caribbean losing to Trinidad & Tobago in the semis and losing the third place game to Cuba. But fourth in the Caribbean!
Higher than even Jamaica who were beaten by the Trinis in the group stages! No other Cayman national team has come close to equalling this feat and our FIFA World Ranking following that tournament was 131 – the highest we’ve ever been.
My reason for comparing these two teams is simple. When players are groomed from a young age to compete at a high level, throw in a few veterans here and there, there are no limits to what can be achieved.
The players in the 1995 Shell Caribbean Cup squad had played with each other for at least five years. By the time players are called to the senior national team, pull on that revered jersey and take to the field, they have gained the needed experience to do well and feel overwhelming pride that they are part of an elite group who have been chosen to represent their country.
Have we fallen this far in 13 years where only three Caymanians can make the starting 11? This staggering fact does not bode well for local football at all. Must we continue to supplement our national teams with other nationalities just for results? From all accounts, it’s not working.
I know I have dragged on a bit with the comparisons, but this is where my fury runs deep. Why have we not focused more on our youth players, particularly the Under 11s and Under 14s, and follow the plan that every other country in the world does by building our future senior teams on these players?
Take my word for it; talent abounds in the Primary Football League and the Under 14 League. Why don’t the powers that be invest in our youngsters, select a national squad from the Under 11s and Under 14s and build on these programmes?
Once we form these squads, we must participate in as many overseas competitions as possible – the Dallas Cup and Disney Tournament are ideal examples. There are numerous youth football tournaments in the United States and Europe every summer and the only way our youngsters can gain any valuable experience is to play, play, play, play and play.
In two years, your Under 11s become your Under 14s; in two more years, your Under 14s become your Under 17s and in two more years, your Under 17s become your Under 20s; then on to the senior team… simple natural progression.
If we properly nurture this talent at the youth level, things can only improve at the senior national level. The experience our youngsters gain in those seven to eight years is invaluable. It’s a system used by every football nation in the world from Argentina to Zambia.
I need to stress once again that opinions expressed in this commentary are mine and mine alone. If you agree with my take on the state of our national teams and what needs to be done, you’re not alone. If you disagree, so be it.
This is what we need to get back to: talent, commitment, experience, youth, and all local!
* Neil Murray is the co-ordinator of the CUC-sponsored primary school football league and a schools referee
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