Jeffrey Webb feels Cayman’s top young female footballers are on the verge of international recognition.
Prior to the holiday season, the CONCACAF president and FIFA vice president said the national women’s Under-20 team will exceed expectations at an upcoming prestigious competition.
“The opportunity exists for our young ladies that generations before us wouldn’t think to have,” Webb said. “We’re not only competing and playing as a host, but our players have the ability to really excel. We started our journey years ago in Antigua and I’m happy with the commitment and dedication. We now have young women playing in Cayman and the U.S. and again, I’m proud of the effort, maturity, leadership and drive in our ladies.”
Cayman is staging the Confederation of Central American and Caribbean Association Football Women’s Under-20 Championships on Jan. 9-19. The tournament will take place at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex with the top three finishers earning berths into the Women’s Under-20 World Championship next August in Canada. Defending champions United States were drawn in Group A along with Guatemala, Jamaica and Costa Rica. Hosts Cayman are in Group B against Trinidad and Tobago, Honduras and Mexico.
January’s Under-20 competition comes about five months after Cayman hosted the CONCACAF Under-15 Boys Championship. Honduras emerged victorious over Guatemala with El Salvador placing third. Cayman was narrowly eliminated in the group stages, after winning four of its five matches – defeating St. Maarten, 12-0; U.S. Virgin Islands, 4-0; Bahamas, 3-1; and Aruba, 4-2. The only loss was to Bermuda, 3-0, the eventual fourth-place team.
In all, the tournament featured more than 400 players between the ages of 13 and 15 at Grand Cayman’s various football venues. National teams from 24 member associations competed in Cayman, making it the largest CONCACAF competition of its kind to be played in a single country. It created a multimillion-dollar boost to the economy during low season for local tourism.
Webb insists the local girls will advance into the later stages of this month’s competition.
“The team is possibly four games away from qualifying for the world championship,” he said. “It’s a dream we all thought we couldn’t dream.”
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