Another CIFA season has begun in the dark, as the floodlights at the various government fields are still not working.
Facilities with damaged lights include the Annex, the Ed Bush Stadium and Cayman’s national stadium, the Truman Bodden Sports Complex.
The lights have been down for over a year since they were damaged in Tropical Storm Grace in August 2021.
“Once again, we start a season with the players not being comfortable,” Alfredo Whittaker, CIFA president, told the Cayman Compass. “Our main fields are completely in darkness.”
Speaking with the Compass earlier this week, Sunset Football Club head coach Gareth Thacker pointed out that “the Ministry of Sports had given themselves a timeline for July to have this issue resolved”.
In March this year, Director of Sports Kurt Hyde said that he hoped the damaged lights would be fixed by early summer, but that did not materialise. Now, Hyde is saying the issue with the faulty government sporting facilities will continue for the rest of this year due to delays stemming from manufacturing shortages caused by “current global influences”.
“The procurement process is being finalised now,” Hyde told the Compass. “We should be able to sign contracts very shortly and commence the ordering of lights. We are on track for 2023 first quarter project delivery.”
Several entities have logged complaints about the situation, including the Cayman Islands Hockey Association.
“If anything, the Annex field lighting’s even worse,” Simon Barwick, of the CIHA, said. “As the days get shorter into the winter, it gets increasingly dangerous to play there.”
However, Whittaker isn’t waiting for the government. Instead, he is looking to utilise the association’s Centre of Excellence facility in Prospect, which recently hosted the Under-23 CIFA Summer League.
“At the end of the day, these are our players, our domestic league,” he said. “I’m pretty sure CIFA will make it better early next year, when we have our facilities up and running.”
CIFA is also looking to expand, by building additional fields outside their Prospect facility.
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