After serving more than a quarter century with the Department of Sports, Ernie ‘Gillie’ Edison Seymour is retiring.
“I have left a legacy, that I can live on and say, ‘[I] have given back more than I’ve received’,” Seymour told the Cayman Compass.
During his 26-year tenure, Seymour, 65, founded the Cayman Athletic Sports Club where he trained hundreds of Caymanian footballers.
His club became one of the most successful football teams in the Cayman Islands Football Association domestic leagues, claiming three consecutive under-15 league titles, the Men’s FA Cup and Charity Shield.
Perhaps his most notable achievement in football was in 2015, when he led Cayman to its first national medal during the 2015 Caribbean Football Union Boys’ Under-15 Championship.
“We made a lot of history on that trip,” he said. “We came third and it was the first time that Cayman won a medal in the CFU. All of the technical directors that we have brought into this country, not one has won a medal for Cayman.”
Seymour, a Gold Medal of Merit and Pioneer of Sports recipient, has coached many prominent people within Cayman, including the likes of Deputy Governor Franz Manderson and Cabinet Secretary Samuel Rose.
“I coached many boys who are now holding high positions,” he said, noting that he is honoured to have helped many Caymanians reach their full potential on and off the pitch.
He said while he may have retired from government, he will continue to train young boys under his club and hopes to introduce a girls programme in the near future.
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