Athletes Ahead looks to elevate Cayman footballers overseas

On a mission to get more Caymanian footballers to the next level, Elijah Seymour and Anthony Nelson have formed Athletes Ahead – a consultant company whose aim is to gain players entry into junior colleges and semi-professional teams abroad.

The idea for the business started over a year ago, when both Seymour and Nelson realised that many talented players gave up their dreams of playing the sport after hitting a plateau in their development, resulting in settling for a nine-to-five job in Cayman.

“[Nelson] played in the US, and I played in Europe,” Seymour told the Compass. “We both realised that the initial steps to get out of the island, across to the States or Europe” were “very hard” without any connections. From their experience, they said they understood that getting the chance to play overseas required a large network of relationships.

Seymour and Nelson, who are both on the national team, will continue their competitive play with Masters FA in League 1 Ontario over the summer months.

Their plan is to secure enrolment/signings for players through their network, with the expenses covered by the receiving parties or through sponsorships.

“We wanted to create a bridge, to get the kids across to wherever they want to go – North America and Canada or Europe,” Seymour said.

Nelson elaborated: “We get scholarships so that it wouldn’t be such a burden on parents trying to send their kids away.”

In addition, Athletes Ahead has partnered with Academy SC to offer their services free of charge to one player per year from the club.

One player already benefiting thanks to the local consultancy is Rashaad Powery, who has committed to Yavapai College in Arizona – an NJCAA Division 1 programme that has won seven football national championships. He will attend Yavapai on a full scholarship.

“He basically came to us with nothing,” Seymour said. “He was working here at a hotel, and he told us he wanted to play football. We use our research and reach out to people that we know; he had a good highlight reel… we edited his clips, created his CV and now he’s committed to the top division I junior college.”

Powery is one of seven youth footballers currently working with Athletes Ahead, and the remaining six, according to Nelson, will be committing to colleges in a couple of weeks.

Seymour and Nelson hope many Caymanians will find success through the company and ultimately serve as a prerequisite to building a winning Cayman national team.

“The key part is opportunity,” Nelson said. “Obviously, we have a few breakthroughs.”

One way of securing these opportunities is by bringing scouts and elite coaches to the island – an idea Nelson said is in the works.

He added that he and Seymour have many plans, but they are taking it step by step, not wanting to get ahead of themselves.

“We do have way bigger plans, but the first couple of years, we’re just focusing on building the foundation and making sure that we get a solid amount of kids across,” Nelson said.