Cayman Islands Football Association

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Cayman Islands Football Association
Association logo
founding 1966
FIFA accession 1992
CONCACAF accession 1992
president Jeffrey Webb
Secretary General Bruce Blake
National teams Men's national team
Members (approx.) 3,700
Homepage www.caymanfootball.ky

The Cayman Islands Football Association (CIFA) is the football association of the Cayman Islands . It was founded in 1966 and joined CONCACAF in 1992 and FIFA in the same year .

history

In 1966, the Cayman Islands Football Association was formed to administer the nascent league in the islands. As interest in soccer grew, the CIFA realized that more soccer fields were needed. In 1982 the Annex Stadium originally built by Mike Simmons was further improved. On March 6, 1994 by . Queen Elizabeth II , the Ed Bush Stadium opens in West Bay and then the succeeded Mr. team in a memorable game to qualify for the final round of the Caribbean Cup 1994 in Trinidad and Tobago after Jamaica with 3: 2 had defeated. Inspired by this success, the Cayman Islands government agreed to build another football stadium.

In 1995 the CIFA met to decide on the further development of the national sports complex, which was meanwhile a sports center with swimming lanes and a soccer field and was named Truman Bodden Sports Complex . From July 19 to 30 of the same year, the final round of the 1995 Caribbean Football Championship took place in the Cayman Islands and Jamaica , which was also the first major tournament to be hosted in the Cayman Islands. After two wins and one defeat in the preliminary round, the national team managed to move into the semi-finals, in which they lost 2: 9 to the eventual tournament winner Trinidad and Tobago and also in the game for third place they lost 3-0 against Cuba . Nonetheless, it was the best result of the national team in a soccer Caribbean championship . However, great footballers such as the then FIFA President Joao Havelange and Pelé also visited the Cayman Islands. During his visit, Pelé also opened the Donovan Rankine Stadium in the East End , which was also built in 1995. The North Side Stadium was renovated and reopened between 1998 and 1999 and the Haig Bodden Stadium in Bodden Town was completed shortly thereafter.

After the destruction by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, which made almost all stages of the islands unusable, the Cayman Islands government decided to adopt a program to rebuild those buildings and provided a total of $ 28 million . Thanks to the financing, all five stadiums on Grand Cayman and the Cayman Brac Stadium could be rebuilt and met the highest international standards. Both the Annex Stadium, which was now called the TEMcField Sports Center, and the Ed Bush Stadium in West Bay are now two-star stadiums. The Truman Bodden Sports Complex has been renovated and is now the national stadium of the Cayman Islands with 3,000 seats.

The Cayman Islands Football Association today oversees 16 leagues and cup competitions, for all teams between the U-13 youth and adult teams. In addition to the competitions, the CIFA oversees courses for new coaches and referees, but also organizes training camps and programs in which young, talented players are to be promoted. Because of a wide regional and international network, exchange programs with clubs in Europe and South America have been established in which young players are given the opportunity to train at a high level.

In 2009 CIFA achieved two great successes. On the one hand, the female U-17 national team was the first national team to qualify for the CONCACAF championship. However, they were eliminated with only one win after the preliminary round. On the other hand, the association moved to the Cayman Center for Excellence, from where training and administration will be further improved.

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