Written by Beverly Melbourne
- Last Updated on Wednesday, 01 July 2009 16:25
It was a warm Thursday evening on June 4 when President of Football International de Football Association (FIFA) Joseph Sepp. Blatter made his first visit to the tranquil breathtakingly beautiful small Caribbean island of Grand Cayman.
He arrived in his private jet accompanied by the other members FIFA, Confederation of North Central American and Caribbean (CONCACAF) the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and the English FA.
Their trip to the island was to be a part of the historic moment as the Cayman Islands Football Association made the transition from a small office on Crewe Road and a car trunk to a magnificent spacious air-conditioned building in Prospect perched on 17 acres of land.
It was indeed a dream come through for the Cayman Islands as the football fanatics both young and old reminisced on the history of CIFA and the struggling stages the association faced enroute to this level.
Jeffrey Webb who has held the post of President of CIFA since October 3, 1991 along with the pioneers of this established Association must be extremely happy to have seen the fruition of their dedicated efforts over the years.
Certainly, the presence of Joseph S. Blatter Jack Warner President Vice President of FIFA and Trinidadian king pin of CONCACAF Jack Warner, Captain Horace Burrell President of the Jamaica Football Federation, Executive member of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Senior Vice President of Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and member of the Disciplinary Committee of FIFA and Geoffrey Thompson of the English FA on the island was enough to mirror an extraordinary occasion .
The historical visit of this extraordinary group was to mark the inaugural opening of the “Centre for Excellence” situated in Prospect on that same evening and the attendance at a dinner on Friday June 6 at the Ritz Carlton Grand Cayman dubbed the “Dinner for Excellence”.
Blatter has been at the head of FIFA the international governing body of football for over the ten years. He has become one of the most prominent figures in world sport.
He is a member of the International Olympic Committee and one of the most respected and untouchable figures in world sport paving football’s place as the biggest sport in the world.
He and the others were specially invited by the Cayman Islands football Association’s most successful and dedicated and longest serving President Jeffrey Webb to share in the association’s historic moment.
Webb in his delivery to the massive turnout made some noteworthy remarks and I quote, “From our humble beginnings of conducting football business from the trunk of our cars, with no phones, no fax, no physical address, we always understood that the development of the game required building a solid foundation grounded in a strong family.”
“As a small country that is no means a football powerhouse, in our early days the vision to develop a house of football had meager support, but we were armed with the passion to develop the game.”
“While we are here today to cut the ribbon that symbolizes the opening of our new office building and realize the ground breaking of our first field, the real purpose of today is to honour our football family and how far we have come. This is a family whose roots run deep starting with the leadership and vision of the father of our football family President Joseph Sepp Blatter.”
Webb went on to point out that President Blatter wanted every member of the football family to have a home adding that it was through his determination and tremendous leadership that the GOAL Program was introduced in 1999.
This program he said will create an impact on the lives of many of our young footballers in the Cayman Islands for many generations to come.
The Gala Dinner at the Ritz Carlton on Friday June 5 brought tears to the eyes of some of the recipients of the honorary awards and merits as they reminisced on the tough times they had faced in the past with all the hard work and dedication something they never dreamed would have culminated into such and eventful evening.
This occasion to those recipients and the audience will definitely be unforgettable. Having the head of the world football body as the guest of honor at an event of that magnitude was well orchestrated by the planning committee of CIFA.
The evening was splendid with all the guests who were eloquently dressed mingling with the FIFA contingent inside the exquisitely decorated magnificent one of a kind Ritz Carlton Cayman Hotel.
Several speakers from the football family spoke but it was the dramatic keynote address of the football head himself who stole the show as he was given a standing ovation at the end.
There was never a moment of boredom in the four hour long program as every moment was of interest holding the guests to attention imaginary and realistically.
It was a dream come through for many but for CIFA it was reaching another a milestone. Football has taken a giant step forward on the island and it is clear that with the backing of the President of FIFA and the other football heads in the region the sport can only get better if taken seriously.
The baton is now passed to the young and talented players both male and female to fuel the situation and grab the chance to establish themselves in this global and competitive sport to display their full potentials to make Caymanians proud.
There is a saying “You can carry the donkey to the water but you cannot force him to drink it” CIFA can take the opportunity to the players but they cannot force them to accept it. They have to train hard using the facilities available and seek the associations help to the next level….. CIFA has FIFA’s support every time.
For further information please contact the CIFA office at 949-5775, email
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or log-on to the official site at www.caymanfootball.ky.
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