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Brac Cup kicks off Friday night
- Updated: 24 August 2016
Football fans in Cayman Brac are in for a treat this weekend, as the Brac Cup Invitational returns after more than a decade’s absence. Cayman Brac FC will play in the three-team affair, along with the Cayman Islands National U-20 Team and a squad visiting from Johnson and Wales University in the United States.
Matches will be played at the Bluff Playing Field with kick-scheduled for 8:00 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (26-28 August). On Friday, the Cayman Islands National U20 Team faces Johnson and Wales University, then on Saturday, Cayman Brac FC plays the Cayman Islands National U20 Team. The event is capped by a match between Cayman Brac FC and Johnson and Wales University on Sunday.
Cayman Brac FC
“Over the past year, Deputy Premier Hon. Moses Kirkconnell and I have been discussing the possibility of hosting an invitational tournament in Cayman Brac to take advantage of the natural linkages that already exist on many levels,” explained Sports Instructor at the Cayman Brac Department of Sports, Mitchum Sanford, who is the lead organiser for the event.
“For example, the CBFC men’s team has consistently had over a dozen young men between the ages of 14-24 on the team and has successfully aided several teenage footballers from Cayman Brac with training opportunities at universities in the USA.
“Bringing universities from the USA to Cayman Brac to play in local tournaments, on local soil, goes a step further, and gives more of our young players the chance to gain experience playing against international teams,” he said.
Mr Kirkconnell, who is Tourism Minister and an elected representative for Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, agreed that there is room for a sporting event like this to be held on the sister island.
“Sports tourism has the potential to boost the Cayman Brac economy and government has been working hard to methodically put the pieces in place to attract and underpin sports tourism opportunities. The upgrades at the sports complex provide a safe and modern environment for players and fans and allow the sports programme to be confidently expanded to meet international standards,” he said.
Attending the Brac Cup this year will be Clyde Jureidini, general manager of Harbour View FC out of Kingston, Jamaica. CBFC is hoping to reach a mutual-exchange agreement with the Jamaican club, enabling Cayman footballers to benefit from annual trials as well as providing coaching exchanges and other development opportunities at the club level.
Looking to the future, Sandford said the Brac Cup is poised to become an annual event once more. “CBFC has made friends with more than two dozen universities in the USA and the plan is to invite them all take part in the Brac Cup over the next few years,” he said.
“As the tournament grows, we hope to invite several scouts, coaches, and admissions officers from other schools and academies to come and watch the Brac Cup and hopefully recruit.”
The next invitational football tournament planned for Cayman Brac will be the Junior Brac Cup Invitational that will held in June 2017. Jamaica’s Harbour View and Arsenal FC of Honduras have already confirmed their participation.
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