By Paul Nicholson in Grand Cayman
August 25 – At a reception in honour of the inaugural CONCACAF U-15 championship, the Premier of the Cayman Islands, Alden McLaughlin, declared the country “open for business and sports tourism. I am immensely proud and honoured that we in Cayman are hosting this U15 tournament – the first (under 15 tournment) for CONCACAF. It is also appropriate since we in Cayman also have the CONCACAF president.”
“The lead time to get this on was not long and it demonstrates the huge ability we have to host a tournament of this size and level. We have the infrastructure and we are going to host more,” said McLaughlin.
The reception, at the Cayman Turtle Farm was a celebration not just of Cayman’s ability to host a tournament – and to do it with style – but also the success of CONCACAF’s inaugural event which will now take place every two years. In attendance were the four semi-final teams, plus the Cayman Islands team, as well as senior CONCACAF officials and guests.
The tournament has seen 23 federations compete for the U-15 title over two weeks. The final takes place today (Sunday) between Honduras and Guatemala. Guatemala qualified beating Bermuda in a penalty shoot-out after a 1-1 draw at full time. Honduras overcame a battling El Salvador team to win 2-1 in the last 5 minutes, in front of their increasingly vocal and ecstatic support.
Sports minister Osbourne Bodden (pictured, left, with Jeffrey Webb), himself a former footballer, said: “We will host many more tournaments, we will make sure of that. We have had a fantastic display of football, the standard of play, technique and skills has made it look like a World Cup yet it is hard to believe these boys are only under 15s. We are proud to have had you here and we are looking forward to the under 20s women in January, and the under 15 (women) next summer.”
“I believe all the money and investments we have made in the facilities over the last few years are now paying huge dividends and I’ve had discussions with Jeffrey Webb (CONCACAF president) and some members of his team and whatever improvements are necessary to ensure we are able to host more CONCACAF or other football tournaments will be made. I believe that sports tourism is a very viable prospect for Cayman,” said McLaughlin.
The Caymans have had a boost of about 3,000 extra visitors to the country for the tournament, in a period which is off-season. About 25,000 spectators had attended matches up to the semi-finals.
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