History
In 1966, the Cayman Islands Football Association was formed, to administer the sport in the Islands, which by then had a growing domestic league. As the game grew, the need for expanding football facilities became evident. In 1982 the Annex Field, originally built by developer Mike Simmons, was further improved. The Ed Bush field was built in West Bay and opened by the Queen on March 6, 1994, followed by a memorable game in which the Cayman Islands beat Jamaica to qualify for the finals of the Shell Caribbean Cup in Trinidad & Tobago. Encouraged by this result, Government agreed a build a new football field.
In 1995, the association presided over the further development of the national sports complex, which was transformed into a modern multi-purpose facility, and renamed the Truman Bodden Sports Complex. On July 30 of that year, the Cayman Islands hosted the Shell Caribbean Cup Finals, for the first time, attracting some of the biggest names in world football. Among the guests were then FIFA President Joao Havelange and the legendary Brazilian hero of the game, Pele. While on this visit, Pele officially opened the Donovan Rankine Field in East End, also built in 1995. The North Side field came in for redesign and upgrade in 1998/1999 and the G. Haig Bodden Playing Field was completed in Bodden Town shortly afterwards.
Following the destruction caused by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, which left nearly all sporting facilities on the Island destroyed or unusable, the Cayman Islands Government launched a $28million four-year reconstruction project, which has seen all five district stadiums on Grand Cayman, and the Cayman Brac playing field, redeveloped to the highest international standards. Both the Annex stadium in George Town - now renamed the T.E.McField Sports Centre after its founder - and the Ed Bush Stadium in West Bay are FIFA Two-Star Football Turf facilities, and the Truman Bodden Sports Complex has been reopened as a 3,000 capacity National Stadium. We now have the facilities to rival any Island in the region, a wonderful achievement for such a small nation.
The CIFA now presides over sixteen domestic league and cup competitions at the under 13 boys, under 15 boys, under 17 boys, under 17 girls, and senior men and women's levels. In addition to competitions, the CIFA oversees an active calendar of education courses for coaches, referees and administrators, as well as regular camps and training programmes for young players. Through a wide range of regional and international contacts and partners, we have been able to establish exchange programmes with clubs in Europe and South America, offering players and coaches exposure of football at the highest professional level.
The CIFA realised two major achievements in 2009, as the under 17 women's national team became the first Cayman Islands team to progress to the finals of a regional competition, participating in the Concacaf Under 17 Women's Championships, and with the opening of the new CIFA office at the Cayman Centre for Excellence; a long-term development that will provide the CIFA with a dedicated training and administration centre. In September 2011 the Cayman Islands under 20 Women's National Team qualified for the next round of the U20 Women's World Cup after beating Suriname 4:0 and narrowly losing 1:0 to Trinidad & Tobago in the first round of the Caribbean Football Union World Cup Qualifiers.
Read more about this topic: Cayman Islands Football Association
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