Junior Baha Girls and TCI Select Boys Team win Soccer Invitational Submitted by The Editorial Board on Fri, 2007-05-04
An enthusiastic crowd witnessed the exciting battle between the TCIFA Youth Select Team and Junior Baha Team during the two-day invitational soccer games held on April 27 and 28, 2007 at the TCIFA National Academy Field in Providenciales.
The Baha Juniors dominated the Girls under-14 category with a 0-7 and 0-1 score win over TCIFA Girls Academy Team. The exceptional defense and striking offense of the Baha girls gave them the edge over TCI girls, thus copping the Girls under-14 championship award.
The match for the under-14 Boys, held despite the afternoon's heat, was as fiery as the day as TCIFA Boys Select Team overwhelmed Junior Baha Boys via 6-4 final score at the second day of competition. It was a good answer to the challenge on day one which ended in a draw with the score 2-2.
The TCI boys, who finished the first half with a 4-1 advantage over the opposing team, ended the match with a two-point lead, thus declaring them the Boys under-14 Champion. Both teams have expressed delight for the success of the event and for the good performance of their respective athletes.
"I am very pleased about the outcome. This is the first time for such an event. I am happy with the way the girls responded. The boys are magnificent", commented Mr. Matthew Green, TCIFA's Technical Director. "Technically, they played better than we thought. A couple of players did play at a higher level", Mr. Jimmy French said, adding that their players did not have much time for practice and stressed that playing against Team TCI challenged the players and pushed them to do better.
Baha Juniors are one of the largest and most successful youth teams in the Bahamas. Under the direction of coaches Dave Lavin, Jimmy French and Alejandro Gambirazio, they have become the best organized youth club in Nassau and well respected in the soccer community. They provided the TCIFA team a tough competition during the exhibition games. TCIFA team, under the tutelage of Gary Brough, Megan O'Reilly and Kylie Mackay proved to be a tough team to beat and hopes to showcase their skills at an international level real soon.
After the match, presentations followed which included the exchange of tokens between the TCIFA and Baha Junior Team Club and the awarding of the MVPs of the game. The Hon. Dr. Carlton Mills, TCI Minister for Education, Sports and Culture, handed the trophies to deserving players namely Alex Anderson and Sam Wrinkle for the Junior Baha Team and Amely and Kevin Speer for the TCI Team. Taylor de Rosa, Baha's goalie was an honorable mention for his exceptional performance.
"This is a positive start", the Minister said. He added, "It's a tremendous success. This is part of the Government's mission to reach out to people and sports is the instrument. CARIFTA created a high in sports and we want to build up the momentum. Through sports, we will present our youth with a positive alternative. The government is donating $30,000 to TCIFA to help and encourage them. I am also happy to announce that the Premier has allotted 1 Million dollars for sports and international competitions."
TCIFA President Chris Bryan conveyed message of thanks to everyone for making the said event a rousing success.
Taken from The Turks and Caicos Islands Free Press Online here:
http://www.tcifreepress.com:80/?q=node/948Below is a gallery of our trip to the Turks and Caicos. Also featured in the gallery are photos of Chivas Guadalajara's 2007 training visit to Winton. It's nice to see the professionals like to come and see us too!