It was a delightful party at Pedro St. James hosted by Cayman Islands Deputy Premier and Tourist Minister, Moses Kirkconnell, on Saturday (16) that welcomed all the participants from across the Caribbean who took part in the inaugural CONCACAF Under-15 Girls Championship.

Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) President Jeffrey Webb was there and he said there is a big future ahead for women’s football in the Cayman Islands. He was most impressed with the Cayman girls’ performance in the tournament. He urged the government to support them and also the private sector and the football association. He said it was for all of us now to make sure the “kids develop to their full potential”.

He also said CONCACAF was ahead of all the other FIFA regions regarding women’s football. No one else had organised an Under 15 girls’ tournament.

Sports Minister Osbourne Bodden said it was a wonderful time for Cayman football and he was going to make sure the proper programmes would be put in place together with the right level of coaching. He thanked all the teams that had come here to play and quipped, “Honduras – we’ll get you next time!”

This was because Cayman, who had an outstanding run in the tournament winning all their Group A matches handsomely and finishing top, but lost 3-2 to Honduras in the Quarter Finals. Cayman had been the subject of some very bad calls and sub-par officiating at the match.

Although most of the matches had taken place at Truman Bodden Sports Complex, some games were held over in Cayman Brac.

It was a master stoke to bring down Ruben Flores, a Mexican from Canada, to be the head coach, who told me he was very proud of the girls and said it was important they all stayed together as they were the future. The football association needs to pay special attention to them otherwise it would be back to where it was before he arrived.

Moses Kirkconnell thanked everyone who had played their part in making the tournament so successful and especially Jeff Webb’s contribution.

Cayman’s new Director for Tourism, Rosa Harris, gave the closing remarks and said she was thrilled at how the event had helped the Islands tourism continue to thrive. She hoped there would be many more to come.