The Cayman Islands Football Association Under 12’s Rally was recently held over 2 weekends at the Annex and Academy Sports Club Field’s. Seven teams participated:

Academy White (Academy Sports Club) — coached by Logan Seymour
Academy Blue (Academy Sports Club) — coached by Virgil Seymour
Alliance Football Club — coached by Mark Solomon
Future Sports Club — coached by Roy Ebanks & Sarah Orett
George Town Sports Club — coached by Lee Ramoon
Sunset Colts (Sunset Football Club) — coached by Neil Purton
Sunset Eagles (Sunset Football Club) — coached by Paul Macey & James Kennedy

all of which are members of the U12 league.

Academy White went undefeated in all of their matches to win the Rally, beating second place Sunset Eagles, who only lost one game (to Academy White in the rally stage), 3-0 in the final.

League Administrator Mr James Rich said that the regular Under 12 league is non-competitive and the goal is to get kids playing and enjoying football without worrying about league positions and results, or top goal scorers.

“We don’t keep track of results in the normal Under 12 League. We hold a season opening and closing Rally that the players really enjoy but we will emphasize that they are playing to have fun at this age level.” he said.

Academy White coach Mr Logan Seymour said “I’m very proud of the boys and how hard they have trained this season. Coaching the Academy White U12’s this year has been my first coaching experience so it’s especially rewarding to see my team do so well, winning both the opening and end of season rallies.”

Sunset Eagles coach and CIFA Acting General Secretary, Mr Paul Macey, commended Mr Seymour’s team and said he was pleased to see so many young players out on the field enjoying the game.

The finalist teams were both rewarded with medals for making it to the final and all teams will receive participation awards at CIFA’s Awards Ceremony, to be held next Friday, 26th June, at Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort.

Director of National Teams, Mr Renard Moxam, said the league was used as a pilot project with a few new ideas including having teams play 7v7 instead of the 9v9 format used in the previous year.

Mr Moxam said this was beneficial to the individual play of all the players.

“As players had more touches of the ball their confidence grew as the competition progressed. We want to thank the all coaches, referees and especially the parents who supported the regular season and the opening and closing rallies.”