By James Burton, Sub-editor/BDA Sun

Bermuda Academy will take on the region’s finest young footballers when they take part in the inaugural CONCACAF Under-15 Championship in the Cayman Islands from August 14.

A total of 22 countries will go head to head at three venues at Grand Cayman, with teams fighting it out to progress from their respective groups to the knockout stage.

Academy director Richard Todd told the Bermuda Sun: “We have entered a team and we are in the process of naming a training squad, which will be named by this Friday.

“The purpose is to help the team towards the Under-17 [World Cup] qualifiers next year.

“It’s important to play against international teams. Some of the group were involved in the Open Cup tournament [in Alabama] and this event fits right into line with that and has a perfect place in the calendar as we look at the next 12 months.”

He added: “It will be a good measure – we have pretty high expectations for this group and we have a lot of them overseas so it will be an opportunity to get everybody together and allow the coaches to have a look at the players.”

Teams competing include Aruba, the Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Martin, St. Maarten, St. Vincent, Trinidad & Tobago, and the US Virgin Islands.