West Bay Sports Foundation

Following on from the successful visit of the Swindon Town FC Under 13 football team in February, 13-year old Cameron Gray from Academy SC this week began training with the Chelsea Youth Academy in England and is scheduled to train with the Swindon Town Centre of Excellence later this month.

Cameron is the first young player to benefit from the relationship established between Swindon Town’s Centre of Excellence, the Ministry of Health, Environment, Youth, Sports and Culture, the Cayman Islands Football Association and the West Bay Sports Foundation. This opportunity to train with the highly successful Chelsea Youth Academy and Swindon Town’s esteemed Centre of Excellence came about following Cameron’s stellar performance for Academy SC against Swindon Town’s Under 13 team during their recent tour.

Founder of the West Bay Sports Foundation, Ardin Rivers, said, “This is the primary reason the West Bay Sports Foundation was established; so that Cayman’s youth would be recognised and have an opportunity to excel in sports. This type of partnership with professional clubs such as Swindon Town FC has helped make this opportunity for Cameron possible. The Foundation wishes him all the best.”

The February tour was organised by the Ministry and the West Bay Sports Foundation in collaboration with a number of sponsors from the private sector. One of the major reasons for bringing over the Swindon Town Under 13 team and establishing this ongoing relationship with the English Division 2 outfit was to gain opportunities such as this for Cayman’s young players to experience training with a professionally based academy.

Young Mr. Gray attends St. Ignatius High School and has been a member of the Academy SC under the tutelage of Virgil Seymour since 2009 playing for the Under 13 and Under 15 teams. During this time, he has travelled extensively with the club competing in the Schwann’s US Cup in Minnesota, the Dallas Cup in Texas and in a number of training games in Jamaica.

Commenting on this opportunity for Cameron, his coach Virgil Seymour added, “Cameron has always shown great determination in his training as he always gives 100%. He has had the benefit of being part of a proper youth development programme since the age of 9, which has allowed him to train consistently, travel regularly to international tournaments and play against teams from all over the world. I believe Cameron is ready for the challenge he now faces and as a club, we are proud and very excited for him.”

Cameron is expected to spend up to a month in England training with Chelsea FC and Swindon Town FC.