Academy Sports Club, an organisation dedicated to promoting football among Cayman’s youth, recently received a vital upgrade to its facilities thanks to the generous donation of three local companies.

Island Paving, owned by Barry Bodden, kindly donated equipment and labour to the sports club while Dart donated artificial turf for Academy Sports Club’s football pitch, off Outpost road, following an upgrade to its Camana Bay Sports Complex. Fill for the improvement of the facility was also donated by Crighton Properties.

Virgil Seymour, Head Coach, Academy Sports Club, explained why the donation has made such a difference to the players.

“Dart’s donation of the artificial turf, the fill donated by Crighton Properties and Island Paving’s donation of labour and equipment to install the turf has meant we have been able to benefit from adding an artificial scrimmage area to our field for the players. This makes a huge difference in the quality of training for our players because it will allow the club’s seven football teams the facility to continue training even when it is raining and will also allow more teams to train at night,” he explained. “These extra training opportunities mean we can considerably improve the skills of our young players.” 

Focused on developing excellence in youth football, The Academy Sports Club also strives to ensure that players also work hard to maintain academic excellence as well, operating under the motto: ‘The Books and the Ball, You’ve Got it All’. In addition to academic success and football excellence, their goal is also to foster personal integrity, leadership skills and community awareness among their players. 

“Our young players are dedicated to their sport and donations of this kind only serve to enhance their chances of success, so we are deeply grateful to Island Paving and Dart for their generosity,” Mr Seymour added. 

Academy Sports Club is a registered non-profit organisation, run solely by volunteers. They have over 250 youth players between the ages of 4 to 23 years as well as a Senior Men’s team. They are the only local club participating in six CIFA youth leagues. In addition, they are extremely proud to offer a specialised programme called Football4All, which provides an opportunity for children with autism to participate in weekly football fun.