Girls’ Primary Football League moves to Saturday mornings

The ‘new’ Girls’ Primary Football League (GPFL), which is scheduled to begin this Saturday, October

4th, will be sponsored and coordinated by Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd. (CUC). The GPFL will run alongside the popular CUC Primary Football League (PFL).

Several primary schools across the Island have been participating in the GPFL for the past few years but with CUC now taking responsibility for the League, it was decided to move the games from during the week to Saturday mornings.

The girls’ games will now be played at 10:00 a.m. between the CUC Primary Football League (PFL) Under 9 games that begin at 9:00 a.m. and the Under 11 games scheduled for 11:00 a.m.

The PFL Committee has been working closely with Martha Godet and representatives from the Women’s Committee who have been designated by the Cayman Islands Football Association (CIFA) to develop the women’s game in the Cayman Islands.

In certain instances, the Women’s Committee has provided personnel to assist with coaching a few of the school teams and will strive to provide female referees to officiate the GPFL games.

The decision to move the games to Saturday mornings was aimed at assisting the Women’s Committee in monitoring young female players playing at the primary school level. In addition, the Saturday morning games gives parents the chance to watch and support their daughters, something that was very difficult for them to do when games were being played during school hours on weekdays.

The GPFL will cater to girls under the age of 11 and will follow similar rules that apply to the PFL Under 9 league. Participating schools are split into the same two divisions as the PFL with Group A consisting of Cayman International School, George Town Primary, Savannah Primary, Sir John A. Cumber Primary and St. Ignatius Prep. Group B includes Bodden Town Primary, Cayman Prep, NorthEast School, Prospect Primary, Red Bay Primary and Triple C.

The PFL Committee urges everyone to come out on Saturday mornings to the various primary schools and other venues across the Island and support these young PFL and GPFL players.

Cayman Prep reclaim Opening Rally title

Cayman Prep successfully defended their 2013 Opening Rally title this past Saturday at the Annex Field with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over the always unpredictable Red Bay Primary in the final of the 2014 CUC Primary Football League (PFL) Opening Rally.

Nathan Trickett was the hero on the day for the champions as he netted the winner in the semi final against his former school St. Ignatius Prep in a 1-0 win and then bagged the winner in the final. His crucial goal and his performance in the final also earned him The Ronnie Roach Most Valuable Player Award.

Contributing to the victory in the final was Cayman Prep’s goalkeeper Elliott Bishop who was outstanding between the posts. Young Mr. Bishop made two outstanding saves towards the end of the game to secure the win for his school.

The surprising Truth For Youth team claimed third-place defeating St. Ignatius Prep 2-0 in penalties after their game finished 0-0 after fulltime. This was the second year in a row that St. Ignatius Prep finished fourth.

Cayman Prep’s road to the final began with a 4-1 win over South Sound School in Zone D coupled with a narrow 4-3 victory over Red Bay Primary in sudden death penalties (1-1 after fulltime; 2-2

after regular penalties; 1-0 after sudden death penalties). Red Bay defeated South Sound Schools 1-0 to finish second in the zone and advance to the quarter-finals.

Truth For Youth’s journey to the third-placed game began with 1-0 loss to St. Ignatius Prep in Zone B. The youngsters rallied to beat George Town Primary 1-0 and Boddeen Town Primary 4-3 in penalties (1-1 after fulltime; 3-2 after regular penalties) to finish runners-up in the Zone. St. Ignatius Prep won the zone after defeating Truth For Youth, Bodden Town Primary 2-1 and George Town Primary 2-0.

In Zone A, Cayman International School (CIS) advanced to the quarter finals with a 4-0 victory over Prospect Primary and a 3-1 win against Savannah Primary after penalties (1-1 after fulltime; 2-0 after regular penalties). Savannah Primary overcame the loss to zone winners CIS to beat Prospect Primary

3-0 and claim a spot in the quarter finals.

In Zone C, last year’s third-place finishers NorthEast School won the zone with a 1-0 victory over Cayman Brac and Sir John A. Cumber Primary. Sir John A. Cumber Primary defeated Cayman Brac 3-0 to secure second place in the zone and a spot in the quarter finals.

In the quarter finals, Cayman Prep defeated Savannah Primary 2-0 in penalties (0-0 after fulltime; 2-0 after regular penalties); Red Bay Primary beat CIS 1-0; Truth For Youth outlasted NorthEast Schools

5-4 after sudden death penalties (1-1 after fulltime; 2-2 after regular penalties; 2-1 after sudden death penalties); and St. Ignatius Prep beat Sir John A. Cumber Primary 2-0 in penalties (0-0 after fulltime; 2-0 after regular penalties).

In the semi finals, Cayman Prep secured their place in the final after defeating St. Ignatius Prep 1-0 and Red Bay Primary overcame Truth For Youth 2-1 in penalties (0-0 after fulltime; 2-1 after regular penalties).

Special thanks to the officials who did an excellent job throughout the day including Dwayne Ebanks, Chastine Rankine, David Conolly, Joshua Frederick, Shakur Welcome, Ernie Jacques, Jordan McLean, Collin Redden and Leo Ebanks.

Thanks also to contributing sponsors Progressive Distributors, suppliers of Gatorade to all participating PFL schools.

The Opening Rally marks the beginning of the 2014/2015 CUC PFL season, which commences on Saturday, October 4 at venues across the Island.