The Under 20 Boys’ National Football Team travelled to Haiti last Monday, June 27 to compete in the first round of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Under 20 World Cup Qualifiers, which are scheduled for July 29 to July 3, 2016 in Port-au-Prince.

In Group 3, the Cayman Islands will play Bermuda on Wednesday, June 29 at 4:00 p.m., Anguilla on Friday, July 1 at 4:00 p.m. and hosts Haiti on Sunday, July 3 at 6:30 p.m.

Winners from Group 3 will join Group 1 winners Antigua & Barbuda, Group 2 winners Trinidad & Tobago and Group 4 winners St. Kitts & Nevis along with the three best runners-up in the Final Round of CFU Qualifiers scheduled for October 21 to October 30, 2016 in Curacao. Groups 1, 2 and 4 were played on June 15 to June 19.

The Cayman Islands Under 20 team consists of Shakur Welcome, Matthew Guitard, Ackeem Hyde, Asher Francis, Kory McLean, Kameron D’Hue, Stephen Rivers, Joshewa Frederick, Roger Jackson, Malique Ebanks, Brandon Ebanks, Cameron Gray, Ryan Jackson, Elijah Seymour, Anthony Bush, Michael Martin-Cruz, Anthony Nelson, Sebastian Martinez, Zach Scott and Leighton Thomas.

Travelling with the team are the coaching staff, which includes Dion Brandon (Head Coach), Michael Johnson (Assistant Coach), Owen Dinnall (Manager), Floyd McKenzie (Equipment Manager) and Al Bartice (Team Medic).

As a prelude to the competition and a show of support for the Cayman Islands Olympic Committee (CIOC), members of the Under 20 National Team participated in the 2016 Cayman Islands Olympic Day 5K Walk/Run, which took place on Saturday, June 25 at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex.

With the Under 17 Boys’ National Team scheduled to host Group 2 of the first round of the CFU Under 17 World Qualifiers in July and the Under 15 Girls’ National Team to participate in the CONCACAF Under 15 Girls’ Championships in August in Orlando, Florida, the Under

20 Boys’ National Team kick-off a very exciting summer for the Cayman Islands’ youth national football teams.

The Cayman Islands Football Association (CIFA) encourages the people of the Cayman Islands to show their support for our youth national teams as we begin a new era in football.

Photo: Members of the Cayman Islands Under 20 Boys’ National Football Team participated in the 2016 Cayman Islands Olympic Day 5K Walk/Run on Saturday, June 25.