GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands — Fresh from hosting the top women’s under-20 national teams in CONCACAF, the Cayman Islands is preparing for another international competition with the first-ever C3 Cayman International Youth Football Tournament.

Youth teams from English League One’s Swindon Town FC and Major League Soccer (MLS) side Houston Dynamo will travel to the Caribbean for a three-team tournament that includes the Cayman Islands Select Under-15 squad.

The action kicks off on February 18 with an encounter between Swindon and Cayman Select at the T.E. McField Sports Complex (also known as The Annex) in George Town, where all the matches will be played.

“The games will be a fantastic challenge for us and a good challenge physically and tactically for the players and the staff,” said Swindon Town Academy manager Jeremy Newton, whose team arrives on Sunday.  “We have brought some under-14s and it will be interesting to see how they cope along with the current under-15s.”

James Clarkson, technical director of the Houston Dynamo Academy, echoed Newton’s thoughts on the trip.

“The games are an excellent opportunity to test our players against international competition,” he told CONCACAF.com.  “The chance to travel and play games will have a major impact on the player’s development on and off the field.”

Both clubs have already established relationships with the Cayman Islands Football Association.

Three Caymanian teenagers – Sebastian Martinez, Nathan Borde and Kray Foster — are currently members of the Swindon Town Youth Academy, while two youth teams from local club Sunset FC travelled to Houston and competed against the Dynamo Academy.

“I always use the opportunity to scout players,” noted Newton.  “I was fortunate to be invited to the CONCACAF U15s which gave me insight of the players and looking at systems the teams play, along with other players in the tournament.”

Newton is referring to the inaugural CONCACAF Under-15 Championship, which was also hosted by Cayman in August 2013 and was contested by 22 teams from throughout the Confederation.

“Part of the purpose of the trip is to identify some potential players that we can invite to Houston for training opportunities with us,” Clarkson commented.  “We also want to build a strong relationship with the island, as we feel it is going to be outstanding in helping with best practices, coaching education and player development.”

The visiting teams’ technical staffs will conduct free training camps for local players and coaches.

C3 Cayman International Youth Football Tournament

Match Schedule (all times local)

Thursday – February 20, 2014

Swindon Town v Houston Dynamo, 7:00 p.m.

Saturday – February 22, 2014

Cayman Select v Houston Dynamo, 7:00 p.m.

PHOTO: A Swindon Town under-14/15 team (pictured) will compete in the first-ever C3 Cayman International Youth Football Tournament, February 18-22, 2014, in George Town, Cayman Islands. (Photo courtesy of Swindon Town)

Related story:

Cayman Tour Diary

by Swindontownfc.co.uk

SWINDON Town kicked of their tour with a 4-0 win over the Cayman national Under-16 team at the Annex stadium.

The youths are in Grand Cayman and have two games during their stay, with the coaches providing coaching clinics to the local coaches with assistance from the players. The players and staff will have five nights on the island. This year we have included three Under-16s to replace the three players that are in Turkey with the Scotland national Under-15s and have brought three Under-14s for the experience.

The first game started off brightly and, with the temperature still in the high 70s at 7pm, the players passed the ball round and got into a good rhythm. Town took the lead through Ryan Wood’s header from a Tyreke Johnson free-kick and, although Swindon had to deal with some Cayman pressure, they went into the break 1-0 up.

Half-time saw a change in personnel with Mason Hathaway replacing Scott Twine. Now operating with a three-man midfield, Town scored a second through Tyreke Johnson whose low, driven shot found the net from 16 yards. The tourists were in control and Jordan Morris scored the third with a fantastic long-range strike from 25 yards. At this point the coaches made lots of changes to get all the players some game time. Town then scored a 4th when Jordan Simpson’s corner was met by Sam Fletcher and the game ended 4-0. The next game for Swindon is on Thursday when they play Houston Dynamo.

Academy Manager, Jeremy Newton said: “It was a good performance considering the boys arrived late on Sunday night. We trained on Monday and it took a while to get going, which is understandable. It was very pleasing to get all players some game time and this will help the players in the preparation for the second game of the tournament.”

Swindon team – Connor Johns, Jack Stanley, Jordan Morris, Sam Fletcher, Ryan Wood, Jake Evans, Tommy Ouldridge, Tyreke Johnson, Jabari Hylton, Scott Twine, Sam Beaumont
Subs – Harry Hillerby, Sebastian Martinez, Ryan Penny, Nathan Borde, Jordan Simpson, Mason Hathaway, Declan Lehman.

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