By: BVIFA

Norval Young, the latest of three such British Virgin Islands Football Association Referees to receive CONCACAF /FIFA accreditation as a match Official, attends  his first game to prominence for his performances at an CFU U15 Tournament in 2013 and then as one of the Officials for the CFU Club Championship Group 2. He was also appointed as an Official at the Men’s CFU Championship Group 6 in St Kitts last month, at the U17 Championships Group in St Lucia back in August and the CFU U20 Championships Group Stage in Curacao in July.

Young has now been named as one of the Officials for the last round of the Under 17 CFU Championship in Haiti from October 19th to 26th, which includes Cuba, Barbados, Haiti (hosts), Guadeloupe, Martinique, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and St Lucia.

The Teams will be placed into two Groups and Young hasn’t been told which Group he will be in charge off, but St Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago, Haiti and Barbados forms Group A while Cuba, Jamaica, Guadeloupe and Martinique forms Group B.

During the preliminary stages Cuba, Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and Martinique qualified after topping their groups, St Lucia and Guadeloupe qualified as the two best second placed teams while Haiti had automatic qualification being the hosts of the event.

Barbados was the first to qualify after gaining seven points in Group 3 ahead of Guyana with four, Dominican Republic four (lesser goal average) and Antigua & Barbuda with one point. Martinique was next on the list when they earned seven points in Group 4 to qualify over Puerto Rico with four points, Bermuda four (lesser goal average) and Bahamas nil.

With three teams in Group 5 Cuba took top spot by winning two games Suriname was placed second after taking one game while Dominica failed to gain a single point.

In Group 1 the Jamaicans topped that group with maximum nine points, Guadeloupe were second with six points, Cayman Islands was third with three points while U S Virgin Islands failed to secure a point.

Trinidad & Tobago finished at the top of Group 2 with nine points, hosts St Lucia took second place with six points, Grenada three and Curacao nil.

By: BVIFA

Mr. Avondale Williams, a Level “C” United States Soccer Federation Certified Coach has joined the BVIFA as Youth Development Officer. He will have responsibility primarily  for U17 Boys through to the senior team development. He will also take over the organization of the High School League and will be working at the Digicel Centre of Excellence.

Mr. Williams brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to Football, having played and coached for the National team. He also Coaches the Islanders F.C, perennial Champions of the Domestic League and holders of many of the Associations Knockout Cup’s.

Mr. Williams’ new role will fill part of the void left with Mr. Keith “Grell” Griffith’s departure from his position as BVIFA Technical Director at the conclusion of the 12 month contract.

Whilst a replacement for Griffith has yet to be confirmed Williams will be pushing ahead with developing the game and making sure the long term strategy of the Football Association is met.

“I’m very pleased to accept the position,” said Williams. “I’m looking forward to improving the High School league standard to make the games more competitive to create a U17 team to fit in with the new National Age group’s policy. I’m also looking forward to establishing an U15 Youth Tournament outside of the schools programme but generated by an infusion of new players from within the work done in schools at both Secondary and Primary Level.”

In the longer term, Mr. Williams said he would like to see more technical improvements, increased physical fitness, tactical awareness and is looking forward to working with the FA’s new Technical Director, when appointed, and also continuing the strong coaching relationship with F.A. Coach, Cassandra Gregg, who runs the Primary After School Programme and BDO Primary School League as well as assisting with the U14 Boys in the Digicel Centre of Excellence and U15 girls.

Ms. Gregg was involved in the very first Centre of Excellence back in 1999 and also the first After School Programme which began with support from the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports in 2000.

Now in its 14th year, and still supported by the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports, the programme encompasses almost every school with practice scheduled for each afternoon (3.30pm – 5.oopm) of the week as detailed below:

Leonora Delville, Ivan Dawson, Isabella Morris, Enid Scatliffe, Seventh Day Adventist, Ebenezer Thomas, Joyce Samuel, Willard Wheatley and Francis Lettsome practice on Monday and Wednesday.

Enis Adams, Alexandrina Maduro, First Impressions, Althea Scatliffe, Agape, St Georges and Montessori take to the fields Tuesday and Thursday.

“I’ve seen the programme grow every year,“ commented Cass. “And this year especially the enthusiasm from Boys and Girls has been amazing. I think the Primary School, when it starts in the New Year, will prove to be the most competitive yet.”

Youngsters can still sign up for the programme which costs just $10 and Parents can get further details from School Principals or from the BVIFA Office (494 5655) across from the Botanic Gardens.

Coach Cass will also be taking a group of Boys from the Centre of Excellence to the Beach at Cane Garden Bay this Saturday not only for some fun and team building but also to put in some strength work in an ideal setting.

The trip departs from the A.O. Shirley on Saturday 11th October at 8.30pm and returns at 1pm. Players are expected to walk with $10 for food after practice, but drinks will be provided.

By: The BVIFA

The BVI Fooball Association’s 40th Anniversary International Friendly against St Vincent and the Grenadines might not have produced the right result, a 6-0 defeat, but it was certainly the right choice of opponent as hundreds of Fans descended on the A.O. Shirley Ground on Sunday.

The Vincy Heat commanded the early exchanges and threatened the BVI goal on many occasions before finally getting on the score sheet inside the first ten minutes when Myron Samuel spun onto a loose ball in the penalty box and fired home.

Azinho Johnson then doubled the advantage 15 minutes later, appearing unmarked at the far post to head home a pin point cross from Samuel.

Spurred into some attacking life having been camped in their own half, the BVI finally got a shot on target, but Andy Crossley’s effort was straight at the Vincy keeper and Andy Davis just failed to get his boot around a loose ball on the edge of the Vincy box.

The tone of the game was then restored as the Vincy Heat laid siege to the host’s goal, with Jevonne Demming clearing a Samuel free kick and then Daniel Barker alert to another stinging effort from Samuel. Kyle Edwards brought a flying save from Barker and the same player rose unmarked from the resulting corner to narrowly steer his header over the bar.

Another indecisive piece of BVI defending saw Johnson score his second and the Vincy third when Samuel latched onto a scuffed clearance from Jamal Sergeant and with quick feet fed his team mate who made no mistake from close range.

Edwards had a chance to make it four moments later following more panic and a goal mouth scramble, but then Samuel raced onto a through ball, beating the offside trap and slipped a pass into the path of Emerald George who was left with a simple tap in.

Regrouped at half time, the BVI put in a much better second half performance and put some pressure on the visitors. Crossley almost brought the home crowd to its feet dribbling his way goal ward only to be denied at the last second before getting a shot off and Eddie Cupid forced Kenyan Lynch into a flying save to be denied a goal on his Senior team home debut.

The Vincy were also dangerous on the break and were denied time and time again by Barker including one athletic single handed leaping tip over before Edwards scored his second to make it five and Shandel Samuel rounded out the scoring at six after another unselfish pass from skipper Samuel.

“I’m very proud of the team, we have some players out, but the new players came in and we still got the result we wanted. The BVI team played better than the last time I saw them (a 23-0 U20 drubbing), they are improving a lot” commented Samuel.

BVI vice Captain, Jevonne Demming, was philosophical in defeat and quick to thank the huge crowd “it was a good game, but you practice what you preach and we need to work harder. The fans came out to support us as we hoped, but we need to support each other. The Vincy played better ball and held the ball more than we did, but we tried our best”

By BVIFA

 

The BVI Football Association’s 40th anniversary celebration and awards ceremony was a huge success, with a large turnout from players, supporters, parents and especially youngsters.

As the guests arrived at the Multi Purpose Sports Complex on Saturday 13th September, 2014, they were all greeted with a red carpet entrance decorated with CONCACAF and specially decorated BVIFA 40th anniversary footballs, a welcome from the mucko jumbies and an exquisitely decorated auditorium draped in commemorative 40th Anniversary flags, banners and even a mini painted football pitch with small goals.

Many of the people so instrumental in keeping the Football Family healthy and growing in the BVI were celebrated during the evening and all the assembled dignitaries were escorted by the newly created band of young football Ambassadors.

This programme, an initiative of Mrs. Arleta Bickerton, grew out of her involvement with the U15 Girls team that took part in a CONCACAF tournament earlier this year and is away of giving youths an all round perspective of what they can achieve through the sport both on and off the field.

BVIFA President, Mr. Andy Bickerton opened the proceedings, welcoming the Guests including Mr. Ralph T O’Neal, leader of the Opposition Government, Mr. Jeffrey Webb, President of CONCACAF, Mr. Gordon Derrick, President of the Caribbean Football Union, the Honourable Marlon Penn, Mr. Lloyd Black, General Secretary of the BVI Olympic Committee, Mr. Paul Hewlett, on behalf of the Minister Responsible for Sport and Ms. Avelinda Freeman, from the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports.

Marlon Penn, who spoke on behalf of the Premier, noted that FIFA had been around in the Territory longer than he had and also commented on how the sport is developing the youths: “In most recent times Mr. Bickerton and his team have been working diligently to develop a youth programme and it has already borne fruit with over 1000 projected young people to be playing football. Through Football, new avenues can be created for young people, Track and Field used to be the sport of choice for young people and then Basketball, but it seems like Football is now taking the lead and becoming the number one sport.”

Mr. Gordon Derrick then alluded to some of the problems faced by World Football Associations including the BVI and including Social Disorder, inevitable rise in crime and FIFA’s eligibility Rules.

“You will see these are real and credible threats to association’s growth and potential progress,” said Mr. Derrick. “I urge you, I implore you, the assembled government dignitaries, I beg you to put your heads together so that the BVI will have it’s best representatives. I find it very unreal and unthinkable that someone born in the British Virgin Islands, attended Primary School in the British Virgin Islands, went to High School in the British Virgin Islands, they work here, pay taxes, but for some reason are unable to get a BVI Passport and are unable to represent the BVI. That is unheard of! Maybe many years ago, I understand that might have been a fact, but this 2014.”

Mr Derrick concluded with words of caution and encouragement: “Such an achievement as this shows, it is important to celebrate our past it is also important to keep looking and forging ahead. As you begin to look to the next 40 years I want to encourage you to continue to take risks, because in doing so you will learn how to fail. After all it is only in learning how to fail that you learn resilience.”

Mr. Webb got the crowd to its feet in thanking the entire Football family for reaching 40 years stating, “So much struggle, so much commitment, so much sacrifice, so many people who have given their lives for a dream, so many people who have given their lives for opportunity to others.”

Mr Webb began playing Football when he was 9 years old and never dreamed of where the game would take him.

“I never dreamed where the game would take me. I never dreamed that I would travel to 140 something countries around the world. That I would be representing, in my region of 41 countries, over 500 million people. And it all started out because of a love for Football.”

Mr Webb also praised the Goal Project that is intended to highlight the next few years of Football development and provide a home for Football in the territory.

“The BVI, I believe, is the only member of CONCAF not to take advantage of, or benefit from, the Goal Programme which started in 1999 with a vision of building a home for every National Football Association. Let’s build a home for the BVI Football Association!”

By the BVIFA

Following the conclusion of Youth Week the BVI Football Association (BVIFA) is moving its 40th Anniversary Celebrations into high gear with a series of Events starting this Friday, September 12th, with an Open House at the Associations Office across from the Botanic Gardens.

Bingo Night is also scheduled for Friday Night at the Rock Café over on Virgin Gorda.

On Saturday 13th the Annual Awards Presentation and Anniversary Celebration takes place in the Multi Purpose Sports Complex from 5pm with Guest Speaker Jeffrey Webb, the President of CONCACAF. Also speaking will be Gordon Derrick, Caribbean Football Union President, the Governor, his Excellency John Duncan and members of the Government.

“Celebrating this milestone is indeed a special moment for the British Virgin Islands; the Association has built an excellent reputation with stakeholders over the past 40 years. The Club teams continue to play with passion and determination and the next 40 years is well set!”

Everyone, Players, Family, Friends, and Fans are invited to the Ceremony, which is a formal attire function, but free of charge, to support their favourite players and witness a little bit of history as the Association celebrates its past and embraces its future.

Focus turns to Women’s Football on Sunday September 14th, when the BVI Women’s team takes on their USVI counterparts in a re run of a game back in 2012 when the BVI took care of their guests, 2-1 over two legs.

Many of the Girls playing this time were involved back then, but also some new faces have turned up to regular training as well as some of the more experienced players.

Sharlene Pond, who is on the Women’s Committee, has been instrumental in rejuvenating the women’s football programme and has also been practicing hard with her team mates “The turnout has been steadily increasing since we began training three weeks ago and all the girls are showing progress as well as being excited about the chance to play as part of such a huge celebration”

The game, scheduled for 5pm on the A.O. Shirley Ground, will also be the spark that unites a new Women’s League for 2014/15.

It is also just over a week until the BVI Men’s team faces their biggest challenge since the Caribbean Cup, when they face St Vincent and the Grenadines in an International Friendly on the A.O. Shirley Ground, September 21st, 2014.

The Vincy team, ranked 16th in the recent CONCACAF standings and 134th in FIFA’s World Rankings, are a formidable foe for the BVI and of course will have tremendous support from the vast contingent of Vincentians living in the Territory.

For the record the teams drew 1-1 back in 2005 when a Michael Haynes goal gave the BVI a share of the points in a Caribbean Cup Group match.

The Captain that day, Avondale Williams, is now the National Team Coach and a Vincentian commented that the match will represent one of his toughest challenges, but is quietly confidant.

“Training has intensified as we approach the last few days and we are now concentrating on finalizing tactics. We hope to play our normal game, but have been working on variations to suit any situations that may arise.”

Two or three players are recovering from slight knocks, but Williams hopes to be able to choose from his full squad and are looking forward to welcoming some old friends from St Vincent.

“There are a lot of connections with Vincy in the Football Family and we are expecting a large crowd on Sunday and will be hoping to mark the 40th Anniversary with a win!”

By: The BVIFA

The BVIFA’s 40th Anniversary Celebrations kicked off in true style on Sunday 31st August with two Church Services, one at the New Testament Church of God in Baughers Bay, Tortola and the other at the Sanctuary of Hope, the Valley, Virgin Gorda.

As Chairman of the 40th Anniversary Committee and BVIFA.1st Vice President, Mr. Aubrey Liburd explained,
“The 40th Anniversary is finally here and after a lot of planning, the events, beginning with the Tortola Church service at 9am and then moving onto the Sanctuary of Hope in Virgin Gorda at 10.30am, will provide excitement and entertainment for the entire Football Family as well as attract some new Fans to the game.”

The BVIFA will be hosting various events throughout the Month of September to mark the milestone and each week has been given a focus, with the first week from September 1st to 7th earmarked to showcase and promote the Youths.

Whilst the highlight of the Youth week will undoubtedly be the Boys U14 and the Girls U15 Girls games against Laraza F.C. from St Thomas, USVI, on Saturday 6th September, there will also be trips to Schools and a Night at UP’s to savour.

“The Youth week will give another tremendous opportunity for the Boys and Girls to showcase their skills and comes on the back of the Girls putting up some fantastic performances in the recent CONCACAF Tournament hosted by the Cayman Islands,”
noted Alfred Reid, the BVIFA Ag. General Secretary.

Both squads are earmarked as the way forward for National Team development in terms of a long term plan with short term goals and apart from already showing great improvement in skill and tactical awareness are also proving that they are dedicated, willing to work hard to improve and put the BVI on the Football map.

As Liburd concluded, “We, the Committee, have put together a schedule of events to accommodate all who love Football; our players, our supporters, our fans, both young and old, as well as our sponsors. We hope everyone will enjoy the activities as we look forward to be able to live in safer, healthier and better communities in the Territory of the British Virgin Islands.”

The matches start on the A.O.Shirley Ground at 10.00am with the Girls and then the Boys take center stage at 11.30am.

http://bviolympics.org/1280/

By: The BVIFA

In a crazy last fifteen minutes the BVI missed a golden opportunity to put the game against French Saint Martin to bed and then handed their opponents not only an equalizer, but also two further goals to gift them a 4-2 Friendly victory at the A.O. Shirley Ground on Saturday.

The first half had ended at 1-1 after a defensive slip let in Laurent Samer, who rounded Vesquever Frett and slotted home to open the scoring for French Saint Martin. Rashedo Robinson then equalized with a low drive from 22 yards, following a long throw from the BVI Captain, Troy Caesar, that was only half cleared by the defenders and which beat the scrambling dive of the ‘keeper to nestle inside the left hand post.

Ten minutes into the second half the BVI were ahead through the persistence of Kevin Fisher as he first controlled the ball off his chest and then fired home from an acute angle, beating the keeper at the near post.

The Hosts then had a great chance to make it 3-1 after good work down the right from debutant Allan Williams, whose deep cross to the far post looked for all the world to have found Devon Letteen unmarked. However he failed to get the vital touch on the ball from inside the six yard box and the chance went begging.

Two minutes later French Saint Martin leveled the game at 2-2 with Samer climbing highest in the box to meet a corner from the right and power a net bulging header past the helpless Frett.

Philmont Louis then rubbed salt into the wounds as he beat Frett to a through ball, took a touch and slipped the ball into the opposite corner, to set off wild celebrations from Saint Martin, who were now sensing a famous win.

Williams almost restored parity as time began to run out with a flying header from another Caesar long throw, but he narrowly missed the target and then deep into stoppage time Danilo Cocks put the icing on the visitors cake to make the final score 4-2.

Although a game with no points or ranking at stake, according to futebol24.com, it was the first match of any competitive kind for the Frenchmen since 2012 and the first time they had a win since gaining a draw against the Cayman’s in 2010.

For the BVI, even though the game was a friendly, it represented a disappointing turn around after looking good for the first win in six games ahead of the 40th Anniversary International Friendly game against St Vincent and the Grenadines on September 21st.

Acting Head Coach, Jeffrey Demming, bemoaned his players lack of availability for practice “It needs time, we have to train, but the guys don’t seem to realize how important it is to make the effort to come train so we can improve as a team. Overall I’m happy with the performance, but it could have been much better if they had come training!”

Coach Demming also praised the efforts of young Williams on debut “He has come up through the Youth programme and has shown himself as a hard worker. I was very impressed with his performance”

A few more players like Williams are waiting on the side lines for their chance to shine and as products of the new focus on Youth Development; they might just get the opportunity to impress ahead of the St Vincent game.

By: The BVIFA

The BVIFA U15 National Girls Team may not have reached the quarter finals of the inaugural CONCACAF Under-15 Girls’ Championship, hosted by the Cayman Islands, from August 6th – 10th, but they won the hearts of many casual observers with some fantastic performances.

Looking at the final group table does not give the whole picture, nor do the Girls justice, as apart from the first half of the first game which saw the BVI Girls, all of whom were experiencing their first taste of International Competition, overwhelmed by the occasion and a hostile home crowd, concede three early goals, on the way to a 5-0 defeat.
From then on, though, they more than matched their opponents for the rest of the Tournament and were unlucky not to progress.

In front of 1,100 fans at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex, Chelsea Green (15’, 25’, 30’) scored three goals to propel the host Cayman Islands to a 5-0 win over the Virgin Islands.

“The players got caught cold and overwhelmed by the hostile crowd, but despite conceding the early goals soon settled down and played exactly the way I had wanted them to” commented Coach Kate Rowsdon, who is a NSCAA Premier Licensed Coach and a holder of both USSF and EUFA “B” Coaching Badges.

Green, a veteran of the 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship, opened the scoring with a free kick that found the target from 25-yards out, while Sabrina Suberan (23’) made it 2-0 eight minutes later. Green added two more first half strikes and Deondra Kelly (89’) completed the score line in the last minute.

“Regrouping at half time, I had chance to remind them of the basics and further strengthen their resolve and confidence which was borne out by a second half performance where we more than matched the Caymanians,” Noted Coach Kate.

Rowsdon also made use of all available subs to keep her team fresh and full of ideas during the second period until almost the last kick of the match, when, with a player off the field receiving treatment for an injury and not allowed back on by the referee for an extended period, the Cayman’s forced home a scrappy fifth goal, despite the valiant attempted save from the keeper.

In their second Game played on Friday August 8th at the same venue, the Girls were unlucky to lose 2-1 to Curacao after reaching half time deadlocked at 0-0 and the going ahead early in the second period.

Katie Lowery put the Girls ahead in the 41st minute; following a smart and incisive one two move with Lilly Pierce.

As Coach Kate explained “Composed play through the midfield saw Katie and Lilly cut through the Curacao midfield and defense, before Katie unleashed a venomous drive from 20 yards which gave their keeper no chance. It was a euphoric moment. It was an amazing moment and one that Katie described as the best of her life! The whole team joined in the celebration, dashing over to our bench in sheer joy.”

The lead though was short lived, as Lindsay Hart equalized almost immediately after the re start and then scored again in the 50th minute to give her team the win.

“Their equalizer, which came almost immediately after we went ahead, was down to being caught flat footed and still celebrating,” said the Coach. “But it was a well taken goal from inside our penalty area. However their winner is still a mystery as the Referee awarded a penalty for handball despite being no obvious infringement.”

The Girls tried their best to get back to at least level terms, but were thwarted by a resolute Curacao defense and were denied any real clear cut shots on goal.

The Girls rounded out Group A action with the most famous result in recent National Team history (either male or female) with a 0-0 draw against one of the group favourites, the Bahamas.

“Playing for pride and with so much passion, the girls put in a 100 per cent effort as individuals, as units and as a team to put the Bahamians on the back foot and if it hadn’t been for a disallowed goal we would have come away victorious.”

The Goal that wasn’t came half way through the second half when Lareisha Martin slotted home into an almost empty net. Martin, bearing in on the Bahamas goal, under pressure from a Bahamian defender, had support from Lilly Pierce, but inexplicably the keeper rushed out and straight into Pierce sending the BVI girl flying. The keeper’s decision gave Martin a clear sight on goal and taking a touch past the defender, she scored. However the Referee, taking her time and to the complete surprise of everyone, including other officials, blew for a free kick against Pierce and disallowed the goal.

“The girls were gutted because they recognized that they had the Bahamas’ beaten in one on one challenges and they had stuck to their game plan for the whole 70 minutes. I am extremely proud of the squad and thoroughly believe we should have beaten the Bahamas at least 1-0. This competition is the start of a bright future for this group of Girls,” concluded Coach Kate.

The BVI U15 Girls were positively recognized for having an all female staff by the CONCACAF Technical Study Group and the same group also commented that the BVI team had the best preparation in between games, on the practice field and were the most cohesive, hard working team on the field of play.

By: BVIFA

The Executive Members of the BVIFA and also the 40th Anniversary Committee, under the Chairmanship of 1st Vice President, Mr. Aubrey Liburd, are pleased to announce that the plans for the 40th Anniversary of the BVIFA are now confirmed and the Logo chosen.

With many highlights on the Calendar, including Youth, Women and Men’s Football events as well special Celebratory functions, according to Liburd, the Committee has come up with something special for everyone to enjoy, as Football not only acknowledges its history, but also embraces its future.

“The Committee has put together a schedule of events to accommodate all who love the sport of Football” commented Liburd “The Anniversary will be a fitting thank you to those who made sacrifices in the past to help develop the game and will also leave a lasting impression on those Fans, Players, Officials and Sponsors who are endeavoring to keep Football as the number one Sport in the Territory.”

Ag. General Secretary of the BVIFA, Mr. Alfred Reid, noted how timely it was to not only be rejoicing the mile stone, but also the importance of the 40th Anniversary as a land mark in the game’s development.

“They say life begins at 40 and it is fitting that as we begin our 40th Anniversary, the Football Association will also be celebrating the breaking of grounds in East End for a new stadium that signifies the opening of a new chapter in the development of the “Beautiful Game.”

Celebrations kick off with a Church Service planned for Tortola and Virgin Gorda on August 31st and then continue with a specific focus for each following week of September.

Youth Week will begin September 1st with the highlights being an evening at UP’s, a youth Festival and a series of Youth matches.

During the first week of Festivities there will also be the start of a Referees Certification Course and a “Big Sale” of clothing and equipment.

The focus then shifts to Women’s Football for week two with a series of visits to Schools to promote the game and encourage participation in the upcoming BDO Primary School League and High School League. On September 12th there will be an Open House at the BVIFA Office to showcase many of the available Programmes offered by the BVIFA as well as its associated Partners.