One of the players Brianna Ashley Hydes in previous action

The Cayman Islands Football Association (CIFA) National Under-17 Girls departs from the Cayman Islands tomorrow; Saturday, 31, October bound for Haiti to participate in the FIFA World Cup Qualifying / CFU U-17 Girls preliminary round games to be played in that country.

The girls will participate in Group A which consists of Haiti, British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands and The Bahamas, and will be playing three games.

All games will be played at the Haiti National Stadium. The first game will be played against Bahamas on 2 November at 4:00 pm, the second on 4 November against the British Virgin Islands at 4:00 pm and the last against Haiti at 6:15 pm on 6 November.

The winner and the best second placed team will advance to participate in the CONCACAF qualifying rounds scheduled to be played in December.

Mexico, Canada, USA and a number of other of Central American Countries have already qualified for this round.

The competition should have taken place between July 30 and August 9. It was postponed but the girls continued to train and now they are called upon to apply their skills to make the Cayman Islands proud.

Head Coach Bobby McLaren said that he was confident that the girls with God’s help can apply their skills and win this tournament and go on to the next level.

“I believe these girls have been working very hard for the past eight months. They have bonded as a team and are in high spirits and looking forward to participate in this tournament. If they remain positive and apply themselves they will have a successful tournament. The ball is in their court to get over this tournament and continue to the next level.”

“In everything that we have done so far we have put God first, this has proven to be a catalyst for our efforts hence we are confident that he will do his part to make this aspect of the World Cup qualifications a successful event for the Cayman Islands.”

“I want to use this medium to thank the Minister of Sports The Hon. Mark Scotland and the government, the Department of Tourism, Digicel, the parents and CIFA for their committed efforts, in making this trip a reality.”

The girls who were selected to make this trip are Shanelle Frederick, Britany Mobley, Marissa McLaughlin, Chelsea Greene, Emily Kelly, Alyssa Chin, Brianna Hydes, Chelsea Bush, Shanice Monteith, Ashani Francis, Ashley Borde, Tacita Berry, Kaela Ebanks, Chelsea Brown, Chloe Tatum, Xochilt Watler and Ashleigh Shim.

They will be accompanied by Coach McLaren, Technical Director Thiago Cunha, Team Manager Gloria Gall, Equipment Manager Annette Monteith and Physiotherapist Al Bartice.

The girls leave on Saturday morning for Miami where they will catch the connecting flight from there to Haiti. They are due to return to the island on 7 November.

For more on CIFA events contact the CIFA office at 949-5775, email info@caymanfootball.ky or log on to www.caymanfootball.ky