The Tribune

By CAMERON HEPPLE

IT is difficult to say how much the 2014 FIFA World Cup has really impacted the Bahamas, a country that is not a “footballing country” and where the global sport has to be purchased from the local cable company to be viewed. I find that absolutely appalling: the world’s game should be free.

As a nation we are trying to influence our younger generation to become citizens who can contribute in the long run. We want citizens who understand the value of teamwork, responsibility and - most importantly - that success comes from hard work and determination, all of which you learn as a child from playing a team sport like football. We live in the perfect conditions to develop talent if you read ‘The Talent Code’ by Daniel Coyle. He explains why Brazil is such a successful footballing nation based on three things: a climate for playing all year round, a deep passion for soccer (“a footballing culture”) and their massive population.

Now, if you look at your average Bahamian, we produce naturally-born athletes, built for speed and strength in a climate that allows us to play all year round. But where are we lacking? We cannot control our population but it can be influenced by our proximity to the United States with sports tourism.

Our children are influenced by what we see on television; we are heavily affected by our close neighbours, the US, where basketball and American Football are the two most popular sports watched on television here. So ask yourself how many naturally born 6ft 7in Bahamians do we produce who have the capacity to play in the NBA against an already organised system in high schools who move into top universities and are then drafted into the NBA?

If there is a chance there is a 6ft 7in player he would probably have to move into that system when he is young to get the same playing experience as the millions of kids are getting into the US youth basketball system.

Now compare this to your average soccer player, who does not need a physical requirement to play the sport, can play anywhere in the world not just in the US and does not require a drafting system from college to play professionally.

I grew up in the Bahamas, graduated from St Andrews High School, was given a full soccer scholarship to a division one university in America and played professionally in the US, UK and Europe. All that from my youth experience in the Bahamas - but I created my own culture, my own passion from watching football regularly and was fortunate enough to go through a organised system set up by the Bahamas Football Association from the age of 13 and participating in the under-17 World Cup qualifiers to men’s World Cup qualifiers at just 15.

I was not the only one. In my age group 14 or so players were able to go to top universities in the US on full athletic scholarships from playing soccer. As a parent, for you to save an average $30,000 a year for four years and that your child gets a degree you should be ecstatic, I know my parents were.

But how is any other child supposed to dream of playing for the Bahamas in the World Cup if the average child cannot watch the biggest single sports event because the local cable provider would rather charge the viewer rather than the local businesses for commercials? We have taken away a huge opportunity for kids to want to dream to play for their country at an international level; we are taking away a sporting culture from kids who are going to be left out of history; and, most importantly, we are taking away the opportunity for kids to want to play for a team that will instil positive values and ultimately affect how they go about life in the future.

It is not impossible to imagine the Bahamas as a top footballing nation with world-class players given our proximity to the US. After their success in the World Cup football will be booming, more and more kids will want to play the sport creating more competition for participating children.

This overflows to the Bahamas. As a sports tourism destination we can use the impact from the US to improve our level of play by inviting teams from there to play local teams here or to participate in tournaments. The average child in the US pays an average of $800 to participate in tournaments throughout the US, sometimes travelling greater distances than that to fly to the Bahamas.

The time is now to capitalise on this opportunity to create opportunities for our athletes to get scholarships in the US or to push further than I did and play professionally in Europe or in the US as the league develops.

It is not an easy task, especially without the help of local Bahamian businesses to invest in the future of Bahamians - and what better way to influence a country than through sport? If you look at our country at the moment, with crime being a detriment to our society, sport can change that; soccer can be a positive gateway out of a life of crime or drugs.

I am not saying that playing soccer will clean up crime entirely but it is a start. And if you get a player at the right age and he or she learns about teamwork and what it is like to work together ... maybe they won’t have the skills to make it to university but that child will be positively affected for the future and will understand the benefits of what he or she learnt from participating in sports.

It is a start. Look at other Caribbean countries like Jamaica, where their local beer Red Stripe sponsors their federation with millions of dollars to help with the development of youth soccer. They see the benefits it has on their community and it positively affects the country as a whole.

We need to start to look at the bigger picture. The world is becoming a smaller place with the likes of social media: years ago it was just conversations on the phone and trust to get a trial with a professional club, it was difficult to get opportunities especially with the impression of the Bahamas as not being a footballing nation.

But now with the help of YouTube you can send video highlights across the globe and be able to get a trial or an opportunity at a club. The world of professional football is getting more global and smaller countries are starting to make waves - just look at Costa Rica outperforming Spain, Japan, England and others and making it to the quarter-finals in Brazil.

Or even the US making it to the round of 16 and impressing the world with their feat of exiting the ‘group of death’. The cliché has that football is changing and the Bahamas can be part of that, but it has to be done together as a country.

We take on the US under-21 developmental squad in an international friendly on August 6 at the Thomas A Robinson Stadium as a training match for the Americans as they prepare for their forthcoming Olympic competition.

The Bahamas team will be made up mainly of local players who have played at university and are now home working, with the exception of a few players who are currently playing at university and one playing professionally in Jamaica.

It will be a great opportunity for our players playing university football as this US team will be made up of those who are already playing professionally in the MLS and will be looking to make the jump to the team for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. This will be the first time the Bahamas team takes to the field in over four years.

You can purchase tickets for $10 from the Bahamas Football Assocation. It seems a small price to pay for a better future.

• Cameron Hepple is a Bahamian international, ex-professional footballer, now forging a career in coaching.