The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Football Association President Anton Sealey said he was extremely pleased with how the 2017 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship turned out at the Malcolm Park beach soccer stadium.

The week-long tournament wrapped up on Sunday night with Panama dethroning defending champions Mexico 4-2 for the title, while the Bahamas lost to the United States of America by the same score to finish in sixth place.

“We knew that we would have attracted some fans, but the overwhelming support that we got from the Bahamian fans surpassed our imagination, so we are very pleased with that,” Sealey said.

“Team Bahamas fed off that enthusiasm and support from the fans and gave an exceptional performance the entire week, just succumbing to fatigue having played six games in the sand in a seven-day period.”

Sealey said although all of the 16 participating teams were subjected to the same conditions, this was something relatively new for the Bahamas and so he commended the players and the coaching staff, led by head coach Alexandre Soares from Brazil and his assistant Stephen Bellott.

Team Bahamas, with Eugenia Patton as the physician, comprises of goalkeepers Torin Ferguson and Ivan Rolle and players Alexander Thompdon, Timothy Munnings Jr, Lamar Cancino, Kyle Williams, Gary Joseph, Nesly Jean, Dwayne Forbes, Daron Beneby, Lesly St Fleur and captain Gavin Christie.

When the Bahamas was awarded the bid from FIFA to host the event that will lead up to the FIFA World Cup in April, Sealey said he knew that the event would be a “spectacular” and not a sport, so once the Bahamian fans were exposed to it, they would show their support for the product on the soccer pitch.

“I think the team fed off that infectious support of the Bahamian fans and gave a very good performance,” he said.

“We brought in a coach from Brazil who took that team to four World Cups, so obviously we had somebody who could get the maximum of the talent that we had.

“He’s only been with us for a mere two months, but the difference in their play in that short space of time was just nothing short of being spectacular.”

With a brand new facility to host the event, Sealey said the BFA put together an excellent team of project engineers, architects and the contractors assembled, calling it a “dream team.”

“For them to have accomplished what they did and to get the stadium in a state of readiness for this event in such a short period was just remarkable,” he stated.

“It just speaks to the level of professionalism that we have in this country.

“This was at the height of the construction period and we had at least 100 men working diligently on that project and they produced a masterpiece as far as I’m concerned.”

Scheduled for April 27 to May 7, Sealey said the management and coaches will have to decide on which direction they will proceed in getting the team ready as the hosts of the 15 other participating countries from around the world.

“I haven’t had a chance to sit down with the coaching staff or the management team,” he pointed out. “As the president, I prefer to refrain from that. Once I name the personnel, I tend to allow them to make the necessary preparations and if they need my assistance to perform at their best, I would do that.

“I can assure you that they will be preparing diligently. They have an opportunity to train in the facility now for the next six weeks, so that should give them an advantage.”

In preparation for the CONCACAF Championship, the Bahamas team got to travel to Europe to train and compete in a series of games.

However, Sealey said he’s uncertain if that will occur this time around with the short time in between the two tournaments.

“We might take a train to Fort Lauderdale where Hungary and Japan will be there in the next couple weeks to train,” he suggested.

“I know Tahiti is also here and we may seek to do a joint camp with them.

“I know Switzerland will be coming in shortly. So those two teams will be here shortly, so there will be opportunities for us to engage some teams in the next few weeks.”

As for the fans, Sealey said they got a taste of what to expect at the World Cup.

“The CONCACAF Qualifier on a scale of 1-10 would be a four compared to the World Cup, so you definitely won’t want to miss the World Cup,” he said.

“I would encourage you to come out early because the games will start early this time.

“We started games from as early as 12:30. We do work, but the crowds started to build at 4:30. But if you come at 7, the chance of you getting into the stadium was slim.”

Unlike CONCACAF when around 200 fans flew in from Panama just for the championship, Sealey said they anticipate that every country will be bringing in their own fans for the duration of the tournament, which is typical for the World Cup.

“I encourage the Bahamian fans to come out early. It’s a free event, but it’s a first come, first serve,” he stated.

“Unfortunately for safety reasons, we can only allow so many fans to come into the stadium.”

For the World Cup, Sealey said they will be erecting a fan zone on the Malcolm Park basketball court where there will be giant screens for the fans to view the games, rather than congregating on the Sir Sidney Poitier Bridge as they did during the CONCACAF because they couldn’t get into the stadium.

“As exciting as the CONCACAF was, the World Cup will be doubly exciting,” Sealey said.

The draw for the World Cup will be done tonight at the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island.