This past Sunday saw all of BVI’s elite football players descend on Cedar International School for the second annual Cedar Football Cup Tournament. Ten teams including many participants associated with Cedar participated in the 7v7 format including last year’s defending champions Forbes Hare. The play was quick, technical and very competitive remarked one of the many participants on hand to enjoy a day of football, good amusing commentary and great food. The Cedar Cup, established in 2015 is a celebration of football but also contributes to the fundraising efforts focused on youth football in the territory lead by several volunteer parents (many of whom are Cedar parents and also includes Cedar’s very own UEFA A certified coach John Reilly) who give of their time each Saturday mornings at Sea Cows Bay and also for the afterschool football clubs organized by Cedar. The Sea Cows Bay Manatees program, open to all kids aged from 3 to 16 in Tortola, has been running for 10+ years and funds raised last year helped buy equipment and also defray travelling costs to St. Thomas and most recently to Puerto Rico where 45 kids (five teams) participated in a very competitive GPS Caribbean Showcase weekend tournament.
The tournament was refereed this year by high schoolers Leo Forte, Stefano Hoogendijk, Marcus Lake and Liam Blok while ball boys/girls were provided by a number of primary and secondary aged kids who benefit from the football programs. The ball boys/girs were terrific commented one participant. They did an excellent job of keeping the game flowing by retrieving or feeding us balls when it went out of play. One of the organizers noted that most of the kids took their roles seriously and with the commitment the position required. We are trying to teach the kids about giving back and being a productive part of the fundraising effort continued the organizer.
Parents Al Broderick and Paul Cowlard acted as play-play color commentators to each and every match providing much amusement and giggles for players and supporters alike with terrific sound effects and humorous banter and one liners. Throughout the day spectators could be seen holding back laughs while players tried their best to remain focused on the game at hand. While the banter was well rounded those more routinely targeted in a fun manner included regular Saturday morning coaches Rusty Henderson, Sekou Pemberton, Peter Van Zoost, Jose Santos, Alessandro Palladino, Walter Reich, Jessica Broderick, Levi James and Kelvin Eubanks while parents like Gary Salter, David “the Warden” Foote, Calum McKenzie, Mark “Prez” Forte, and Chris Smith provided excellent material to work with for the young duo working together on the sidelines for the first time (despite many thinking otherwise as they confused Al for a hairless Phil Aspinall).
“What makes the Cedar Cup a bit unique and quirky” remarked Rochelle Green, one of the key tournament organizers “is the requirement that each team have at least one female on the pitch during play”. This year in particular, saw Cedar’s very own high schoolers Ella Brownsdon, Olivia Messum and Lily Pierce answer the call when it was noted that some teams needed more girl power to bolster their teams. Goals scored by female players carry extra weight when deciding tie breakers and sure enough this year saw AMS break out of a three way tie with KPMG/Conyers, and Baker Tilly in Group 1 on the back of more female goals to slip into the all-important second place in Group 1. Unfortunately their tournament came to an abrupt end in the semi-finals won by Tovel Consulting who had come in first place in Group 2. The game went to heart stopping penalty kicks which Tovel won after AMS were denied by the wood work in the third round of PKs. To say that the penalty kicks had the crowd on the edge of their seats would be an understatement.
It was Digicel who would win the other semi-final against the Silver Foxes otherwise known as Think Simple/Coldwell Banker in another tight match that reflected how evenly competitive the whole tournament had been played. Digicel, who had lost to Forbes Hare in the Final the year before were the eventual champions of 2016 upending Tovel Consulting 3-2 in the Final. One spectator rightly remarked that it may have been a different result had Tovel not lost its talisman Italian striker Alessandro Palladino to an unfortunate group stage ankle injury. Vice Captain Walter Reich also lamented the fact Team Tovel was left without Cedar’s Athletic Director John Reilly who received a late call up to manage the men’s BVI National Team in Martinique. “Despite being a massive Spurs fan – John’s steady and imposing presence on the backline and propensity to shout out football directions would have helped the team in the final especially as they sought the equalizer” concluded the losing Vice Captain in post-game interviews.
The Cinderella team of the tournament and crowd favorite was undoubtedly Team Cedar (made up of mainly Cedar teachers and admin staff) and they rewarded their loud and boisterous supporters with a much deserved win in the Plate Championship against Baker Tilly in what would prove to be one of the more entertaining an nail-biting encounters. It was David Quesada and his goal scoring toe punts, William Adamson with courageous goal keeping, Peter Clarke with his energetic and bouncing runs (sometimes off his own teammates) and Trevor Jones with acrobatic shots who were just a few of the Cedar players that had the crowd repeatedly buzzing. A wonder goal from 20 yards out by Cedar’s Caroline Maclean would later prove to be No. 1 on ESPNs top 10 Plays of the Week. On the flip side, one of the biggest groans of the day occurred when it was announced that crowd favorites Peter Clarke and David Quesada had agreed to transfer requests which would see them play in other leagues in 2016/17. Details of transfer fees were not available at the time of this article.
It was Forbes Hare as defending champions with much anticipated fanfare that left the tournament empty handed but with heads held high. Player/Manager Jose Santos remarking that it was the Harneys group stage match that put the dagger in his team’s fortunes as he presented Digicel with their much deserved 2016 Cedar Cup Trophy. “We just didn’t seem to gel this year as a team as we had last year which proved difficult to overcome.” “Perhaps they succumbed to the same woes as this year’s disappointing (and defending 2015 Premiership Champions) Chelsea squad by not being active enough in the transfer market in order to keep the team fresh and hungry” noted one clearly biased Digicel fan. KPMG/Conyers led by Cedar Trustees Mark Forte and Grant Green were another team that just missed out in advancing to the “Dance” where “anything can happen”. Seen limping from the field, both indicated they would be back stronger and sharper for the next Cup.
Individual awards included Kevin Carragher of Digicel who won the Cedar Cup 2016 Golden Boot – barely beating out Kevaughn Watson and Shamoy Thompson who each had superb tournaments in front of goal. Laura Pompey of AMS won Best Tournament Female narrowly beating over strong competition from Tovel’s rookie sensation Olivia Messum. Sekou Pemberton of the Silver Foxes took home the coveted Golden Gloves trophy for the tournament beating out the sure hands of the equally impressive Simon Cross and Grant Carroll. Best Male Competitor was a tough call but it was Gary “Pipey” Hall of Think Simple/Coldwell Banker who would win over the awards selection committee with his determined play to win the prestigious MVP award. Winners enjoyed prizes kindly donated by Tico’s and Proudly African. The winners also extended to winners of raffle prizes kindly donated by Captain (and Cedar Parent) Mike Hallet of La Buscadora, BVI Watertoys of Island Surf & Sail as well as Lisa Adamson of Sensus Gym.