Academy Sports Club puts in another great performance at the 2023 Target USA Cup

Seven teams from the Cayman Islands from a joint group of Academy Sports Club and ESM participated in this year’s Target USA CUP.

The teams put in a great overall performance, with several teams making it to the semifinals and finals, earning two major trophies in the process.

According to Academy, the ESM U9’s were very exciting to watch. The youngest team in the group made it to the semifinals and had a tight 2-1 loss in their semifinal match.

The ESM U11 boys made it to the finals and, after another great performance, won their match 3-1 to become U11 Boys champions.

The Academy U13 boys had a great run throughout the tournament, losing a tight quarterfinal match 4-3 in the U13 boys Silver flight.

Academy’s U15 boys displayed an amazing performance all week. They made it to the U15 Boys Silver Finals and lost 5-2 to a strong team from Iceland, earning the Runners up trophy.

The Academy U16 boys played well in the Gold flight and suffered a loss in their quarterfinal in a tight match that went to a penalty shootout.

U17 Academy girls had an excellent tournament. They made it to the U17 Girls Silver Semifinals and lost 3-nil after a tough battle and incurring several injuries along the way.

Academy’s oldest team, the U19 boys, also demonstrated some great performances, conceding only two goals all week and making it to the U19 Boys Gold semifinals. They narrowly missed out on a place in the finals after suffering a 1-nil loss.

Academy’s head of youth development and U19 boys head coach Paul Byles heaped praise on all the teams.

“All the teams performed extremely well this year. Having 5 out of 7 teams make it to the semifinals or finals and bringing home two trophies is one of our best performances. This demonstrates that our program is very effective, and our boys and girls are improving significantly,” he said.

“We owe a lot to parents, volunteers, and several sponsors for their support in helping out youth players to have another great experience at the Target USA Cup this year,” Byles added.

The Target USA Cup is the largest youth football tournament in the world, with over 1,200 teams competing from 17 different countries.