As Team Bahamas ventures to Argentina to continue its preparation for the 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, the stadium that they will welcome the world to is continuing to take shape.
The Bahamas Football Association (BFA), in conjunction with the local organizing committee of the event (LOC) and the government of The Bahamas, celebrated the 100-day countdown to the biggest football event to ever be held in the country by taking the media on a tour of the multi-million dollar facility yesterday.
The facility at the foot of the Sir Sidney Poitier Bridge is expected to cost about $2.5 million. From the look of things, it is nearing completion. Just the VIP section and main grandstand await completion, and the sand for the soccer pitch must be brought in.
"This is going to be a unique facility for this region," said BFA President Anton Sealey yesterday. "Also, it's not just a beach soccer stadium. It is an arena that will be hosting the beach soccer world cup, but once the beach soccer world cup has come and gone, this stadium will be a legacy, capable of hosting other events. We are already getting requests from our regional neighbors for the plans, because other countries want to duplicate what we have here. This is going to be a state-of-the-art facility, and one which the entire Bahamas could be proud of. We're looking forward to the 11 days of competition and hosting teams from all over the world."
All six confederations of FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) will be represented at the global event, which is set for April 27 to May 7, at the new facility here in Nassau, The Bahamas. All of the regions, with the exception of AFC (Asian Football Confederation), CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football) and CONMEBOL (South American Football Confederation), have already staged their qualifiers. The Bahamas, ranked number one in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and number five in CONCACAF, qualifies for the global event as the host nation. The CONCACAF region will feature two other qualifiers, which will be determined from their championships, set for February 20-26, at the same facility.
"We want to encourage Team Bahamas who is in Argentina preparing for the world cup to come out and put on a good performance, and we want to say to the wider Team Bahamas to do what you have to do to get ready for this mega event," said LOC Chairman Jeffrey Beckles. "We want all Bahamians to come out and cheer on Team Bahamas and show the world that we are indeed the best place to host sporting events. We are pleased to say that through a collaborate effort, this event is going to grand and very successful. This is going to be a wonderful stadium, and it is going to be a tremendous boost for the country going forward. We just want to thank all of the stakeholders who came on board, ensuring that we get to this point, and that this event takes place."
The stadium was designed by Bruce LaFleur & Associates, Ltd., in conjunction with Integrated Building Services (IBS) and an international firm based in Malaysia. Cavalier Construction is the lead contractor.
"It's a collaborate effort. We want to thank all of the stakeholders who came on board to make this happen," said LaFleur, who also serves as a vice president in the BFA and LOC member. "The use of Cavalier Construction was paramount for us. Cavalier has been a partner of the BFA for many years. The president 'Dick' Wilson used to be the president of Cavalier Football Club. He has been instrumental in making sure this project is completed on time. The energy and enthusiasm that Cavalier has brought on board has been truly extraordinary. These guys have been working very hard to ensure that this project is completed on time. We have a test event at the end of February, so it is imperative that the stadium be in playing shape by that time. We're going to start to build the VIP stand in another couple weeks. It's moving very quickly. There has been some challenges, as with all things, but all of the government agencies have done all they can to help this project be completed."
The test event that LaFleur is referring to is the CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championships, from which the final two qualifiers for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup will be determined.
The event itself will be free of charge to the public, including the championship match that is set for Sunday May 7.
"At the end of the day, this is a family event," said Sealey. "The government has invested significantly in this event, but we thought it was not necessary to charge an entrance fee to make it accessible to as many Bahamians as possible, particularly the kids. The benefit of having it accessible to as many Bahamians as possible would far outweigh the economic benefit of the event. The economy itself will be bolstered from a large contingent of foreign nationals descending upon The Bahamas, and specifically the capital island of New Providence, in some cases, for up to a month because some of the teams will come in early to get acclimatized. When these players and coaches come here, some of them are coming with their families. A number of them will remain here after the tournament on vacation, and explore The Bahamas. That is one of the things that we are looking at," he added.
The host hotel of the event is the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island, and a fan zone will be set up on that side of the bridge, engaging fans and enthusiasts of the various teams. A total of 16 teams is set to compete.
"This is a made-for-TV event," said Sealey. "Every match will be broadcasted, and they will be accessible by all 211 member countries of FIFA. The reach of this event is going to be tremendous from a tourism standpoint. FIFA has a tremendous reach, and the country will get a chance to leverage off of that. We are encouraging all Bahamians to come out and support Team Bahamas.
"The stadium is going to be awesome. Team Bahamas is training extremely hard. They are working out diligently under the watchful eyes of Coach Suarez. We're just encouraging potential sponsors to come on board with us, embrace the effort and support this venture. The economic impact for this country is going to be exceptional. It's going to be a tremendous economic boost for our country at a time when we desperately need it."
Team Bahamas is being coached by Brazilian Luis Suarez, who is a four-time champion with Brazil at the beach soccer world cup. He and the team left for Argentina yesterday, where they will play a series of games against host nation Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay and Paraguay. They will return in about a week.
A team song, produced by Fred Ferguson and Dyson Knight, and a video featuring The Bahamas, are set to be released for the mega global event.

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