For the third time in 10 years, The Bahamas will be hosting the CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) Beach Soccer Championships. The Bahamas will be one of 12 countries that will be competing May 8-14, for one of two qualifying spots for the FIFA (International Association Football Federation) Beach Soccer World Cup, set to be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) in November 2023.

The tournament will be held at the Beach Soccer Stadium at Malcolm Park, at the foot of the Sir Sidney Poitier Bridge. The Bahamas Football Association (BFA) held a press conference at that location on Thursday to launch the tournament.

According to a CONCACAF release, the team will be comprised of Gavin Christie, Lesly St. Fleur, Michael Butler, Torin Ferguson, Evelt Julmis, Daron Beneby, Jean Francois, Kyle Williams, Gary Joseph, James Thompson, Creven Ferguson and Wood Julmis.

Christie, who serves as the BFA Vice President with the responsibility for the chairmanship of the beach soccer committee, said they are once again happy to be back playing in this tournament, and at home again.

"We were elated when we found out that we were hosting this tournament. The team has been preparing for months and we are ready. It's always good for us to play at home in front of our home fans. They're like the sixth person on the pitch. We're happy to showcase at home because we travel at times to play but now it's time to showcase to The Bahamas, to our people, to our friends, to our family, all the hard work that we've been doing with this program for over the last 10 years," Christie said.

The Bahamas is in Group B which has four-time CONCACAF Champion Mexico, as well as Belize and Guatemala. The teams in Group A are defending champions El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guadeloupe and Turks and Caicos. Group C is made up of the United States, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago and the Dominican Republic.

Following group stage play, the first and second place finishers in each group, plus the two best third-place finishers will advance to the quarterfinals. That will be followed by the semifinals, third-place match and the final.

Admission is free for the entire tournament. The Bahamas will play its group stage games at 7:30 p.m., May 8-10.

Christie also said that the team is a mixed one with experience and youth. A staple to The Bahamas' beach soccer team and a player that teams do their homework on is St. Fleur. He is the all-time leading goal scorer for The Bahamas and he's looking forward to playing at home.

"My role going into this tournament is going to be very important as a leader and as a player on the team," St. Fleur said. "I bring my experience on the field to the team and will help to guide the players to realize their expectations and to go out there and fight for their country. We just got to go there and do our best and play to the best of our abilities and come out victorious."

The custodian for The Bahamas in goal will be Butler, for the most part. He is no stranger to the sport having played in that position for several years for The Bahamas and FBS FC club out of Miami, Florida. Besides saving goals, he has scored a few goals himself, making him a threat for opposing sides.

"It's a shock being one of the younger guys on the team and noticing that a lot of my team members look up to me. This was a change for me," Butler said. "What I offer to the team is the ability to adapt. I've played in a lot of styles recently. Even this one that we're going into is a little different, but I think the team trusts me and I'm glad that they do. I think that's what I bring to the table along with a sense of responsibility and loyalty to the team."

Adam Miller, who serves as Sports Officer at the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, represented Minister Mario Bowleg. Miller said that hosting this tournament is a part of the government's mandate to bring sports back to paradise.

"This type of event is a great opportunity for the country to showcase what we have to offer," Miller said. "This is the third time we have hosted this tournament in the last 10 years, so we are capable as a country to host this type of event. This is a very important year, being the 50th anniversary as an independent nation. This is an important tournament for the growth of beach soccer in the country. The government realizes that hosting these types of events are vital for our national teams, not only for them to be able to qualify and move on to higher tournaments, but to be able to showcase to the Bahamian public that we can compete on an international stage."

According to Christie, the team has been training hard, which includes practicing in the mornings and evenings as they know how big of a tournament this is. He noted that being home is a competitive edge for them and Bahamians can expect to see a very strong showing from them next week.

Team Bahamas' last competition was the ANOC World Beach Soccer Games qualifiers that was held in Costa del Sol, El Salvador, April 6-10. The team finished sixth overall in that competition. The team past played at home in October 2022 in the Bahamas Beach Soccer Cup. They won the tournament with a spirited final match up against Colombia, winning 3-1.

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