Fifa Development Officer, Daryll Warner, believes that beach soccer may well find a home in the Caribbean region. While addressing a participants at a the closing ceremony of a Beach Soccer Course in the Cayman Islands yesterday Warner stated: “The potential of beach soccer in Caribbean Region is immense, our coastlines are pristine and known worldwide while this sport is still in its infancy we have the ability to tap into something great. The possibilities are endless.” Commenting specifically on the situation in the Cayman Islands, Warner stated: “With coastline that features some of the world’s best beaches and a population of roughly 45,436 that includes more than 4,000 footballers according to the last Fifa count, Cayman Islands certainly has huge potential when it comes to beach soccer.”
Until recently, however, the football authorities on this island nation were focusing their efforts almost entirely on the well-established grass version of the game. Beach soccer was just something for the weekend, a casual kickabout that people could enjoy as an alternative to sunbathing or swimming.
Of course, beach soccer thrives on this fun, laid-back image and will continue to be played on the world’s beachfronts in exactly this kind of informal manner. But there is also much more to the sport than that. To take their game to the next level, players need an understanding of the Laws of the Game. They need referees who can apply those rules, coaches who can work on their skills and tactics, and national or regional structures to make sure these elements are available.
“Considering that for most participants beach soccer was totally new, I was impressed by how quickly they got familiar with the Beach Soccer Laws of the Game and improved their level of refereeing during the festival,” according to Fifa beach soccer refereeing instructor Raveino Massimo of Tahiti. Though the game is still in its infancy as an internationally organised sport, beach soccer World Cups have been held regularly since 1995, coming under the Fifa umbrella with the staging of the first official Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup in Rio de Janeiro in 2005.
