A two-and-a-half US million-dollar Technical Building was inaugurated on Tuesday morning, September 28, at the world-class football stadium at the Ronald Webster Park annex. The state-of the-art showpiece, with various facilities, is aimed at promoting the development of the sport among male and female students, national players and attracting regional and international footballers to Anguilla.

The football technical building

The inauguration of the building, attended by Government officials, invited guests, footballers and many schoolchildren, was marked by the visit of Switzerland-based FIFA President, Joseph S. Blatter, and an eight-member delegation. President Blatter’s visit to Anguilla culminated a Caribbean tour and attendance at FIFA U-17 Female World Cup in Trinidad & Tobago and the inauguration of a FIFA Goal Project in Jamaica.

General Secretary of the Anguilla Football Association, Damien Hughes, who chaired the ceremony, said the technical building was part of a FIFA Goal Programme, proposed by President Blatter, designed to empower national associations by providing technical, financial and institutional assistance in the areas of infrastructure, administration, education, coaching, sports medicine, refereeing, youth football and the training of youth coaches.

FIFA's President Mr. Joseph Blatter cutting ribbon

He said that at its meeting on October 15, 2003, the Goal Bureau approved Anguilla’s first Goal Project application. It included the construction of a technical centre comprising a playing field with a security fence; artificial lighting; and a grand stand with offices and changing rooms.

“This project is the Anguilla Football Association’s first independent administration base and will serve as a technical centre for football development at all levels,” Damien Hughes stated. “This facility will also underline the progressive image of the Association which has improved significantly over the last ten years. This facility was constructed at a cost of two and a half million US dollars with $650,000 having been received from FIFA and $1.85 million funded through Anguilla’s FA funds; a loan from the National Bank of Anguilla; more than $500,000 from the Government of Anguilla in financial support and duty-free concessions and US$75,000 from the Social Security Board and many other donations from the private sector in Anguilla.”

President of the Anguilla Football Association, Raymond Guishard, known for his hard work and dedication, said he felt a sense of pride to see the reality of a dream. He was delighted that with its affiliation to FIFA, Anguilla had the same vote as any regional or international country holding membership in the organisation and benefitting from its football programmes.

President Blatter with CM, Governor, Mr. Baird, Mr. Guishard and Mr. Warner entering stadium

“We should also be able to play against any country in the world and, because of this, we need you to start dreaming,” he told the primary school students in particular, who are being trained in the sport, and others. “With this facility, I would like to see the next Pele (a famous international football) coming from Anguilla. I feel that we need to compete at a level that would not distinguish us a nation which has amateur football players. The opportunity is there for anyone who wants to dream and to see it become a reality.”

Mr. Guishard noted that the decking of the building and chairs were funded by the Anguilla Government which also donated 6.5 acres of and for the project. He was grateful to the former Government and the then Minister of Sport, Niel Rogers, for their involvement and support.

“I sincerely hope that you all will remember this day when we opened the facility and when Mr. Blatter and Mr. Jack Warner (FIFA’s President and Vice President respectively) were here,” Mr. Guishard added.

School children with Teacher Ross Guishard

Mr. Warner, who is also President of CONCACAF, and Minister of Transportation and Works in Trinidad and Tobago, was pleased with the achievement of Mr. Guishard, the Football Association and the Government and people of Anguilla. He was struck by Guishard’s dream with no money and yet his ability to accomplish the project along with the collective efforts of others.

“All of you have to be eternally proud,” he continued. “I too am proud of the vision of my President, Joseph Blatter, whose vision for a Goal Project, served as a catalyst for this dream. To small countries, like Anguilla, I wish to say that President Blatter, from what he does for football, you will see that there is no discrimination of any kind based on a country’s size, shape or fortune. That is why it is no surprise, President Guishard, that he is here in Anguilla today after having refused the request from eighteen countries of CONCACAF to be present there. He said to them in Port of Spain: ‘I am going to Anguilla.”’
Mr. Warner said the dream in Anguilla must be treasured and put into the playing field where there must be young male and female players who would in time demonstrate to other visiting and competing footballers that the island was not an easy walk over in terms of competition.

“You now have your own facility. Treasure it. Embrace it. Love it. It’s yours,” he added.

Anguilla’s Deputy Chief Minister and Minister responsible for sports, Edison Baird, said the occasion marked a historic achievement for the Football Association in particular and sport development in Anguilla as a whole.

All-Ah-Wee Theatre players in performance

“The opening of this long-awaited Technical Centre signals that football in Anguilla finally has a home,” Mr. Baird stated. “On behalf of the Government of Anguilla, I congratulate the Football Association for its foresight and fortitude in ensuring that this facility came to fruition. The Association has demonstrated, in a tangible way, its belief in football and its commitment to the development of the sport in Anguilla.

“I take this opportunity to officially welcome to our shores FIFA’s President. Mr. Joseph Blatter, FIFA’s Vice President and CONCACAF President, Mr. Jack Warner, and other distinguished FIFA officials. We are pleased that you have taken the time to be present with us today.

“The FIFA Goal Programme is a sterling example of its promise in action for the game, for the world. This programme enables the Anguilla Football Association to develop a project tailor-made for our needs. Your programme has contributed not only to the independence of this Association, but its ability to make a difference in our community through football. The fact that we are here today says to me that FIFA’s mission to develop the game, touch the world and build a better future, is not empty rhetoric; rather, it is a belief held by FIFA that it has the power to change the lives of people for the better over the world, even on a little 35-square-mile paradise such as ours.”

Mr. Baird was pleased that the Anguilla Government was able to contribute to the project. He hoped that the collaboration involving Government, local associations and international bodies could be emulated in the development of Anguilla’s sporting projects and to provide opportunities especially for young people, both male and female, to become world-class athletes.

Guishard (r) presenting awards to NBA, CCB and Social Security representatives

President Blatter, who drew much applause at the gathering, spoke in particular to the Anguillian youth. He said that he and his colleagues were honoured to have the presence of the highest authorities on the island, including Governor Harrison, Chief Minister Hubert Hughes and his Cabinet.

He urged everyone to dream, as dreams with will and hope could become realities as was the case with the technical building. “There is no difference between big and small associations. We are all in the same family, and the same field, and here you are really in paradise,” he observed. “It is a wonderful country. The population is not as high as other countries, but it is the heart and spirit I felt when I arrived and I feel it today. I am especially speaking to the young people. The technical centre…where football is finally at home, cannot be realised only with dreams and only with football because football is part of our society. That’s why we need the support of the Government, the family and the society to build such a stadium.”

Mr. Blatter said that in football, like any other sport, it was easy to learn to win, but not so easy to learn to lose; that in football they would always be together and learn to be better human beings. He told his listeners he was amazed by the statistics in Anguilla. There was a Football League and female teams including the popular Fire Ants, and suggested that CONCACAF might be able to provide assistance for the further development of female football.

President Blatter presenting gifts to Governor, CM Hughes and Deputy Mr. Baird

“I am happy to be the President of 208 national associations, and here I see what football means. It is the heart and the spirit,” he said. He urged young Anguillians to develop their football skills which could assist them in realising a better future in the school-applied sport.

There were a number of presentations during the ceremony. The recipients included Government officials who received FIFA emblems; representatives of National Bank, Caribbean Commercial Bank and Social Security who received small trophies, President of the Football Association, Raymond Guishard and former Minister of Sports, Youth and Culture, Evans Rogers. He took the opportunity to express appreciation for the FIFA’s assistance and the highly commended Guishard for his tireless contribution to the project.

The programme for the FIFA delegation which stayed at Viceroy Resort and Residences, also included courtesy calls on the Governor, Chief Minister and other Government officials; an official dinner at Temenos Golf Club, a press conference, and a girls and boys’ football match.

Invited guests in stadium

In addition to Mr. Blatter and Mr. Warner, the delegation included Thierry Regenass, Director, Division Development and Member Associations; Gregory Engelbrecht, Development Division, Senior Manager; Daryll Warner, Development Officer, Trinidad; Segolene Valentin, Communications Division; Hema Ramkisson, Personal Assistant to CONCACAF President; Claudia Burtscher and Marta Mulero, Personal Assistants to the FIFA President.

The delegation, which arrived on Monday, left Anguilla on Wednesday.

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