Copyright caymancompass
The young talent of Fusion Sports Club returned to the annual Monster Mash Tournament, giving them another taste of international football competition. The tournament, hosted by The Florida Soccer School in Tampa from 17-19 Oct., saw the Fusion squad, a mixture of under-11 and under-13 girls, face off with three Florida teams. The bulk of Fusion SC’s action took place on Saturday, 18 Oct. with their first match against Dunedin Stirling, resulting in a 2-0 defeat. Later that afternoon, the girls returned to the pitch to face FC Sarasota, where they endured another 2-0 loss. The biggest test, however, came on Sunday when the Fusion SC side went up against Ocala Premier, the reigning tournament champions, ultimately falling 7-0. The team was led by the coach duo of Sylvester ‘Pongo’ Coleman and Olsen Ebanks. Reflecting on the tournament, Ebanks said it was a very rewarding experience for the team that allowed the players and parents “to experience and witness age-appropriate levels of play that our players need to aspire to reach.” When describing the first two matches, Ebanks said the team fought relentlessly and created several scoring chances but ultimately were unable to capitalize on their opportunities. The third game saw the “inexperience” surface, with the champion team “taking advantage of every mistake our young players made.” “While our team probably played their best football, there was no margin for error against an opponent of this standard,” Ebanks said. Regardless of the final results, he commended his team, consisting of varying age ranges, for their “competitiveness and fearlessness shown” against much older and experienced players. “[It was] quite impressive,” he said. He says the takeaway is “our players were able to get a better understanding of the various aspects of playing which they should focus to improve while gathering confidence from areas they have improved in and are doing well at.” Ebanks affirmed his belief in the potential of his players and says that “with consistency and complete dedication from everyone, our kids can achieve whatever they aspire.” Highlighting the coaching dedication of ‘Pongo’ Sylvester ‘Pongo’ Coleman, a security officer at CUC, has dedicated numerous years coaching youth within the West Bay community, especially players of Fusion SC and girls of the Sir John A. Cumber Primary School football team. His coaching journey began through the CUC Community Involvement Programme where Coleman dedicated numerous afternoons assisting the training of the SJACP girls’ team. This volunteerism soon transitioned into him coaching the players on a full-time basis. During this time, he formed a players and parent coaching club where he says the players get the chance to balance playing the sport and having social opportunities as a team through activities such as pizza nights and riding bicycles within the community. He said, “it literally goes beyond the field,” adding emphasis on the importance of keeping the girls active in a healthy social environment. Linda Thompson, a parent of a player, says that her daughter loves playing the sport under the guidance of Coleman and describes him as being “dedicated to the sport”. She added that “he has a lot of patience with the girls” and is a “humble man.” Dedicating an impressive 159 hours to the CUC Community Involvement Programme – a total that included significant time coaching the girls – Coleman was honored with both the Community Spirit Award and the Volunteer of the Year Award at CUC’s 2024 annual awards ceremony.
