By Fred Sturrup

????

Presently, the Bahamas Football Association (BFA) is being represented in Indianapolis, Indiana at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's convention.

A wide area of the sport, with an emphasis on youth soccer, will make up the program. The BFA man in Indianapolis is Vice President Fred Lunn.

He will do a lot of interacting on behalf of the national program.

BFA President Anton Sealey did not plan to be in Indianapolis. He is spearheading the Bahamian beach soccer initiative.

To that end, Sealey, who is a member of the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Beach Committee, recently returned from Zurich, Switzerland.

A FIFA Beach Soccer Workshop was held there for three days.

More than 30 national associations were represented and it is clear that FIFA intends to put the beach version of the sport further into the world spotlight.

Beach Soccer is a dimension that is indeed becoming quite popular.

As a result, the BFA, as is the case with sister organizations around the world, has a double development focus.

Sealey, who plans to provide an update on beach soccer as it relates to the BFA and its excellent facility, said the trip to Zurich, home of FIFA, went quite well.

"Yes, it was a good meeting. We discussed a lot about beach soccer and I will have more to say at a later time," said Sealey.

During his presentation in Zurich, Sealey emphasized the importance of permanent facilities to ensure growth.

Of course, here in The Bahamas, there is a quality permanent facility, the only such one in the entire Caribbean region.

It is situated at the bottom of the Sidney Poitier Bridge. One of the top items discussed in Zurich was the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2013.

The 7th FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is scheduled for Papeete, Tahiti, September 18-28.

It is expected that The Bahamas will seek to be among the World Cup squads in Tahiti.

In any event, the new BFA facility is likely to be right in the picture when the Confederation of Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) structures its qualifying rounds.

It is confirmation of this Sealey is apparently waiting to receive.

In November at the official opening of the BFA Beach Soccer Facility, top regional officials, including Caribbean Football Union (CFU) President Gordon Derrick, spoke confidently of The Bahamas being the location for future top regional beach soccer events, so, while Lunn is in Indianapolis dealing with mainstream soccer, the president is serious about his very own networking, about beach soccer.

It's all very good for the sport. This year should be big for soccer.

(To respond to this column, kindly contact Fred Sturrup at sturrup1504@gmail.com)