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The Bermuda Football Association announced that the North Village Rams, defending Premier League Champions, will represent Bermuda in the CFU Club Championships First Round later this month.

The North Village Rams will play two matches in the Cayman Islands in Group 1 against Georgetown Sports Club and Elite Sports Club respectively on Sunday March 25, and on Tuesday March 27, at the T.E. McField Playing Field. The winner of Group 1 will advance to the Second Round against PR Islanders of Puerto Rico and Caledonia AIA of Trinidad & Tobago. The best runner – up of either Group 1, 2 or 3 will also advance.

Bermuda Football Association (BFA) President Larry Mussenden and the Executive Council throw their full support behind North Village Rams as they become the third club to represent Bermuda during the 21st Century in this prestigious tournament in the Caribbean.

President Mussenden says, “North Village Community Club will represent Bermuda proudly with dignity and class. Although, they don’t know much about their opposition, they will play with true heart and determination as they make every effort to advance to the next round of the competition. This tournament is of significance for North Village, as they earned the right to represent Bermuda after winning the Premier Division league title during the 2010/11 season. The Executive, all our Clubs and the family of Football would like to take this opportunity to wish North Village Rams all the success in the CFU Club Championships. Finally, as this is a costly venture to NVCC and to the BFA, we welcome any donations that people or companies may wish to make to the campaign.”

Mark Wade, Chairman of the Player Development Committee (PDC) is in full support of the CFU Club Championships, and applauds North Village Rams on their upcoming international matches. “The participation of North Village Community Club in the CFU Club Championship is a continuation of the efforts to give players and clubs exposure to higher levels of competition. This exposure should have the net effect of raising the level of play domestically and increasing the pool of players capable of vying for places in the national team. The PDC is excited of the prospects of a team from Bermuda doing well in the competition.”

Meantime, North Village Community Club President, Shervin Dill said his club has been looking forward to this opportunity, “North Village Community Club is excited and looks forward to competing in the CFU Club Championship this year. We intend to represent the North Village Community, our Club, and as Ambassadors for Bermuda, to play to the best of our ability to do all of Bermuda proud. This is another first for NVCC and it just happens to coincide with our club celebrating our 55th anniversary this year.”

“To the BFA we say thank you for your commitment and support in continuing to provide this great opportunity to the Clubs of Bermuda.”

Shaun Goater, North Village Rams Head Coach for the past two and a half seasons is overwhelmed to see his club participate in the tournament.

“We are extremely excited that North Village Rams have been afforded this opportunity to compete in the CFU Club Championships in the Cayman Islands. We have been drawn in Group 1 against Georgetown Sports Club and Elite Sports Club representing the Cayman Islands. This will be of high quality football and therefore this will not be taken for granted by North Village. As a team we look forward to competing against Georgetown and Elite Sports later this month. During the past month, we have raised the bar in our training sessions for this tournament. The coaching staff and players continue to work closely as we prepare for this most important tournament. Meanwhile, the response from the players has been overwhelmingly positive as we do our final preparations. We look forward to having a full squad when we compete in the Cayman Islands.”