Ky-mani wants football academy at Elleston Wakeland stadium
President of Falmouth United FC Ky-mani Marley has dreams of creating a sporting academy at the Elleston Wakeland Centre in Falmouth. Ky-mani, who was born in the Trelawny capital, has so far spearheaded the upgrade of the stadium. He says his aim is to rebuild the community of Falmouth through a sports club.
“The idea for the facility is to build an actual football academy, meaning we board the players here and have the facility where they can be educated as well,” Ky-mani told the WESTERN STAR.
“The idea is to put on two more scrimmage fields. One will be turf, and the other, grass. We also want to put in a full-size swimming pool, so we are clearing the facility now for those ... We are hoping to start later this year. However, the building process, we estimate, will take up to two years from start to finish,” he added.
HONOURING MOTHER
Meanwhile, Ky-mani, who is more popularly known through his father’s exploits in reggae music, said he also wants to honour the legacy of his mother, Anieta Belnavis, who is a former national and Caribbean table tennis champion.
“We recently started the netball teams as we have netball as one of the sports on board. Also, we want to build a table-tennis hall. So, we are actually changing now from Falmouth United Football Club to Falmouth United Sports Club as the idea is to make the facility a multi-sports complex,” said Marley.
Falmouth United, the club’s senior football team, was crowned champion of the Grandeur Transportation Services/MonyMusk Rum Trelawny FA Major League competition last month. They have now been promoted to next season’s Charley’s JB Rum Western Confederation Super League.
“So far, so good because as I said, we started out rocky, but I see smooth road ahead,” said Ky-mani, whose objective for the football team is to reach the premier league.
“We have managed to acquire a sponsor, Alacran Foundation, who will be stepping in along with my brother, Rohan Marley, to help this vision come to be a reality,” he said.