Former Grand Bahama soccer player Dominic Adams has just signed a professional contract with ÍBV Vestmannaeyjar, a professional football club over in Iceland.
Adams, a 25-year old outside midfielder originally from Trinidad & Tobago, inked a two-year deal with IBV, an Icelandic club which is located in Vestmannaeyjar off the south coast of Iceland. IBV is a long-standing member of the Icelandic Premier League; the top soccer division in the country and consists of 12 professional franchises. IBV has three Icelandic Championship Titles (1979, 1997, and 1998) and four Icelandic Cups (1968, 1972, 1981, and 1998).
Dominic made his name on Grand Bahama at Freeport Rugby Football Club where he excelled in midfield, playing in the adult league from the early age of 14. He led the Brita Red Bulls to the League title as well as picking up numerous individual awards. Dominic’s skills also came to the attention of the various coaches during the annual English Premier League Summer Soccer Camp. As a result of his performances in the summer he spent time attending prestigious academies in England such as Wolverhampton Wanderers, Birmingham City and Watford. Adams was also a member of the Trinidad and Tobago U-17 National Team before attending college.
In 2007, Dominic went to the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (NAIA) He played there for one year before his talents were spotted once more and in 2008, he got selected to play for the Colorado Rapids U-23 and was also offered numerous scholarships from NCAA division 1 schools. Dominic chose to attend Quinnipiac, a prestigious University with both an excellent reputation academically and on the soccer field. Dominic played 3 years at Quinnipiac University, working with high level coaches such as Chris Bart-Williams and Shaka Hislop, both former professional footballers in the English Premier League.
His former coach Mark Hardy expressed an enormous pride at his former youth player noting that it gives you a wonderful feeling to see one of your players progress so far. "I still remember seeing Dom as a scrawny 13/14 year old playing in the school league, recalls Hardy. "Even though he hardly touched the ball or influenced the game it was obvious that he had more quality than most players on the field even though he was 3 -4 years younger than the rest of the players. He is a role model to all players on the island, indeed all students, as it indicates how your career can progress from such humble beginnings. Dom has taken advantage and excelled at each level he has played and hence has continued to progress."
Hardy joked that he had always advised his youngsters that they should always strive for a college scholarship rather than ‘dream' of playing professional in Europe. “Yet again however Dominic has raised the bar for others to follow. Dom was the most successful youngster to come through the club’s youth programme and obtained an excellent NCAA Division 1 scholarship after having been scouted in tournaments. Now he is paving the way for our players to turn pro!"
Dominic graduated with a degree in 2012 in Health sciences but still had further ambitions on the soccer field which have led to this recent event. After college, he tried out for a full time training program called Bridges FC which trains college players and prepares them for a career in Europe, mainly Scandinavia. Having made two trips to Europe with the team and playing against professional European teams such as Heerenveen SC, Utrecht FC and Vitesse Arnhem; Dom had numerous professional trial before ultimately signing with IBV.
Given the recent success of players from the Scandinavian countries in the English Premier League such as Ole Solksjaer, Eidur Gudjohnsen and Hermann Hreidarsson, given Dominic’s determination, who would bet on there not being further chapters to this story.
Dominic would like to express his thanks to all those on the island who contributed to his success including all those at Freeport Rugby Football Club and their youth soccer programme, especially coach Mark, coach Husseyin, coach Scott, coach Brad and Tony Johns.