The Barbados Football Association’s annual Youth Awards ceremony, held this past weekend, saw one academy emerge as the undisputed standout of youth football across the country: FM Four Pillars. The program claimed top honors in two of the three age-group divisions, sweeping a majority of individual accolades alongside its team titles.
In the Under-15 division, FM Four Pillars took home the overall championship title, and dominated the individual awards category for the age bracket. Nikolai Mapp earned the distinction of Best Goalkeeper, while Leemar Murray claimed Best Defender. Azario Stoute of the academy secured two of the night’s most coveted honors: the award for Most Goals and the overall Most Valuable Player (MVP) title. The only individual Under-15 award to go to another club was Best Midfielder, which went to Dimiko Jordan of Kickstart Premier.
FM Four Pillars repeated its winning streak in the Under-17 division, earning the crown of league champions. Mavericks Heat took second place in the division, while Technique rounded out the top three. Once again, FM Four Pillars players claimed nearly all individual awards for the age group. Jarrell Prescod was named Best Goalkeeper, with teammate Kiron Padmore taking home Best Defender. Fellow academy member Ashaun Grecia earned two honors: Best Midfielder and MVP. The only non-Four Pillars award went to Jamarco Johnson of Kickstart Rush, who claimed the Most Goals title.
The Under-13 division saw a different club take the top spot, with Whitehall claiming the overall age-group title. Kickstart Premier finished in second place, while the National Sports Council team secured third. Whitehall also dominated the individual awards for the division: Jelani Sealy was named Best Goalkeeper, Andre Spencer claimed Best Defender, and Zion Green took home both Best Midfielder and MVP. The Most Goals award went to Tabarry Chandler of United Stars Alliance.
In an interview with Barbados TODAY following the awards sweep, FM Four Pillars Academy head coach Fabian Massiah attributed the program’s successful year to collective effort across the entire organization. “I was happy with this success, but kudos to all the coaches, the players and the management teams,” Massiah said. Looking ahead to 2026, the coach noted that the academy’s core priority remains long-term player development rather than trophy collection. “We just plan to continue developing. I always tell the boys that if they continue to do the right things, the success will come and it’s not always matched by trophies; we set our eyes on getting to a particular level,” he explained.
Massiah also shared that the academy has adjusted its traditional summer programming for this year, canceling its planned summer tour. The trip, which was scheduled to go through the United States, was scrapped due to overlapping with the FIFA World Cup and spiking travel costs. “There is no summer tour this year because of the football World Cup and ticket prices to the US were pretty high. We have postponed everything till either later in the year, probably December and if not December, then next summer,” he added.