Canadian football great Alex Bunbury arrives in Guyana today for his almost two weeks-long visit, geared to not only reconnect with his roots, but also to lay the foundation for his ‘Alex Bunbury Sports and Academics Academy’ in Guyana.Born in the village of Plaisance, Bunbury migrated to Canada at age nine and began playing football when he was 12 years-old.

The former Canadian National team striker, who made 65 appearances for ‘The Canucks’, will be back ‘home’ until January 25 and in a recent interview with Chronicle Sport, Bunbury pointed out that he’s looking “forward to sharing my lessons and my story with young Guyanese boys and girls of every race, and to inspire them to work hard, learn the fundamentals of football and play the game the right way”

He added “during my two-week visit, I will host four free youth football clinics, the first of which will be held in my hometown of Plaisance,”

The 48-year-old Bunbury said that the aim of his academy, to help young people, especially football players, realise their full potential as productive, innovative and caring citizens in the game of life.

“My dream journey as a professional footballer took me from Canada to England and then to Portugal where I found my niche at CS Maritimo in the first division of La Liga. Over seven amazing years, I became (and still remain) CS Maritimo’s All-Time, leading goal scorer. Finally, I finished my distinguished career in the MLS with the Kansas City Wizards,” Bunbury said.

Alex is the father of four children; Kylie an award-winning actress, Teal a current professional footballer and member of the U.S. Men’s National football Team, Logan an aspiring musician and Mataeo the youngest at age 10, following in his father and brother’s footsteps.

“I am passionate about giving back to my country of birth, the country that gave me a unique set of values, discipline, humility and a strong work ethic that helped shape my success as a Hall-of-Fame professional footballer”.

Meanwhile, Chronicle Sport understands that Bunbury, his brother, Coach Sam (Bunbury), and a group of local coaches will host a free youth soccer clinic in the Plaisance/Buxton area during the first week.

They will be joined by Brooklyn, NY-based coach Stan Harmon, and Golden Jaguars captain Christopher Nurse (awaiting final confirmation) for a second week of the clinic for boys and girls aged 12-15.

Bunbury was accepted into the Canadian Soccer Hall Of Fame in 2006, following his illustrious career.

In total, he represented Canada in 21 youth internationals, including the FIFA World Youth Championship in the Soviet Union in 1985 — the same year he kick-started his professional soccer career as a striker with the Hamilton Steelers.
Over the next four seasons, he scored 28 goals in 76 games before moving on the Toronto Blizzard, Montreal Spura, West Ham United and Maritimo in Portugal, where he remains the club’s all-time leading scorer.

He returned to North America in 1999 and retired after two seasons and an MLS championship with the Kansas City Wizards.

Bunbury made his debut with Canada’s senior team while still a Steeler in 1986. In the 11 years that followed, he earned 65 caps and 16 goals — including a record 11 in World Cup qualifiers.

He was twice named the country’s player of the year and in 2012 was named to the all-time men’s team as part of the Canadian Soccer Association’s centennial celebrations.

By Rawle Toney