AFTER the successful inaugural staging of Soccerfeva last year (2010), the American International School of Kingston (AISK) has upped the ante and expanded the event to the CGM Gallagher AISK Sportsfeva.

AISK’s hosting of the sporting event this year constituted sporting clays, mini-tennis, parent golf athletes (PGA), and the much-loved six-a-side football competition. The sporting event was also expanded from a weekend of activities to a week, with the launch of the Sportsfeva being last Monday.

Not only was there an expansion in the number of events, but there was also a significant increase in the number of schools including the recently constructed International School of Curaçao; Campion College and Immaculate Conception High School, joining last year’s contestants Hillel Academy; the Cayman International School (CIS); the International School of Aruba (ISA);and the Bahamas-based Layford Cay International School (LCIS).

When quizzed about the initiative to collaborate with the AISK community in the staging of Sportsfeva, Sheraley Bridgeman, vice-president of Business Development at CGM Gallagher Insurance Brokers Limited told TEENage: “Being able to give back to the community through sports and education only helps us to manifest our mission statement of being ‘brokers to the Caribbean’. She also declared that it provided a perfect platform for the 40th anniversary celebration of the company, which saw the value of “a great idea with endless possibilities”.

The event was given an even greater boost with additional sponsorship coming from communication powerhouse Flow, Ocean Spray, Wata, National Outdoor Advertising, PanCaribbean and SportsMax who provided coverage just to name a few.

In the football competition, 15-year-old Kingsley Firth of the Cayman International School (CIS) came away as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the boys’ section after his hat-trick in the finals. The hat-trick — which compromised of a long-ranged free kick, a penalty kick and an intelligent finish after a decent build-up — helped his team to a 3-1 victory over the local boys from Campion College.

Very pleased with the outcome of the finals, Kingsley stated, “considering that we lost all our games last year, it’s really a great feeling to come away with the title this year. The key difference to this year was that we were better organised and better prepared.” He also made special mention of Moses Ebanks, the goalkeeper for CIS, who he believes is one of the best young keepers in the Cayman Islands. “He was as deserving of the MVP award as I was, he did really well throughout the tournament and very well in the finals.”

Last season’s top scorer on the girl’s side, Felisha Rosendahl returned to claim the MVP title as her team, Layford Cay International School easily defended their crown from last year. Their valiant opponents were the local-based Immaculate Conception High School.

A student of the 12th grade, Felisha will be moving on to a college in the United States come next year. Though she has been integral to their success in the two years of the competition, she is confident that they can make it a three-peat without her in next year’s staging.

As the development of youth continues, AISK perpetuates its role as not only being an academic institution but one that provides avenues of regional integration and the utilisation of youthful exuberance through sports.

— Devaro Bolton