Organisers have added a new component to the annual SportsFeva tournament and are promising that the 2016 edition will be the biggest yet.

Hosted by the American International School of Kingston (AISK) and featuring main sponsor Flow, the sixth staging of SportsFeva was launched on Tuesday at the institution’s College Green Avenue base in St Andrew. SportsFeva gives students of all ages and from various countries the opportunity to compete for bragging rights in four sports.

Tennis, soccer and clay shooting are the more traditional sports contested, but this year will see the introduction of eGamesFeva, a video game competition.

Over 20 schools, including representatives from Aruba, Curacao, The Bahamas and Cayman Islands, are expected to compete.

“It’s one thing to have an annual event of this kind, but it’s another thing when it consistently grows. When AISK started SportsFeva, we had no idea that it would grow this fast,” said Shirley Davis, AISK’s head of school.

“We have more than 294 student athletes this year. We are doubly proud that SportsFeva continues to attract both local and international attention — this year we have about 90 athletes and coaches travelling by air. That’s pretty impressive for a small, student-focused, non-commercial sporting event,” said Brad Ransom, AISK’s athletics director.

TennisFeva will get the tournament rolling with competition starting on February 22. SoccerFeva and eGamesFeva will both begin February 26, while ClayFeva is scheduled to take place on March 6 at Jamaica Skeet Shooting Club in Portmore.

“Everything kicks off with tennis in a few weeks’ time. Then we have SoccerFeva, our flagship event, which invites teams from Curacao and Aruba, two different schools coming from Cayman, and the local schools.

“Watts New [electronic store] will be setting up a gaming lounge for eGamesFeva and ClayFeva will be in Portmore,” Ransom told the Jamaica Observer.

AISK, founded in 1994, stages the SportFeva tournament to facilitate local and international student athletes yearning for yearly competition.

According to the school’s athletics director, it has helped to build AISK’s sports programmes and has contributed to improving the standards that athletes perform at.

— Sanjay Myers