Tennis and soccer took centre stage last weekend on the grounds of the American International School of Kingston (AISK). The schools’ Liguanea campus was host to the first weekend of the 2016 AISK SportsFeva tournament. The event is spread over two weekends and features more than 290 student athletes from Aruba, Cayman, Curaçao and Jamaica.

“SportsFeva 2016 has been going great so far. We had some hiccups with the rain on Saturday as it postponed the U12 TennisFeva finals, but that is to be expected as we deal with mother nature and a growing event. In the long run, however, the event continues to deliver for these young athletes and that’s what we are focused on,” said Shirley Davis, AISK’s head of school.

“We had TennisFeva and SoccerFeva last weekend and the turnout was great. Many of the competitors have been here more than once, and they have formed great bonds and friendships with each other,” added Bradley Ransom, who heads AISK’s athletics department.

TennisFeva 2016 started with U-10s competing hard for bragging rights amongst their peers. A number of exciting moments kept onlookers fully engaged in the rallies on court. In the end, Hillel Preparatory came out on top with the AISK ‘A’ and AISK ‘B’ teams taking second and third places, respectively. The Immaculate Conception Preparatory School was recognised for being the most disciplined team and nine-year-old Tomas Bordeau from AISK being recognised as the competition’s best sportsman. Hillel was not to be left out of the individual awards, as their nine-year-old Matthew James was named the most valuable player.

On the U-12s side of TennisFeva St Peter and Paul Preparatory edged out Hopefield Preparatory for first place, and Hillel ‘A’ finished in third. Eleven-year-old Nathan Chin of St Peter and Paul was named the most valuable player, while Hillel Academy’s Xander Bicknell was named best sportsperson. Wolmer’s Preparatory was recognised as this year’s most disciplined team.

The excitement of SoccerFeva could not be contained. The football tournament began on Friday with group rounds, which were an indication of the excitement to come in the final rounds the following day. Big winners in Friday’s group qualifiers were defending SoccerFeva Cup boys champions Jamaica College, who trumped AISK 5-0, and Campion College and their 4-2 win over Cayman Prep. In Saturday’s knockout finals, Jamaica College defended their hold on the Soccer-Cup with a decisive 3-0 win over Curaçao in the finals. JC earlier beat Hillel 1-0 to make it to the finals, while Curaçao overcame Campion’s semi-final challenge with a 4-1 win.

Competition was no less intense for the female footballers, which saw Cayman Prep overcoming AISK 1-0 to claim the girls’ title. Cayman Prep beat the American International School of Cayman 3-1 on penalties after a 3-3 draw in the semi-finals, while Campion knocked out defending title champions Aruba in the first round of semis. AISK in turn knocked Campion College out of the running with a 3-1 win on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

AISK SportsFeva 2016 ends tomorrow with ClayFeva, a clay shooting competition, at the Skeet Shooting Club in Portmore. The excitement begins at 8:00 am.