Lyford Cay International School (LCIS) recently hosted another successful KPMG Football Fest. International schools from The Bahamas, Jamaica, Barbados, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and the Cayman Islands played outstanding football in front of enthusiastic spectators over the course of two days. This is the third time that these schools, all members of the Caribbean International Schools Association (CISA), have come together for sport and cross-cultural exchange.
"Each year our tournament gets better," remarked Director of Athletics for LCIS, Craig Massey. "It is an amazing opportunity for all of the students who participate. They have a chance to test their skills on the football pitch as well as strengthen friendships between the schools and across nations."
This year, 150 soccer players, ages 15 and under, played in 36 matches. Players attended from The Codrington School (Barbados), Cedar International School (BVI), The American International School of Kingston (Jamaica), Cayman Prep (Cayman Islands), and Lucaya International School (Freeport, Grand Bahama). The Turks and Caicos also sent their 15-and-under national girls team to compete in the tournament. Visiting teams were joined by teams from both of the international schools in New Providence; LCIS and St. Andrew's School.
"This is the first ever football trip for Cayman Prep and high school, so we were particularly pleased to be taking part in this prestigious tournament," said Cayman Coach Phil Thompson. "Tours such as these give students the opportunity to meet students from across the Caribbean, as eight schools from six countries were represented in total. It provided our students with the opportunity to play competitive sport on an international level. In addition, it enabled students to develop important life skills, such as self-confidence, collaboration and independence. This was a brilliant opportunity for the students and they all had a great time. Our sincere thanks goes to the organizers of the event and the families who were so kind enough to host the students during their stay."
KPMG sponsors the LCIS Football Fest, which gets more popular with each passing year. The costs of the event are covered by the corporate sponsor, while LCIS families host players in home stays and schools pay for their own travel expenses. Subway and Thompson Trading were also important sponsors of the event, providing food and snacks throughout the entire weekend.
The two-day event was monitored by an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) team from Doctors Hospital who worked alongside the LCIS school nurse, Lora Bower, to ensure that all players and spectators were well looked after during the intense competition.
The competition culminated with the 15-and-under girls Cup Final played between St Andrew's and LCIS Yellow. Goals by Julie Bussinger, Logan Nicholson and Tess Hansen secured a 3-0 win for LCIS Yellow, and concluded a weekend of gritty performances from all of the girls teams represented.
The LCIS Boys Yellow team successfully defended the championship in a final against Cayman Prep's 'A' Team, winning 1-0, thanks to an early goal by Jordan Farquharson. Teams also battled in a Plate Final with Cayman's girls team defeating the Lucaya Team and the boys from the American International School of Kingston defeating their counterparts from Cayman.
In the Shield Finals, the Turks and Caicos girls defeated the Lyford Girls Blue team and the LCIS Boys Blue team won against Codrington.
"Football is a part of the culture of LCIS," Massey pointed out. "We have invested in our players' development with specialist coaching and great equipment through our Elite and Developmental Sports (EDS) program and the results are obvious."
At the beginning of this school year, LCIS implemented the EDS program, which offers specially designed curriculums for higher level athletes. Football is offered as an EDS sport along with swimming, judo and tennis.
"Our standard of play has improved significantly since the inception of the EDS program, and we know that our athletes will continue to grow and improve under this program," Massey said.
LCIS is the only school in The Bahamas to offer the three core International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes; the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP) and the Diploma Programme (DP).
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