Dart high school football kicks-off this week

By Cayman Sports Buzz
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Updated: 1 October 2018

Triple C (red) vs Cayman Academy (green) in action last year.

The second season of the Dart Under 13 Boys’ and Under 14 Girls’ High School football leagues kick-off this week with girls’ games on Wednesday, 3 October and boys’ games on Thursday, 4 October.

Organisers have decided to remain with the two age groups for 2018 to further establish the high school leagues before expanding the age groups to accommodate the Under 15s.

Sponsored exclusively by Dart, the leagues were considered to be a success during the inaugural 2017 season.

Games will be played during the week immediately after school and will continue until Wednesday, 21 November and Thursday 22 November.

High schools competing for the Dart Cup include Clifton Hunter High School, John Gray High School, St. Ignatius Catholic School, Triple C, Cayman Prep & High School, Cayman International School and Cayman Academy. Venues include fields at the Clifton Hunter High School, St. Ignatius Catholic School, Cayman International School (Dart Field), Cayman Prep High School, Annex Field and CIFA Centre of Excellence.

Defending champions are Cayman International Blue in the Dart Under 14 girls’ league and Cayman Prep & High School in the Dart Under 13 boys’ league.

Cayman International School (blue) aim to defend their Dart Under 14 Girls’ high School League title.

The blueprint for the local high school football leagues includes eventually establishing three age groups for the boys (Under 13, Under 15 and Under 18) and a minimum of two leagues for the girls.

Organisers hope to emulate the various schoolboy leagues that are played in many of the Caribbean Islands, particularly the Manning and Dacosta Cups in Jamaica and the Secondary School Football League in Trinidad & Tobago.

One significant improvement for high school football in the Cayman Islands that is not widely seen in other Caribbean islands, is the leagues for girls, which will primarily aid in the increase of girls participating in the local club leagues and the female national programme, which are overseen by the Cayman Islands Football Association (CIFA).

CIFA’s full support of the Dart Under 13 and Under 14 leagues is evident by the fact that once again, the CIFA youth leagues will not commence until after the Dart High School Leagues have ended in late November.

Games scheduled for this Wednesday, 3 October in the Dart Under 14 Girls’ League include John St. Ignatius Catholic High School vs. Triple C (at St. Ignatius); Cayman Prep City vs. Cayman Prep United (at Cayman Prep & High School); Cayman International White vs. Cayman International Blue (at the Dart Field); and Clifton Hunter High School (CHHS) vs. John Gray High School (JGHS) (at CHHS).

Games to be played on Thursday, October 4th in the Dart Under 13 Boys’ League include St. Ignatius Catholic High School vs. JGHS (at St. Ignatius); Cayman International White vs. Cayman International Blue (at the Dart Field); CHHS and Cayman Prep & High School (at CHHS); and Cayman Academy vs. Triple C (at the CIFA Field).

Local club youth coaches are encouraged to attend the games for recruitment purposes to view players eligible to play in the CIFA youth leagues and students from all the participating schools are urged to cheer on their respective schools.