Cayman International School (CIS) Blue and Clifton Hunter High School (CHHS) were crowned 2022 Appleby Under 18 girls and boys high school football champions respectively this past week.

On Wednesday, the young ladies from CIS Blue defeated their schoolmates CIS White 6-0 at the Camana Bay SC to secure top spot and finish the season unbeaten. CHHS’ young men got past Triple C 2-0 on Thursday at the CIFA Field to top off an unbeaten season and win their first Appleby Under 18 high school football championship, prising the prestigious trophy from two-time winners and defending champions Cayman Prep.

2022 marked historic seasons for both CIS and CHHS. With this victory, a girls team from CIS has now won all three Appleby Under 18 titles since its inception in 2019 (there was no high school football season in 2021 due to COVID-19). Likewise, for student athletes at CHHS, the Appleby Under 18 boys’ title takes the school’s tally to an unprecedented three high school football championships in 2022 as their younger classmated secured the Dart Under 13 boys and girls titles in October.

Finishing runners-up in the Appleby Under 18 girls league was Cayman Prep with St. Ignatius Catholic securing third-place. In the boys league, the runners-up and third-place spots are still up for grabs as a number of postponed games are expected to be played before the schools break for Christmas.

Simon Raftopoulos, Partner at Appleby, who was on hand to present The Appleby Cup, team and individual trophies to the CIS Blue players following their victory, said, “It’s a real honour for Appleby to be able to support the community like this and gratifying to see the leagues keep growing in leaps and bounds. We remain, as a firm, deeply committed to Cayman and its community.”

Appleby has sponsored the flourishing Under 18 high school football leagues since the leagues’ inception in 2019. Sponsorship of the Under 18 high school football leagues falls under the firm’s social responsibility objectives – making a positive social and economic contribution to the Grand Cayman community.

The CYFL, a registered non-profit organisation, was officially formed in 2019 to organise and administer the primary and high school football leagues. The organisation’s goal is to ensure that students from ages six to 18 have well-organised inter-school football leagues to participate in. The hallmarks of the leagues are inclusiveness, fair play and school pride.