Kaela Ebanks – Sports – 19 – West Bay

Kaela Ebanks has always had a keen interest in sports. Her sporting career began in primary school, where she led her team from Sir John A. Cumber Primary to victory at the inter-primary netball championships. Later, Kaela travelled to Kingston, Jamaica to represent John Gray High School in netball. She also participated in the school’s annual swimming gala and cross-country event.

Her true passion, however, is in playing football. At 12, she became a member of the National U17 Girls Football team, which made history by being the first national team to qualify to participate in CONCACAF U17 Championship in 2010. In 2012, she was called to the National U20 team to begin preparing to represent the Cayman Islands in an upcoming World Cup qualifier game. Over the course of two years Kaela showed great dedication to her training, which required her to travel for competition to various countries in North America, Canada, South America and the Caribbean. In 2014, she chose to be part of the National U20 team, representing the Cayman Islands in FIFA’s U20 Women’s World Cup CONCACAF qualifying final stage held in Grand Cayman.

Her success in sports earned her John Gray High School’s Female Sportsperson of the Year award in 2013. Kaela has been participating in the local women’s league since 2010. She served as Scholars FC Senior Women’s Team Captain. With her team, she qualified for the finals in the 2014 CIFA FA Cup Championships in 2014.

While Kaela has seen much success as an athlete, she now focuses on helping other players. She participated in the Cayman Islands Football Association’s referee course, passing the exam. She also successfully completed FIFA’s beginners coaching course.

Kaela uses her coaching skills to train players on Scholars FC’s U15 girls team, as well as players participating in the CIFA/Maples Grassroots programme.

Her success in sports is even more impressive when you factor in the congenital disorder she was born with. The disorder impacted the development of her hands and feet, causing her to undergo several reconstructive surgeries during her early childhood. Despite her early obstacles, Kaela has become a shining star on the football field and is sure to help other young players achieve great success. She is currently at South Georgia State College where she was granted a partial sports scholarship by that school while pursuing an associate’s degree in Pre-Allied Health.

Alison Jackson – Sports – 14 – George Town

Few people ever find something they are so passionate about that it causes them to wake up most days well before the sun rises. But, at the young age of 14, Alison (Ali) Jackson has found that her passion is swimming. Twice a week, Ali is up by 4.20 a.m., ready to dive into the pool. Three other days of the week, she gets to sleep in a bit, rising at 5.20 a.m. instead!

Ali trains for 20 hours each week. Her dedication to her sport has caused her to miss out on some of the fun things her peers participate in, but it’s a sacrifice she is willing to make.

If you ask her how serious she is about swimming, she will likely reply, “Tokyo serious”, alluding to her goal of representing the Cayman Islands at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games.

Looking at her track record, Ali is well on her way to Tokyo. Last year she was a star athlete at CARIFTA. She left Barbados with eight medals – three individual gold medals, two relay gold medals, three silver medals and one bronze medal.

In addition, Ali and her relay team mates set a new CARIFTA record in the 4x100m relay. In April, she represented the Cayman Islands at the 2017 CARIFTA games in Nassau, Bahamas. Her medal haul at the regional competition was three golds in the 200m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle (and the CARIFTA record), 50m Freestyle; winning bronze in the 4x100m Relay and silver in the 4x200m Relay.

Yet CARIFTA was not Ali’s first time in competition. Ali is a multiple national and Cayman Islands Amateur Swimming Association record holder, in several events – the first can only be held by Caymanians. She is currently a member of the Stingray Swim Club and has represented her club at local and overseas competitions. She also represented the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean Islands Swimming Championship and the FINA World Short Course Championships. Ali, who has been inspired by accomplished swimmers such as Shaun Fraser, Brett Fraser, and Andrew MacKay, now works hard to be an example to the athletes coming up behind her.

While Ali is completely committed to swimming, she is also committed to her studies. She has made the Academic and Effort honour roll at her school, St. Ignatius, plays the flute in the school band, and has an in interest in English, Spanish and reading. Ali’s dedication to her studies stem from her goal of swimming with a Division I college in the US. Whether it is representing the Cayman Islands in the Olympics, swimming with a top university, or setting new records, Ali has the tenacity to achieve all her goals.

IMAGES: GIS

Proud of Them 2017 recipient Alison Jackson

Proud of Them 2017 recipient Alison Jackson

Kaela Ebanks

Proud of Them 2017 recipient Kaela Ebanks