Two in a row – Clearwater Middle School girls have retained the cup for the Middle School Six-a-Side Tournament held recently at the Shelly Bay field.

The Clearwater girls had committed to weekly training but were still nervous as they headed out to Shelly Bay for what would be a gruelling full day of playing football against other school teams.

All of the girls were a little apprehensive, and their opponents knew who their competition were as Clearwater had won the six-a-side tournament last year. The pressure was on to get two wins in a row.

The first game, against T. N. Tatem, ended in a draw. The second game was against Warwick Academy, and it was another draw.

At this point Clearwater's day wasn't going so well. They needed to pick up the pace and get past drawing on each game if they were going to move on in the tournament. They needed to win with a goal! Then came Saltus; Clearwater lost. Then Sandys, and they drew.

They got through to the quarter-finals and played Whitney Institute. It was a winner to Clearwater. This meant they were through to the semi-finals. Sandys was the last team they had to beat to get through to the finals. It went to a penalty shoot-out and Clearwater won. They were now through to the finals.

On the other field, Warwick Academy beat Saltus with a penalty shoot-out as well, which meant, just like last year, it was to be Clearwater against Warwick Academy in the finals.

Well into the game Warwick Academy hit the ball out of the corner. Jasmine Spence lobbed the ball into the box, and Zara Gibbons headed it into the back of the net. One-nil to Clearwater and that was the only and final goal.

Once again Clearwater took the cup home to the East End. The team members were thrilled with the result. They were exhausted, but felt so proud of their achievement.

Coach Denika Wade was also very happy. Her hard work had paid off. It was a long day but the result was really worth the hard work and team effort.