Cayman Prep & High School (teal) defeated St. Ignatiusn Catholic in the 2025 Appleby Under 18 Boy’s Final.

The always exciting and competitive 2025 Appleby Under 18 high school football leagues concluded this week with Cayman Prep & High School winning the boy’s league title and Cayman International School (CIS) retaining the girl’s title.

For the second year running, a Champions Cup and Consolation Cup system was introduced for the boy’s league where schools were divided into two groups with the top two schools in each group advancing to the Champions Cup and the remaining schools competing in the Consolation Cup.

The girl’s league remained a single-league system due to the limited number of participating schools.

In the Appleby Under 18 Boys’ division, Cayman Prep’s road to the title began as the runners-up from Group B, dispatching Group A winners CIS White 2-0 in the first semi-final.

As runners-up in Group A, St. Ignatius Catholic’s run to the final saw them down Group B winners Clifton Hunter High School (CHHS) 6-4 in a wild penalty shootout (2-2 full time; 4-2 penalties) in the second semi-final.

The final was a thrilling encounter played at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex. With few clear- cut chances created, both schools were absorbed in a midfield battle that ebbed back and forth. The wet surface was a dangerous element for the defenders and timing of tackles was essential. Both defences and goalkeepers were coping well but it was Cayman Prep who broke the deadlock late in
the first half as a Cayman Prep corner was not cleared properly by the St. Ignatius defenders allowing Roger Johnson II to guide his header into the back of the net.

Undettered and with plenty of time remaining on the clock, St. Ignatius set about in search of the equalizer. The second half mirrored the first as attacks were oftentimes stymied by perfectly timed tackling. Loose passes littered the midfield as neither team could take control of the game. Desperation began to set-in as St. Ignatius searched for the equalizer but Prep’s defender were up for the task.

Alas, time ran out for the Catholic boys and Cayman Prep secured their third Under 18 championship in six years.

On hand to present the trophies on behalf of Appleby was Cayman Youth Football Leagues (CYFL) representative Mark Whiteside.

On the girls side, CIS retained their 2024 Appleby Under 18 title by defeating Cayman Prep 7-6 on penalties. In the semi-finals, Cayman Prep got by St. Ignatius Catholic as the latter were unable to field a team and CIS defeated CHHS 7-2.

The final, which was played at the Annex Field, was a captivating display by the young ladies from both schools. The regular season encounter between the two schools saw Cayman Prep triumph 5-2 but this day would be different. Cayman Prep took the lead through Abigail Proud only for CIS’ Kaija Danter to level the score late in the second half.

With the score level at 1-1 at the end of full time, it would be penalties that would decide the 2025 champions. With both schools scoring their five allotted penalties (5-5), the game would be decided by sudden death penalties where CIS emerged as eventual winners (1-0).

Appleby’s representative Simon Raftopoulos and CYFL’s Richard Hew were on hand to present the Girl’s Appleby Cup and individual trophies to CIS and Cayman Prep following the final.

Complete 2025 scores and standings can be viewed on the Cayman Youth Football Leagues (CYFL) website at www.caymanyouthfootball.ky.