CAISSA Info

boys  and girls  in

CAISSA 2007-2008

Within this page you will find important information for CAISSA travel.  Please check this page often.  If you have questions, please e-mail me at anolson@cms.edu.do or call me at (809) 947-1082.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

 Season III CAISSA will be held in Ecuador this year (May 23 - 27) at Academia Cotopaxi.  All varsity boys soccer players and varsity girls basketball players need to be doing a few things to get prepaired for the trip.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Emergency contact number that Mr. Barrs can be reached at: (809) 958-0134  

Updates from the trip

May 24th - 8:30 am The kids all made it to Ecuador safe and sound.  There were a few little snags along the way... one student was taken into the "little room" for questioning for about 1/2 hour.  Apparently her fingerprints matched that of an old Canadian lady.   After that, they made their connecting flight in Miami with no problem and I received a call from Mr. B to inform me that everybody is in Quito, safe and sound.  1 missing bag (good thing we pack our uniforms in our carry on!) but the airlines assured them that it would be delivered as soon as it arrives. (It has been delivered since then.) Our kids have their opening ceremony and the first games today.  I will keep you posted as to the results.  GO SHARKS!!!!!

May 25th 7:15 am  I spoke with Mr. B several times yesterday and it sounds like the altitude is a definate factor for our kids. This is an update from Day 1 activities.  Basketball update from Mr. B: The CMS Sharks started the basketball tournament with the toughest possible game against the varsity squad of the host AC Cougars. Not only does AC have the home court advantage, but they are acclimated to the nearly 10,000 feet of elevation and low oxygen levels. Our girls struggled from the start and feel behind 31 to 0. However, they did not quit and eventually found a rhythm, but lost 59 to 20. Several of our girls were gasping for air, but still managed to finish the game with class. In the second game of the day, the played much better, even though they were exhausted and sore from their opening game. There were several lead changes, butCMS eventually prevailed with a 49 to 46 victory over AC2. Soccer update from Mr. B:  Boys soccer lost to AC1 6 to 1. Initially they pulled into a 1 to 1 tie in the early stages of the second half, but the altitude got to them and they gave up some quick goals. Spirits were still high though. The boys responded in the second game with a 3 to 1 victory over AC2. We have now played both host country squads and have some lower altitude schools tomorrow.

May 26th, 8:44 am  Mr B has sent in more updates from the games yesterday.  Today are the finals for the tournament, so keep your fingers crossed.  Go Sahrks!  The boys soccer team came out strong to start the day and defeated ISPS 5 to 1. The win really gave them some momentum and left them with a record of 2 wins and 1 loss. More importantly, the win guaranteed them either a second or third place seeding going into the playoffs tomorrow. As the second and third place teams play each other, their second game of the day today will have no impact on their opponent in the playoffs. This is huge, as it gives our boys a chance to practice some skills, while not over-exerting themselves and saving energy for the playoffs. With this in mind, they played at half speed in the second game and posted a respectable 7 to 4 loss to the undefeated ECA.  The girls basketball team had a tough time against ISPS, in large part do to the lack of substitutes on the CMS squad. The girls played hard and had lots of smiles, but eventually lost 55 to 18. In the second game, the girls played much better, but ran out of energy towards the end of the game and lost 37 to 26.  Our girls finished the round robin seeded fourth and will play the fifth seeded AC2 in the play-in game of the playoffs tomorrow.

May 28th 8:00 am.  The students will be returning to school today.  Here are the updates from Mr. B. The girls opened the play for the day with the 4th vs. 5th play-in game.  They were again out numbered and gasping for oxygen in the early stages.  However, they put together a great team effort and prevailed 27 to 25 against AC2 to move on to the semifinals.  In the semifinals, they were faced with the undefeated AC1 and fatigue, as they struggled to overcome the lack of depth on their squad.  Though they played hard, AC1 was able to control the game and the sharks lost 53 to 9.  They then moved on to the Bronze Medal game, which was played only 30 minutes after their loss.  Our girls played their hearts out and had the lead several times during the second half, but were eventually overcome by fatigue and lost 44 to 36.  They finished fourth in the tournament and had lots of smiles and good memories of their time in Ecuador.  The boys team fell behind 2 to 0 early on in their semifinal clash with ECA.  However, they kept their focus and played great together as a team to pull into a 4 to 2 lead.  They then traded goals with ECA to finish with a commanding 6 to 4 victory.  The win put them in the Gold Medal game against AC1.  It was a great effort that had rival coaches complimenting their strong performance.  In the Gold Medal game, the CMS boys controlled the first 60 minutes of the game and held a 2 to 1 lead in the second half. Unfortunately, they boys energy level ran low and the host AC Cougars used their high altitude conditioning advantage to pull away for a 4 to 2 victory.  The sharks played a great tournament and earned an impressive second place finish and the respect of the other CAISSA teams.