Miss Cayman World contestants battle it out on Sports Day

By Christopher Tobutt

Five teams, each supporting a different contestant for the upcoming Miss Cayman Islands World pageant, battled it out on the Miss Cayman Sports Day at the Truman Bodden Stadium. There was Alyssa West’s team, Banana Orchid, Jesika Calderin-Ebanks’ team, Corals, Sydonie Barratt’s Team, Swift, Krysta Ebanks’ team, Got Food, and Rashana Hydes’ team, Firebirds. The sixth team, was actually the reigning queens’ team, so itwas not ‘officially’ competing.

Director of Miss Cayman World, Pamela Ebanks-Small said: “International Miss World also does sports day, so our contestants have to compete in sports. This is actually 10 Percent for the overall score for Miss World, so the contestants who wins the sports day today will be announced at our pageant on May 29th, and the team winner will be announced today. Sports is a part of the pageant and we do it a couple of weeks early.” The pageant will be held at the Harquail Theatre on May 29.

First on the agenda was a big, fun-filled football match, before things started getting a little more serious. It was ‘doing the plank’ time, and all the contestants had to see who could hold the plank position for longest. It seemed to be very grueling. In the end it was a battle between super-fit contestants Sydonie Barratt and Alyssa West, with Allyssa West finally winning.

Allyssa said, “I joined because I wanted to build on my self-confidence and I wanted to have a way to give back to the community and through this pageant we do a lot of community service and I am really grateful for that. I also wanted to advocate for something that is really important to me so my platform for the pageant is environmental sustainability. I really care about our environment and the things that are happening.”

Next came a great big Tug ‘o’ war contest set up between the different teams. First member of the other team to cross the central line made that team a loser, and the other team a winner. The hoola hoops contest was next – who would be the last one before it fell to the ground. One by one the hoops fell until it was only Krysta Ebanks left. “My team’s name is Got Food. The reason I chose that name is because I’ve partnered to Feed our Future for ending child hunger, so why not? And I love food as well.”

Then there was a big, 400m relay event between all the teams, with Krysta Ebanks crossing the finish-line first, closely followed by Sydonie Barratt. Then it was time for the winning teams to be announced. The real winner was the Queen’s team, but her team can’t really win because she’s already the Queen. In second place it was a tie between Banana Orchid and Got Food, with Rashana Hydes team, Firebirds, as the winner. To finish off, the contestants competed in a 100m sprint, with Sydonie Barratt winning. There was also a fun swim in the Lions Pool nearby.