Recently, the school’s basketball, soccer, volleyball, and cheerleading teams have traveled to NR2 to compete in Big 8 - the year's most anticipated sports event. EARJ had to confront 7 other international schools in the contest: EAB from Brasilia, EAC from Campinas, ISC from Curitiba, and Graded, Chapel, PACA and Sant’Anna from São Paulo.
The first 4 days of the tournament opened with the boys' and girls' basketball games. The boys were very successful in the first three rounds and, after an amazing victory against Paca in the semifinals, were able to be finalists in the tournament. The girls' basketball team had an amazing performance too; they gave their best in one of the toughest and most exciting third place dispute games. After a lot of persistence and hard work, they were able to win and bring back bronze medals.
In the following 4 days of the tournament, it was the soccer and volleyball teams' turn to compete. The soccer boys struggled a little in the beginning. Panthers never quit though, and with an amazing performance in the following match, the soccer boys tied with EAC and were able to win in the penalties. Even after losing against the Graded Eagles, there was still hope, as EARJ tied with EAC. Gladly, thanks to the tournament criteria of tiebreaking, the boys' soccer team made it to the semifinals where they confronted Sant'Anna. Both competitors tied and once again the Panthers had to dramatically fight to the penalties. EARJ's soccer team beat Sant'Anna in the penalties and passed to the finals to play once again against the Graded Eagles. Unfortunately, Graded won, but it was still an amazing performance from the soccer boys who made it to the finals and were able to bring silver medals back home.
Overall, EARJ had an outstanding performance in all the sports of the tournament! The boys' basketball and volleyball teams also brought silver medals back home and the volleyball girls also played amazingly in the tournament as they were also finalists, and brought a silver trophy as well.
Alas, the girls' football team did not have a good run and ended up in 7th place. This is unfortunate since they worked hard on training for the matches and fought fiercely until the very end. That doesn’t mean they should give up though, as there is always anext time! It is important to note that this was an amazing return of EARJ to Big 8, as the tournament was suspended for the past 3 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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