The Aruba Mixed Hockey Club (AMHC) organized a three-country hockey tournament this
past weekend with visiting teams from Curacao and Bonaire. On Saturday, the preliminary
rounds were played, followed by the semi-final and final on Sunday. Youth matches were
also held on Saturday, where the Aruban youth players played to a 0:0 draw against each
other. The selected youth players from Aruba then won against a mix of Bonaire and
Curacao players with 2:0 and 1:0 respectively. After the match, the youth players were
awarded a medal by a representative from the Netherlands in Oranjestad.
The final matches of the national teams were played on Sunday. Bonaire, the winner of the
previous tri-nations tournament held in Curaçao, was the favorite to win. There were even
articles in the media suggesting that Bonairians would confidently travel to Aruba to claim
the grand prize. However, team 1 from Aruba put a stop to that and won the hard-fought final
with a score of 2:1. In the semi-final, Aruba-2 played against the team from Curaçao. That
match was also narrowly won by Aruba with a score of 3:2. In the end, Aruba claimed first
place in the entire tournament, Bonaire took second, and Curaçao came in last, having
played a few nice matches.
The tournament concluded with an award ceremony and a symbolic exchange of country
flags to reaffirm the friendship between the islands at the Nautical Club. After that, everyone
enjoyed a meal together, and the players and the audience from Aruba wished Bonaire and
Curaçao a safe journey home. The upcoming tournament will take place in Bonaire during
the 23-24 May weekend of 2026.
Training for the adult players of the AMHC is at the Estrella field in Santa Cruz on Thursday
evenings, starting at 7:00 PM. The Aruban youth team has their weekly training in the Sasaki
sports arena on Tuesday starting at 5:00 PM.
For more information contact; Reinier van Sisseren (7339955)
