On April 2-4, the Uruguayan American School hosted the 2009 South American Athletics Conference (SAAC) Basketball Tournament. The teams involved were UAS, Escuela Lincoln ( Buenos Aires, ARG), Nido de Aguilas (Santiago, CHILE), Franklin Delano Roosevelt ( Lima, PERU), and Colegio Americano ( Quito, ECUADOR).
The girls competition was won by Colegio Americano, with a 30 to 16 victory over Nido de Aguilas in the final. The boys championship was won by the host school, UAS, with a dominating 68 to 35 over FDR-Lima in the final. The UAS boys team, which is coached by former UY national team player Jeff Granger, has now won two straight basketball championships and has never lost a game in the competition. The girls team is guided by Jeff Granger and Rio Ratermanis, a UAS parent and multi-sport coach.
The captains of the UAS boys team are Everton Leite and Felipe Ruiz, who both also were recognized for their sportsmanship. The UAS team scoring leader was Marcel Souberbielle. The UAS girls team was captained by Natalie Hamilton and Tori Ratermanis and their high scorer was BeetNa Lee. Natalie Hamilton and Astrid De L'Etraz received the "Fair Play" award in recognition of their sportsmanship.
The idea of cross-cultural exchange and friendship is central to the SAAC mission. "The entire UAS community came together to create a world-class tournament," commented UAS Athletic Director, Sara Kaste. "Every participant in this tournament returned to their home country with a great sense of Uruguayan culture and hospitality."