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 3:1. 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.
