Get ready for the Sports Festival!

AVCon High, the top high school in AVConia, was a competitive school by nature. Whether it was the giant mecha battles, spell-casting contests or the compulsory martial arts tournaments, students strove relentlessly to earn the top spot against all their peers. This went double for the school calendar’s most competitive event: the Sports Festival.

Every student dreamed about winning the Sports Festival events and earning their team the points to claim the coveted AVCon Cup. This was especially the case for the students in their final year. And with the Sports Festival drawing close, the question on the whole school’s lips was: Who would be picked for the illustrious positions of Sports Festival Team Captains?

Principal Sprite sat at his oversized oak desk, flipping through the files of a few particular students. Suddenly, a static voice from his intercom cut through the silence. “Principal, the students you requested are here.” “Fantastic, send them in!” The principal beamed. The door opened, and four youths entered the office shyly and stood at attention in front of the large desk. “Thank you for coming. I have good news for you all. You four outstanding students have been selected to represent the teams as captains at the upcoming AVCon High Sports Festival!” The reaction of the four could not have been more different at this announcement.

Switch sighed slightly. Tall, muscular and athletic, he more or less had assumed that they would select him to lead a team. While he welcomed the leadership challenge, he realised that the position would prevent him from doing what he had planned to do with all his time, playing video games for 14 hours a day.

Ayvee’s lips curved into a small smile. She knew her fan club members had run an extensive public campaign for her to be captain for months now. Although she never publicly endorsed it and acted aloof, deep down, she had really hoped to get the position of team captain to show everyone how easily she could crush the competition. 

Juliette squealed in delight with her eyes shut tight and small arms curled up before her. She had made it her personal mission this year to become team captain and prove that you could be ultra-cute and the height of fashion while still kicking ass in sport. 

Wayville had a look of dumbfoundedness on his face. Was he going to be a team captain?!? But his skill in sports was about the same as aluminium’s ability to fuse weld to steel. “P-p-principal Sprite, I think you have the wrong person. I can barely kick a sports ball three meters, let alone lead a whole sports team!!” “Now, Wayville, physical strength is not the only thing that matters out there on the field; you have lots of other skills up your sleeve that will more than makeup for anything you lack!” Principal Sprite assured him. “The only thing up my sleeve is this skinny arm!” Wayville continued to protest, waving his limb at the principal. “I’m sure you’ll come up with something, son!” “Hmmmm, if my own skinny arm won’t do the trick, maybe some form of…” Wayville trailed off in thought. “Now that it’s settled, there will be a whole school assembly in an hour where we will announce your positions to the entire school!”

One hour later, the whole of AVCon High was crowded in the school gym and buzzing excitedly. Although no one had said it officially, the whole student body knew what they were there to hear. “Welcome students of AVCon High!” Principal Sprite boomed into the microphone, “As many of you might have guessed, it is time to introduce the team captains for this year’s Sports Festival to you!” The crowd erupted into cheers. 

“First of all is the new captain of the Blue Team, Switch!” Switch burst onto the stage, dribbling a basketball. He sped to the centre in no time flat, passed the ball under his legs multiple times, spun around, pump faked, and finally hit a fadeaway 3-point shot on the school basketball ring with nothing but net. Students cheered at having such a talented athlete as a team captain. 

“Next up is the new captain of the Green Team, Ayvee!” Ayvee cartwheeled onto the stage. Followed by a side flip, a back flip and finally into a double somersault. She landed in a superhero pose in the middle of the stage as her jacket slowly floated down around her shoulders. The two front rows of the crowd, consisting of the members of Ayvee’s very own personal fan club, went wild, leading to cheers from the whole school. 

“Third up is the new captain of the Red Team, Juliette!”. An explosion of pink glitter burst onto the stage as Juliette strode up. She cut a path through the glitter like she was on a runway, posing dramatically left and right before spinning on the spot to hit her signature pose, blowing a kiss into the air. Almost every student in the room blushed as they clapped and cheered. 

“And last but certainly not least, the new captain of the Yellow Team…Wayville!” The room fell silent as Wayville shuffled forward awkwardly, holding a volleyball and an uncomfortable-looking backpack on his back. He reached the middle of the stage and laughed nervously. Obviously sweating, he held the volleyball up in the air. At first, nothing happened, but suddenly, a giant metal arm sprung from his backpack and smacked the volleyball with such velocity it fired clean through the gym wall, leaving only a smooth volleyball-shaped hole in its wake. The room was silent again for about 5 seconds before everyone erupted in amazement. 

“AVCon High! I give you your four team captains. Now, it is up to you to pick your team! Stand behind one of our fine team captains and compete with fierceness and pride in all the events! The team with the most points at the end of the weekend will win this…THE AVCON CUP!” A box held high above the stage burst open with a loud bang, revealing the glimmering wonder of a large metal cup. The crowd gasped in wonder as the cup descended to the ground. The four captains lined up before it and let loose their biggest cheers. The crowd of students followed suit, and the sound was deafening.

AVCON SPORTS FESTIVAL WAS OFFICIALLY ON!!