UF’s AFROTC wins sports competition for the first time in 30 years

After 12 hours under the sun, Cadet Jett Wright was exhausted. His muscles felt sore after competing in four different sports throughout the day.

But he knew every athletic match was leading up to a special moment, in which he would find out if his team would fall short of receiving the first place — again — or not.

Despite never winning the precious gold during his time at UF, the business senior had a hunch this year would be different. And he was right.

On Saturday, UF’s Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps team won the Lime Cup, a major sports competition held between AFROTC cadets. The last time the 14-person UF team won the tournament was 30 years ago in 1988, said Cadet Andrew Holland, a team co-captain.

“I’m extremely proud and ecstatic,” said 22-year-old Wright, the other team co-captain. “It was surreal finally achieving it my senior year.”

Seven schools in Florida and southern Georgia competed at the University of Central Florida this year. The event took place from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. It included four sports: beach volleyball, basketball, football and soccer.

Holland said the competition has a bracket for each sport. Teams are awarded 10 points for placing first in a sport, eight for placing second and so on.

The UF team took the cup from the reigning champions — the University of South Florida. With 32 points, UF finished nine points ahead of the second-place team, USF, said Holland, a UF construction management junior.

The decisive moment during the 12-hour day came with the third sport: football.

“By the time football came around, it’s 3 o’clock in the afternoon, and it’s really hot,” 21-year-old Holland said. “By that last game, you just don’t want to go.”

The Gators won on a final drive down the football field when they scored with nine seconds left on the clock. They beat the University of Central Florida, which hadn’t lost football in at least five years, 14 to 7, Holland said.

By that point, Holland and Wright had already counted points to see how their team was doing.

“We were like, ‘pretty sure we just won Lime Cup. All we have to do is win one game in soccer,’” Holland said.

When the final buzzer of the soccer match rang, the UF team had won the competition “by a mile,” announcers yelled.

Wright joined the Lime Cup team his freshman year and has competed every Spring since. He has been captain or co-captain of the team for three years, he said.

During those years, there was always one sport in particular that the team couldn’t compete in on the same level.

“This year, we had more well-rounded people who could play multiple sports,” Wright said. “It wasn’t necessarily about getting the best players but getting the right players who mesh well.”

Air Force ROTC cadets from UF play beach volleyball at an annual competition called Lime Cup, which was held at University of Central Florida this year.