From the Head of PE and Sport 28.10.2023
U15’s FOBISIA Games Report Part 1 – “A trophy carries dust. Memories last forever” – Mary Lou Retton
On Monday morning, at KKIA McDonalds, 25 excited (and clearly hungry) KIS Vipers assembled to embark on a 5 day adventure that would see them take on other sports teams across Asia in four different sports.
After a long travel day filled with immigration and security clearances, lots of snacks… and a couple of little mishaps, the team finally arrived at Pattana Sports Resort a couple of hours outside of Bangkok (minus a couple of suitcases that decided to take the scenic route). The team had just enough time to tackle the buffet at dinner before heading to their rooms for some rest and dream about the days to come.
In a change from previous games programs, the team headed to the newly completed athletics track to start their first events. Team captains Tony and Pui San led the team out through the tunnel onto the track waving the Vipers banner proudly. After a brief welcome from the organiSers and a special Thai dance performance it was down to business!
Starting with the 1500m, it didn’t take long for KIS to secure its first Gold medal of the games with Ana taking out the girls race. Abraham and Aldrich added to the tally with a bronze and silver respecively in the boys race.
That was the opening of the floodgates as a steady stream of Vipers made their way to the podium to collect their medals across all track and field events. Personal best performances were achieved such as with Sophie and Chelsea in the discus and javelin where they had a clean sweep of gold medals. As well as Haylie and Dasha in Triple Jump where they both picked up silver medals.
Learning how to perform under pressure and managing nerves and anxiety is a big part of sport. Tony, managed to overcome his nerves and anxiety to take out a gold in the discus as did Minwoo who won a silver and a bronze in his jumping events in spite of his nerves.
At the start of the games when welcoming the students, Jason from SMW spoke about the fact that over the course of the competition students would push themselves beyond their limits and what they thought they were capable of. This was evident in so many performances from Melanie in her 800m collapsing at the end after giving it her all to win her bronze, or, seeing Amantha win her first FOBISIA medal in the shot put.
We witnessed incredible examples of resilience throughout the season. Benson, after suffering a nasty fall in his race earlier in the morning came back to race in the relay and helped his team win a bronze medal. As well as Nayeon bouncing back after disappointment in an earlier event to help the girl’s relay team win a bronze medal.
The final events of athletics took place after lunch and it was another medal haul in the high jump where we saw some beautiful jumping from all four athletes. Dasha and Pui San won silver in the girl’s events, as did Sean with some lovely jumps. Leroy, managed to secure gold with a new PB of 1.51m and only narrowly scraped the bar to miss 1.54m.
By the time the athletics wrapped up, the only thing hotter than the temperature at Pattana Sports Resort were the Vipers! In all the team had managed to amass a total of 42 medals across the 48 events. This included 14 golds, 16 silvers and 12 bronze! EVERY SINGLE VIPER WALKED AWAY with at least one medal hung proudly around their neck. A phenomenal team performance!
If that wasn’t enough excitement and effort for one day, students then moved to the pool for yet more competitions!
Starting with the medley relays is always a nice way to start as the swimmers have the support of their teammates around them as they begin the day. Like the athletics, the Vipers started strongly with four medals in the first four races. Both boys relay teams won silver and the girls teams took out gold!
It was another stellar performance from the whole team throughout the afternoon. The Viper team spirit was on full display with those not involved in events standing poolside cheering their friends on to some unbelievable performances.
The team was led brilliantly from the front by Abraham and Sophie. It was fantastic to see both swimmers achieve their individual goals as a result of the time and effort they dedicate to their sport outside of school. Both had full and tough programs but were not phased in the slightest and picked up a full compliment of gold medals.
Olivia was the team’s breaststroke Queen with gold medals in both the 25m and 50m breaststroke. Again, a testament to the time she has been putting in herself to achieve her best results at the competition.
What was truly inspiring was seeing those less confident take to the water to earn valuable points for their team, challenging themselves and pushing themselves out of their comfort zone. Dasha and Chelsea proved invaluable in relay teams and were rewarded for their bravery with more medals.
Mr Richie was kept busy all afternoon at the podium capturing the smiles, or stoic stares in the case of Ian Zi, as Viper after Viper claimed their prizes.
It’s remarkable given the circumstances that the team managed to surpass their own performance in athletics in swimming. We had a Viper in every one of the 40 races and won a medal in 37! Starting with the medley relays is always a nice way to start as the swimmers have the support of their teammates around them as they begin the day. Like the athletics, the Vipers started strongly with four medals in the first four races. Both boys relay teams won silver and the girls teams took out gold! 9 bronzes, 10 silver and 18 GOLDS!!!
After such a remarkable team performance, we then had to wait another few days till the Gala dinner to find out the overall results for Athletics and Swimming.
After a long day, students were pretty happy to return to their rooms and prepare themselves in anticipation for Day 2 and the much anticipated basketball tournament. More news on that next week!
Liga SupaRimau Season C
Matches for next week – Saturday 4th November
FOBISIA NEWS
U13 FOBISIA Games – Time to train!
With U15’s FOBISIA now concluded, it’s time for our U13’s to take to the field and court to begin their preparations. Training will commence this week on the following days.
The 2nd Payment of RM1500 was due yesterday on Friday 27th October. Unfortunately, we are still missing a number of payments for students. As communicated this payment is needed in order to move forward with the purchase of flights. Emails will be sent home on Monday with a final reminder. Please help us keep to our schedule by making sure this payment is made as soon as possible.
Thank you to those who have already updated their child’s passport. Again, our records indicate that some students still need to support us with a copy of a new and valid passport. Without this, flights WILL NOT be booked.
Primary FOBISIA Games (April 29th-May 3rd) – FINAL WEEK!
This is the final week to register your child to take part in the Primary FOBISIA Games. Remember, the Google Form needs to be completed which you can access by clicking here Primary FOBISIA Games and payment of RM1500. If you are paying by bank transfer please make sure that you include the following in the payment reference “Primary FOBISIA *childs name*”.
Miss Catriona Watt
Head of PE and Sport
