On Thursday 1st March 22 BVIS students, 3 members of staff and a large family support team set off on their journey to Phuket where they were about to put months of training to the test by competing in 3 days of sports competitions.
The first day saw the students take to the pool and the athletics track. By the end of the we had already seen a variety of emotions amongst the BVIS team; excitement, joy, passion, determination, disappointment, pain but all throughout the day the students never gave up and continued to put their all into winning their events and showing support for their teammates.
The BVIS team were rewarded with their first medal in the morning when Anh Duc finished 3rd in the 25m Freestyle. The students stepped it up a gear in the afternoon and the medals came thick and fast. We saw some outstanding performances by all of our students and overall BVIS athletes won 20 medals, including 4 golds.
On the second day the students swapped the lanes of the pool and the track for the football pitch and basketball court. While the boys competed in the basketball the girls fought through the 30 degree heat on the football pitch.
For the boys it came down to all or nothing, if they won their final game they would have taken gold and been the overall Champions, however a defeat by 1 basket resulted in them finishing a very respectable 4th place.
On the final day of competition the boys and girls swapped their sports and feeling very sore and tired the girls showed some good basketball, perseverance and teamwork. The improvements this team has made in training and over the day was phenomenal and the girls were very unlucky to miss out on a bronze medal. The opportunities were their for BVIS but unfortunately it wasn’t our day and not enough baskets were scored.
Football overview
Hard work really does pay off. Both boys and girls football teams now have a real appreciation for this.
Matches were played in temperatures over 30 degrees and with few substitutes both boys and girls had to really dig deep to ensure BVIS brought home the bronze medal. Apart from the students playing really well what I was really impressed with was the student’s ability to listen and act on instructions under difficult circumstances. Every student had a job to do and to be successful this had to be done well, and it was, very well.
There are so many positives the team can take from this. It was a fantastic life experience but for me it was most pleasing to see the togetherness of the group. It wasn’t just goals that were celebrated but passes and crucial tackles. Or even when we were losing there was still a belief that we could still come back and get a result. I believe the triumph of both football teams at FOBISIA games has now given the students the experience and belief that in any future competitions if they have the same togetherness and work ethic they can go on to be successful.
I am very grateful for the time and effort that both Mr Walsh and Mr Jon have put in to training our team and while away on, what is, a very demanding weekend. Thank you! I know, along with myself, they are very proud of the students and we would all like to congratulate them on the results they got in their first FOBISIA games. It gives us all more to train and fight for next year.
On a final note, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our parent supporters that accompanied us on the trip and cheered us on from afar, with particular thanks to Ms Trang who took the lead as our parent liaison. She has been extremely helpful and committed in the run up to and during our competition and her work is very much appreciated.
WELL DONE BVIS U13 FOBISIA TEAM!!!
