U13 FOBISIA Games 2023

Our U13 sports squad took part in the first FOBISIA Games in 4 years, from Wednesday 15th to Sunday 19th March at the world-class Pattana Sports Complex, near Pattaya in Thailand.  Our team of 28 students aged 11-13 competed against 6 other schools from the FOBISIA network, in swimming, athletics, basketball and football, in what is one of the most competitive International Sports Tournaments in Asia.  The passion, commitment, perseverance and resilience of each and every one of our students was outstanding let alone the incredible care and support they gave each other and the true sportsmanship they displayed throughout the entire games.

Excitement was in the air early morning on Wednesday 15th March as 28 students from year 7 and year 8  met at school all packed raring to travel to Bangkok to represent BIS HCMC in the FOBISIA Games 2023. These students, our U13 sports squad took part in the first FOBISIA Games in 4 years, from Wednesday 15th to Sunday 19th March at the world-class Pattana Sports Complex, near Pattaya in Thailand.  Over 3 consecutive days our students, aged 11-13, competed against 6 other schools from the FOBISIA network, in swimming, athletics, basketball and football, in what is one of the most competitive International Sports Tournaments in Asia.  The passion, commitment, perseverance and resilience of each and every one of our students was outstanding let alone the incredible care and support they gave each other and the true sportsmanship they displayed throughout the entire games. 

Our U13 team since being selected for the FOBISIA squad back in November have spent several hours every week training, either in the pool, on the field and on the pitch. 6:15am starts, 5pm finishes, with a full day of school in between, really tested their perseverance.  And persevere they did.  The entire team showed true determination and commitment to all of their training over the past few months.  This outstanding attitude, energy and spirit they all took with them to Thailand!

This was indeed a tough tournament with an incredible high standard of competition. Medals galore were won, podium places gained, personal bests were beaten and school records broken! But along with these successes and the many highs, were also many lows over the 3 days of tough competition.  The highs they celebrated, not only individually, but as a team, and the lows only made them stronger, more determined and ready to take on every challenge they faced. Not once did they let their heads drop and they all performed to the best of their abilities throughout.  

The experience and memories gained from this will last a lifetime and yet again displays teamwork, dedication and perseverance.

Here is the action as it happened reported by our Head of Secondary PE, Mr Ali Thom:

Day 1

The students were asleep early after a long and tiring day at the pool and stadium. All students were a credit to themselves and the school today, as they gave their all and cheered each other on no matter how many events each team member was allocated. A special mention to our 200m IM and 100m Butterfly swimmers and 1500m runners, who did themselves proud in the toughest events of the day. Final mention to Jisung Lee, who has now high jumped higher, and triple jumped further than any U13 student in BIS HCMC's 25 year history.

We experienced great success with a lot of medals and PB's gained in the pool and in the field events, but there was some learning as well as we found the track events tough. The students were still in great spirit and have really enjoyed the experience of their first real track and field meet since COVID or in some cases ever. They also responded fantastically to the challenge of being in the most competitive group at FOBISIA this year, and I'm sure they will continue to do so during the ups and downs of tomorrows Football and Basketball tournaments.

Martha and Insung, Swim Team Captains shared:

As we entered the pool for the opening ceremony, there was an uproar of cheers and excitement whilst walking around the perimeter of the arena. Coaches including Miss Sophie, Mr Thom,  Mr O'Brien , Miss Mason and Miss Bingham were cheering with great enthusiasm and courage. As we completed our races, and the last event of the relay, our spirits were high. In total we won 2 golds 3 silvers and 10 bronze amazing job BIS.

Amanda and Jisung, Athletics Team Captains wrote: 

The BIS team tried everything they could and had lots of fun. Even when we all had a lot of fun, we learned many new things such as: communication, perseverance, and respect to other schools. Overall, we had an extremely fun time doing athletics as a team. In the athletics Bis got lots of medals on the field. The track events were tough but we grew from the experience.