A celebration of sport at BIS HCMC 2023

The 2022-2023 academic year welcomed competitive sport back to the schools in Ho Chi Minh City, across Vietnam and the FOBISIA (Federation of British International Schools in Asia) region. This enabled our students to enjoy the thrills and spills of playing sport at the highest level, providing them with the chance to, once again, use learnt skills and tactics developed through hours of training, in pressurised and atmospheric environments. The return of competitive sport also allowed our students the opportunity to test not only their physical ability but their mental capacity, perseverance and moral compass when times got tough. Split-second choices presented themselves on and off the playing areas, the pitches, the courts, the swimming pools, and it is fills me with honour that our BIS students rose to the occasion every time.

I am very pleased to say that the BIS students performed extremely successfully throughout this year of sporting return. Success can be gauged in many forms. Trophies won at home and abroad cannot be the sole true indicator of success. Personal and team development, trust, decision making, sportsmanship and the representation of the BIS HCMC name should all be held as highly (or higher) than a trophy that sits in a cabinet. 

Being successful, most importantly; in the correct way, is very difficult to achieve. Winning games and competitions, as well an ensuring that the game is won in the correct style and with the development of every player in the squad, is not easy to do. Making sure that the BIS players embody the BIS Sporting Ethos and Aide Memoire, even when the competition is fierce and challenging, places a lot of trust in the players and coaches to believe in doing things that are right. I am proud to say the right choices are clearly visible every time our players put on a BIS jersey. 

The celebration of this success was encapsulated in the recent BIS Sports Awards Ceremony held at the Champagne Ballroom in the Novotel Hotel. This was an evening of celebrating success of every sort. Homage was paid to the many teams who won invitational, SISAC and FOBISIA trophies. Personal accolades were awarded to players of the season for each sport and distinguished service recognised for players who have contributed to the development of a sport at BIS throughout their time at the school. Role models were highlighted for people who embodied the spirit of BIS with their leadership and character affecting how everybody else represented themselves. But most importantly, friends and teammates got together and had a great time celebrating and reflecting on what had been an exciting, emotional and entertaining year of sport at BIS.