Primary School Sport: Dance Champs and Swim Champs

What a crazy week of sport we have had. Our first ever Primary Dance Team took part in their first competition and blew people away with their performance. Then our U11 boys claimed the TISAC Basketball Championship, our U9 tennis players had another tournament and that was just during the week. The weekend was again actioned-packed with swimming, tennis and football. Please read on to find out more about the weekend tournaments, swim meets and the up- coming trips.

The next 2 weeks are extremely busy with two major International tournaments. All the details you will need for the trips are set out below.

Dance

Our first ever Primary Dance Team took centre stage at the TISAC Dance Competition on Wednesday. The girls and Miss Cherry have been working so hard with extra session for the last 2 weeks and this hard work certainly paid off with a truly awesome performance. As you can tell from the girls’ faces, this was an amazing experience for them. If you would like to watch their performance, click on the video link at the end of the Primary Sport section.

Swimming

This past Saturday our Marlins competed in our very own STA Swim Champs at the High School Campus. We had over 250 swimmers from both Primary and High School participating in this event and, as always, great spirit was shown throughout the whole day. Overall it was a very solid team effort from everyone involved in helping our home meet run smoothly.

Great job! Looking forward to such a great performance from everyone at our biggest meet of the year, Marlin Mayhem, in March.

Basketball

On Thursday our U11 boys played their last basketball game knowing they had to win to be crowned Champions. In a hard-fought game, they were eventual winners and remained unbeaten during their TISAC season. Hopefully their brilliant form will carry on into the NAE Games.

Football

The Harrow Cup took place on Sunday and we took over 50 Primary children to compete against the strongest opposition in Bangkok. What was impressive about this tournament was that for the first time we were able to take two U9 Girls teams to a tournament. This shows the great depth we have in girls sport in the younger years and how many active girls we have wanting to play sport. Our children competed very well and played some fantastic football as always. The boys tournament was cut short due to the storm, but the U11 boys were undefeated in the 3 games they played. All teams should be looking forward to the BISP Football 7s trip leaving on Thursday. They will have an amazing experience. A big thank you to the the children and coaches for their hard work and also our supportive parents.

Golf

Our super star golfer was in fine form again last week finishing second at the Shrewsbury Invitational at Lotus Valley Golf course. It was a real shame that only 15 holes were played due to a late start as 1st place was within her sights. Best of luck for your upcoming competitions.

Tennis

Another great opportunity for our U9 tennis players to participate in the mini tennis friendly fixture Vs NIST on Thursday. All players put in their best effort and showed great attitude. It was the best way for them to learn and improve their games. Apart from that, they enjoyed their time there as we could see lots of smiles on court.

Well done to all our mini tennis stars! We are looking forward to the upcoming tournament at ISB in December.

Well done to our Primary Tennis players who participated in the U10 Orange Ball tournament at Bangkok Patana School on Saturday. All players were divided into groups and played 7 to 8 singles matches followed by some fun doubles. Our players have gained a lot more confidence and experience in tennis games and most importantly, they have made great friendships with tennis friends from other schools.

Term 2 Sports

There are some new developments for Term 2 ECA sport. We are always trying to offer even more sporting opportunities for our children and hopefully our new Sports Programme for Term 2 will not disappoint.

Monday: 

• Rock Climbing will continue at the Racquet Club, Thonglor

Tuesday:

• Open badminton will continue (2 slots: 2.45 - 3.45 p.m. and then 3.45 - 4.45 p.m.) - Sports Hall
• Due to the large number of U9 girls who want to play football, the STA Girls’ football @ Soccer Pro will be split into Flames and Blaze teams with another BSS coach to work alongside Mr Stuart.

Wednesday:

• STA Badminton/open badminton (more badminton for our children and a chance for children who want to play more and also for children playing for STA in Term 2 competitions) - Pridi Soi 41 - 2.45 - 4.15 p.m.
• An email will be sent to invite children to be part of the STA badminton going over to Pridi Soi 41.
• Cricket and striking games on the field - 2.45 - 3.45 p.m.
• Athletics @ track TBC - 2.45-4.15pm

Thursday:

• Touch Rugby @ Arsenal Pridi Soi 21, 3.00 - 4.00 p.m. (We now have 2 teachers to coach Touch Rugby so we can offer this to Years 3-6, 40 plus places available).

Football News: BISP Football 7s

The BISP Football tournament will take place in Phuket from 22 - 25 November. This is one of our favourite trips of the year. The competition is strong with most of the strongest schools’ football teams participating in the event. We always compete well and in recent years, especially in the Primary, have come close to winning. Last year our style of play and the way our teams play such brilliant football, was noticed by lots of parents and coaches from other schools.

This year we again stay at the Novotel on Surin Beach. It’s a great location for the children to combine a competitive 2-day football tournament with spending time at the beach and hotel pool. On the first night there is an Italian buffet, second night a Thai buffet and the final night a BBQ/ice cream and cinema night. I am sure the 30 Primary children going to Phuket on 22 November are really excited about the trip.

It will be great to see you there if you are coming to Phuket to watch your child/children. We very much enjoy how our parents make it feel like a real STA family trip and the coaches really appreciate your support. Please feel free to be involved in the trip and make this an excellent experience for the children. At no point on this trip do you take your child away from us without permission from the coach. It is important we know where all the children are at all times.

Please feel free to pop in on the Saturday night when the children will be enjoying a BBQ and having a cinema night at the hotel.

On the day (Thursday 22 November):

With Loi Krathong on the 22nd, please can children come in in their Loi Krathong outfits and then change into their tour tops and travel clothes at break time. They should put their bags in the breakout area of the Sports Hall when they arrive in the morning and go straight to class as normal. After break time (10.20 a.m.) they should come to the Hall and sit in their teams. We will then leave at 10.45 a.m. and head to High School on shuttle buses from where we will change to the bigger buses to travel to the airport.

We will email to let you know we have arrived safely in Phuket.

Medical Forms:

Your child should have already received a paper copy of their medical form to take home. Please fill it in and return it to the School Office as soon as possible.

Medicine:

Please put any medicine in a clear plastic bag with clear instructions and hand it over to the coach in charge of your child beforehand or in the Sports Hall (22 November) before we leave.

Passport or Thai ID Cards:

Please can all children hand in their Passports or Thai ID's to Mr Bob/K.Seung in the PE Department by Tuesday 20 November.

Electronic Devices:

We will allow mobile phones to be brought on the trip BUT all phones will be handed over to the teacher in charge of your son/daughter in the Sports Hall before we leave. There are no IPADS, IPODS, MP3 players allowed on the trip.

The kit list is below:

NAE Games

We are edging ever closer to our trip to Cambodia with only two weeks to go. Please make sure that you have all the kit ready for Games. Basketball tops, tour tops and PE tops should all have been handed over for printing (where applicable).

On the day:

Your child should arrive at school in their tour top and whatever else they would like to wear. They should come to the Sports Hall at 8.00 a.m., put their bags in the breakout area and sit down. We will leave for the airport at 8.30 a.m. Our flight is PG 939H.

We will email to let you know we have arrived safely in Phnom Penh. Please look on Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates.

Food on Friday 30 November:

Once we check in at the airport there will be a chance to go to the Bangkok Airways Lounge for some snacks plus there's food on the flight. If you do not want your child to eat any of these options then please prepare a lunch/snacks for them to eat on the plane.

Medical Forms:

Your child will receive a paper copy of their medical form to take home (Monday 19 November). Please fill it in and return it to the main School Office by Monday 26 November.

Medicine:

Please put any medicine in a clear plastic bag with clear instructions and hand it to Mr Damon on 30 November.

Passports:

Please can all children hand in their Passports to Mr Bob/K.Seung in the PE Department by Wednesday 28 November.

Electronic Devices:

We will allow mobile phones to be taken on the trip BUT all phones will be handed over to the teacher in charge of your son/daughter in the Sports Hall before we leave. There are no IPADS, IPODS, MP3 players allowed on the trip.

If you have any questions or concerns please email me on damon.se@standrews.ac.th.

Due to the time-frame and the hectic schedules of our children, could the children please do their best to be at the following training sessions:

• Wednesday 21 November: 3.00 -4.00 p.m. on the field
• Wednesday 28 November: 3.00 - 4.00 p.m. on the field

Also, every break time (10.00 - 10.20a.m.) until the Games we have batting practice in the Sports Hall. These small sessions could make all the difference when it comes to tournament day.

NEW STYLE TOUR Tops are now available and FREE. Yes no charge. Please can your child try one on and leave it in the shop for printing. We will give you notice when they return.

Parent Reminder

One of things that our coaches/teachers love from our STA parents is your constant support throughout the year of sport. There are many new children in our STA sports teams this year and we hope you have enjoyed seeing your children represent STA. With a busy period of sport coming up can I please remind parents that the only voice our children should be hearing is from the coach. Please encourage and enjoy the games but do not coach. Also, we are so happy at how respectful our parents are to the referees and officials. Please refrain from shouting at them no matter how frustrated you are at the decision made. We look forward to seeing you all over the busy period ahead.

Gymnastics

Our young gymnasts were hard at work with Sunday morning practice at the Thai Canadian Gymnastics Center, with Miss Bogi. Their first competition of the year is on 24 November @ the NIST Falcons Competition. Our gymnastics programme continues to grow as we try to give more children the opportunity to compete in these major competitions.

Dates for your diary

We have some major sports competitions coming up this term. Please keep the following in your diary.

• 22-25 November - BISP Soccer 7s: U9 Boys, U9 Girls, U11 Boys.

• 30 November - 3 December - NAE Games

• 1 December - Gymnastics Bambi Games

• 8 December - Gymnastics Junior ISB

Here is a small selection of fun videos from last year for you to enjoy and remember what a fantastic year of sport we had:

• Primary School Week in Review video.

• KS2 Dance Performance video.

• NAE Games video.

• FOBISIA Primary Games video.

If you any questions about Primary Sport you can either email Mr Damon (damon.se@standrews.ac.th) our Head of Primary PE or book an appointment to speak to him about the opportunities your child’s/children’s will have at STA.