BSME U11 Games Report | News | The English School, Kuwait

Day 1 Thursday 17th March

A superb first day at the BSME Games. After a smooth journey to Dubai we headed over to Safa school for the opening ceremony and the first event of the 2016 BSME U11 Games, the swimming competition.

In the pool the squad excelled themselves producing some outstanding performances with many 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. It was great to see the hard work that each child had put in over the past few months pay off and the superb performances pushed TES into the top three positions. At the half way stage we sat in 2nd place, narrowly behind Horizon school from Dubai and just in front of the host school Safa. The TES swimmers continued to produce some excellent displays and going in to the final relay events the boys won both the medley and 50m freestyle relays to put TES in a strong position in the overall standings. With the girls also producing excellent displays in their relays it ensured the squad finished in 2nd place overall, just behind the winners Horizon.

It was a wonderful performance from our swimmers and we were very proud of their efforts today. The rest of the squad supported the team amazingly well and were a credit to TES. All pupils were soon tucked up in bed, ready for a big day of athletics and basketball.

Overall Swimming Results

Place	School	Points
1st	Horizon	157
2nd	TES	143
3rd	Safa	141
4th	Jeddah	102
5th	Ajman	70
6th	Park House	67
7th	ICS	53
8th	Dharhan	50

Thanks to all of the supporters who cheered on the swimmers.

We look forward to a fabulous day tomorrow and hopefully some more silverware.

Day 2 Friday 18th March

Wow! What an amazing day today. I cannot describe how proud I am of the TES children. Each and every one of them was amazing.

The day began with the athletics competition. Our athletes performed fabulously well and every pupil put in amazing performances. All of the pupils absolutely excelled in their events and it was a delight to see the desire, determination and passion shown. At the half way stage, we knew that we were close to top spot alongside Horizon who had some very talented athletes. As the competition entered the final stages the track event finals would determine the winner. Our track finalists performed amazingly and finished off with a fabulous 4x200m relay victory. There were some wonderful performances in the events with our athletes achieving gold in the following events:

Name	Event
Basil Tuma	75m A Sprint	150m A Sprint	Triple Jump	4x200m Relay
Darcy Highmore	600m A	4x200m Relay
Truman Heath	75m B Sprint	150m A Sprint
Angelina Matta	High Jump
David Al-Saleh	Long Jump
Tamara Wood	600m B	4x200m Relay
Riri Ishaka	Shot Putt
Ahmed Abul Enein	Shot Putt
Jack Oliver	4x200m Relay
Josefin Purser	Triple Jump

Alongside our 1st place medalists the rest of the pupils gained many 2nd and 3rd places which contributed significantly to the overall scores. The TES athletes finished in the top 4 in the A and B events in almost all of the competitions. This meant that we knew when the points were added together that we were in with a major chance of 1st place in the athletics event. After a break for lunch the results were announced and TES was crowned 2016 BSME athletics champions, beating Horizon school by 30 points. An absolutely fabulous performance that every single one of the pupils should be extremely proud of. The support from the squad members not competing in the athletics events today was fantastic and they deserve huge credit for the way they helped and conducted themselves throughout the day.

Athletics Results

Place	School	Points
1st	TES	379
2nd	Horizon	347
3rd	Safa	304
4th	ICS
5th	Park House
6th	Jeddah
7th	Dharhan
8th	Ajman

The pupils then moved on to the basketball competition. TES faced Ajman, Horizon and Jeddah in a tough group. However, from the first game TES settled well and soon got into their stride. Some super basketball saw the squad beat Ajman 10-0 in the first game. On the outdoor court in the second game TES took on Horizon school. It was initially a tough encounter, but after an exchange of points TES soon took control. The squad recorded a 9-2 victory and then moved into the third game against Jeddah having already qualified for the semi finals. TES put in their best performance of the day and played some great basketball to win 16-0. In the semi finals the squad were up against the host school Safa. A strong start to the game put TES 6-2 ahead and a further basket ensured an 8-2 victory. The squad moved on to the final against Park House who beat Jeddah in the other semi final. In a fabulous opening spell TES moved 8-0 ahead within minutes and at half time led 10-4. The second half again saw TES in complete control scoring another 3 baskets to make the score 16-5 and then as the timer ticked down Truman shot on the buzzer to score making the final score 18-5 to TES and to send the crowd and TES squad into wild celebration. It was a wonderful performance from the TES team who were quite superb all the way through the tournament and were head and shoulders above the other schools.

Basketball Results

Place	School
1st	TES
2nd	Park House
3rd	Safa
4th	Jeddah
5th	Horizon
6th	ICS
7th	Dharhan
8th	Ajman

The basketball brought an end to a magical day. Having been director of sport for 7 years at TES and experiencing some fabulous and outstanding performances from the TES squads and teams over the years, I can honestly say that this day will stay with me for a long time. It was an absolute pleasure to coach, manage and lead a quite wonderful set of pupils, who not only showed true team spirit throughout the day but conducted themselves in an exemplary manner. They were a credit to TES and I am extremely proud of each and every one of them. Mr Gibson, Miss Simon and myself would like to say that the children have been an absolute pleasure to take on a sports trip and they are all lovely children who are very much united and committed to giving their all for TES. They really have become a team over these couple of days and it is wonderful to see the camaraderie between them all. I would also like to thank the parents who were absolutely brilliant throughout the day. This support is so important to our success and I want to thank you for giving us our space while we have been coaching the teams. We all very much appreciate your support and encouragement during the competition.

So we headed in to Day 3 ahead of the pack in the overall competition, knowing that if we finished above Horizon and Safa in the football and netball tomorrow, we would be crowned champions defending our trophy from last year.

Overall Positions (Top 3)

Place	School	Points
1st	TES	23
2nd	Horizon	19
3rd	Safa	18

Fingers were crossed for the same success in the next day’s events. It would prove to be another great day.

Day 3 Saturday 19th March

Super Saturday at the BSME Games. After two fantastic days the final day of the 2016 BSME Games involved the boys football competition and the netball competition. It was another amazing day and the TES children did us proud.

The football competition was a very tight affair, with a number of talented footballers and teams on show, and after a long weekend of sport it was always going to come down to which teams were fittest and which team wanted it more.

Football report from Mr Gibson

After a super KFSAC season, TES players were confident of doing well and we started nicely with a good performance against Ajman Academy, resulting in goals from David and Basil. Another win against Jeddah followed, as the team started to gel and perform up to expectations before the big match against close rivals Horizon. After a feisty Basketball game yesterday, stakes were high and we controlled the game but just couldn’t score a goal and had to settle with a goalless draw. However this was a key result in the context of the tournament and it meant that Horizon didn’t make the semi finals while we progressed into a match-up against host school Safa.

By now the team were playing well and keeping their shape beautifully, Benjamin in goal was hardly involved at all. Against Safa, when we needed to, we put in an outstandingly controlled performance topped off with a bullet header from Basil from a well-worked corner from Sam. With Safa struggling to get into our half, 1-0 was always going to be enough and we took our rightful place in the final up against our previous opponents Jeddah.

A strong and confident performance was needed and with Basil controlling the game from midfield, we opened the scoring after he beat two men and slotted home into the bottom corner. Again our opponents were struggling to make any headway against our tight pressing and organisation, and as the clock ticked down we grew in confidence. However there was time for the ball to break kindly to Sam and his left foot strike into the top corner from 15 yards brought our loyal band of followers to their feet and sealed the win for TES.

Champions!

In ability, desire, strength and organisation we were unmatched. Every boy gave their absolute all and made their coach very proud. It has been an absolute pleasure to coach these boys for the last 3 years and I will miss their drive, determination and willingness to listen and run through ‘walls’ massively. Great job guys!

Football

Place	School
1st	TES
2nd	Jeddah
3rd	Park House
4th	Safa
5th	Horizon
6th	ICS
7th	Dharhan
8th	Ajman

Netball Report from Miss Simon

The girls went into today’s tournament as undisputed netball champions of Kuwait- 12 wins, no losses - but nonetheless, they knew today would be a tough battle and that high quality Netball would be in order if they were to be crowned BSME champions. As always, the under 11 girls came out fighting hard from the beginning, showing off the improvement the girls have made this season.

Our first game was against Jeddah Prep and Grammar school. After a nervous and unsettled 5minutes, the girls suddenly found their flow and began to play some beautiful netball, proving too much for Jeddah in the end. Notable performances in this game, came from Darcy, Rachel and Tamara, whose passing and swift movement around the court, ensured us a victory. All of the girls played well and stamped their mark on the tournament.

We moved onto our second game against Horizon. A formidable force and an opposition we knew would be tough. After a disappointing first half- the girls were 9-1 down - a half time talk and magic water, saw the girls come alive in the second half. They fought to the very end, to bring the game back to 9-6 to Horizon. A loss, but also a lesson learnt that in order to win today, they would need to bring their A game from the first whistle.

Our last group match was against Ajman Academy. From the off, our girls were amazing. Smooth, slick and fast netball secured us a 21-0 victory. Tamara and Riri were sublime in the shooting circle, with our defensive twosome of Angelina and Josefin keeping a clean sheet- outstanding result for TES. We finished second in our group, Horizon finishing top.

Our semi-final draw was against Park House school from Qatar, who finished top of their group. The girls were brimming with confidence, and we were sure victory would be ours- and it was. The girls won 10-1, to see us safely through to the final. All of the girls put in a sterling performance and were ready to take revenge against Horizon. Going into the final, everyone knew it would be a tough but thrilling match! And it didn’t disappoint. Our girls fought incredibly hard and really brought their A game this time round. At half time, the score stood at 5-4 to Horizon. Our girls knew they had done fantastically well to stay even stevens with their opposition- this game was far from over!

A sensational start to the second half, saw TES go 6-5 up with 4 minutes to play. Horizon fought back, and really put the pressure on. The score was 8-6 to Horizon, with one and half minutes to go. But once again, our girls turned up the heat and clawed it back to 9-8. Angelina, then made an excellent interception in the final seconds of the match, and as our girls broke away bringing the ball towards our shooters, the final whistle blew. 9-8 Horizon in the end. Emotions were high and tears shed by both coach and players- but they were tears of joy and pride in the end. A hard fought battle and an unlucky end to what was an outstanding netball season for our girls. From October till now, the progress our netballers have made has been fantastic- Miss Simon is extremely proud and could not have asked anymore of those athletes- well done TES! 2nd place at the BSME Games is an outstanding achievement.

Netball

Place	School
1st	Horizon
2nd	TES
3rd	Safa
4th	Park House
5th	Jeddah
6th	ICS
7th	Dharhan
8th	Ajman

What an amazing weekend. Your children have done us proud and we have had an absolutely fantastic time. It has been a pleasure to bring your children on a BSME Games trip and they have all excelled beyond our expectations. It will come as no shock to you after results of 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd and 2nd that we were once again crowned BSME U11 Games champions defending our title from last year. To win any BSME event is an absolutely outstanding feat so to win 3 out of 5 events is a phenomenal achievement and we should all be extremely proud of the children. As Director of Sport at TES for the past 7 years I could not feel any prouder. The way the pupils have conducted themselves throughout the weekend has been an absolute credit to TES and they deserve a huge amount of praise for their efforts and endeavour all weekend. It is a fabulous way for myself and Mr Gibson to bow out and I have no doubt that Miss Simon will push the squad as hard as ever next year to try and defend out title for a third year. We head to Wild Wadi tomorrow for a fun end to the weekend. I would like to personally thank the parents for their support and encouragement all weekend, you have all been amazing and our achievements definitely could not have happened without you. I would also like to thank Aldana Boesley for the amazing kits, as we definitely looked the best dressed team! What a weekend, something I will definitely never forget and will be a stand out point of my career at TES.

Overall Results

Place	School	Points
1st	TES	38
2nd	Horizon	31
3rd	Safa	28
4th	Park House	26
5th	Jeddah	24
6th	ICS	14
7th	Ajman	9
8th	Dharhan	8

Thank you everyone, we are so so proud of your children.

Mr Leaver, Miss Simon and Mr Gibson