As most of you are aware, last weekend, 21 of our Year 7 and 8 Athletes participated in the 2017 U13 BSME Games. 16 schools from across the Middle East region attended this hugely competitive sporting event. We knew heading to Abu Dhabi that the competition would be fierce. Top sporting schools such as The British International School Al Khubairat, Brighton College Abu Dhabi, British International School Jeddah, St Christopher’s Bahrain and a whole host of others were in attendance. Of the 16 schools participating, we managed to finish a very respectable 6th. 5 of the schools which took part, were Small Schools like ourselves, and of these 5 we finished first. We were also able to come out as the number 1 school from the three Kuwait schools who participated- BSK and KES also attended- which are two fantastic feats from a small Prep school in Kuwait. The children should be extremely proud of their achievements and take away memories that will last a lifetime. We may not have returned as champions, but the children really did give it their all against very talented opposition..
Girls Football
In the Girls football, they managed to secure a very pleasing 6th place. Very much the underdogs, the girls muscled hard all day and fought off very tough competition. They qualified in second place after their group stages, and unfortunately lost to Sherborne School Qatar 2-0, in their Quarter final match up.
After this disappointing loss, the girls moved on to fight for 5th-8th place. They faced The British School of Muscat in their first match up, who they beat 1-0; the scoreline does not reflect the amount of scoring opportunities and possession the girls had from start to finish during that game! They then moved onto play for 5th/6th. Once again, it wasn't meant to be- all of the possession and exceptional work rate, but just couldn't find the back of the net. We lost 1-0 to ICS in the end. However, a squad of only 8 girls defied all odds today and finished a very pleasing 6th place- thoroughly deserved!
Boys Volleyball
The boys started the day off slowly, unfortunately losing their first match to the British International School Jeddah. They were 20-14 down at one point, however their resilience shone through as they pulled it back to 20-19. The game was eventually lost 25-19. They then moved onto their match up against KES. This was to be an exciting game and the boys stepped up this time. Serving was much better and more consistent. But in the end, KES managed to clinch a 25-20 win against us- bring on ISACK!! Onto their third and final group match, and finally their win came. 25-14 against King's Al Barsha School, Dubai.
They moved into the 9th-16th knock out stage and after a good team talk and the boys finding their flow, they were able to win all of their knock out matches to finish 9th place overall. Well done to the boys on not giving up and showing great determination throughout the day.
Boys Football
The boys went into the competition confident after winning the ISACK football league back in Kuwait.
They started off with the British International School Cairo. An extremely well rehearsed team with some outstanding players. The boys lost 3-0 to them, however, this was the team that went on to win the whole tournament in the end. After this, they moved onto Sherborne School Qatar. The boys upped their game and managed to win 1-0, however, could have scored so many more. Feeling more hopeful now, the boys moved onto their third and final group game. Another win here, would see them through to the Quarter finals. Unfortunately, a 1-0 defeat to our locals rivals BSK, meant that the boys did not qualify. They were extremely unlucky against BSK and were undoubtedly, the better team. but finding the back of the net proved too difficult. With a lucky break away, BSK were able to score their winner. Our boys were truly unlucky in this match up!
So our boys moved into the Tier 2 stage, playing it out for 9th-16th. They faced the British School Muscat first of all. A tough game, but the boys gave it their all. Today just wasn't their day as they suffered a 3-0 defeat. Next up, were DBGS- a school from Saudi Arabia- where the boys really did find their flow. They began playing with more passion and determination and really did play out of their skins. They won comfortably in the end, beating their opposition 3-0. Better late than never, they moved onto their final game of the day, playing for 13th/14th place.
They continued their excellent play and were all over the opposition- ICS Jordan - but just couldn't find the goal they rightfully deserved. It went down to penalties in the end. A huge pressure falling on the shoulders of the strikers and Nawaf in goal. The occasion proved too much, and they lost 2-1 on penalties in the end. The boys finishing in 14th place in the end. Not at all the result they deserved after having been crowned Kuwait champions earlier in the year.
Girls Netball
After their huge triumph in Abu Dhabi back in November, the girls were looking to perform the double and lift another BSME Netball trophy. Having been dealt an extremely tough group, the girls managed to win 3/3 in their groups stages. Their first game against British International School Riyadh, was a
comfortable 11-0 win. They were on fire once again and looking strong. In the second game, they faced St Christopher's- an extremely tough opponent who made the girls work til the very end. We were 3-0 down in the beginning, however, after digging deep and once again gritting their teeth, they managed to win 8-4 in the end. The girls were well and truly on form, and were looking like the one of the favourites to win today. Our next match was Brighton College- the team we defeated in the final back in November at the BSME Netball tournament- and the girls were ready to beat them again. A massive 13-2 victory over the Abu Dhabi champions! The girls were elated and moved through to the quarter finals top of the group and the clear favourites to go and win today.
We faced Sherborne next. The girls started well, securing an early 3-1 lead. At half-time, the score was 4-3 and the girls were looking good. The second half however, Sherborne turned up the heat, and after a few mistakes by our girls and missed opportunities, Sherborne eventually went on to win 8-6. To say the girls were heartbroken, would be an understatement. Coaches, parents and students from a wide variety of schools stood shocked at the TES loss. One of the tournament favourites had been beaten. So the best we could hope for today was 5th place. 2 more games to go, the girls were hungry for their consolation prize. First they faced BISAD- another Abu Dhabi school. The poor school had to face the wrath of our angry TES girls, who stormed to a 14-1 victory! The manner in which they played in this round, would have been enough to beat Sherborne. Their final game was against St Christopher's once more who were equally as disappointed with their day as us. It's fair to say, that this was one of the best games of the day and could easily rival the excitement and standard of the final! Both teams threw everything into it. TES took an early lead, but St Christopher's clawed it back and moved ahead to take a 5-3 lead with only 4minutes left in the game. TES came back, taking it to 5-5. Then St Christopher's scored again, before TES equalised. 1minute left and the score was 6-6. Everyone was willing the TES girls on- Jeddah, BISAK, BSK, KES and even some of the other coaches! They managed to dig deep and pull out an 8-6 win in the end! 5th place was not what these girls deserved after having played some outstanding Netball! They were without doubt, the team to beat today and the crowd favourites! There was not a set of dry eyes in the TES camp Friday- they deserved so much more after having had a truly outstanding season.
U11 Girls KFSAC Netball
Monday, the U11 girls were once again back in action here at TES, in their friendly league matches. Having made an excellent start to their season last week, the girls were hoping to continue their winning streak. They faced the NES A team first of all which we knew would be tough. The girls were the stronger team and ensured that victory was theirs. They started slowly, making many unforced errors, but, when they eventually sorted themselves out, played some beautiful netball. Their passing improved as the game went on and their movement around the court was much slicker. They came away with a comfortable 5-1 win in the end. Next they faced the KES A team. The girls started the game much better this time. Passing was stronger and there were a lot less errors from our side. At half time the score was 3-0 and the girls looked to take the win. In the second half, they picked up their game once again and finished the day with another win; 8-1 this time.
In four games, the girls have conceded only two goals and scored 36- a truly fantastic start to the season. Next week, they face BSK and TEA.
U13 ISACK Boys Basketball
The boys finished the ISACK Basketball with a comfortable 23-13 away win against NES. The team have now completed a clean sweep of the league and head into the playoffs with a 100% winning record. The game started off very slowly, with TES taking the majority of the control but never really capitalising on their possession. When the boys did play with a faster tempo they looked very good and finally started scoring baskets. After the first quarter, the boys were 6-2 up and didn't look like they were going to find the game too difficult to win, which led to some slow play and complacency. When Orestis and Maro injected some pace into the game the boys looked good, however this didn't happen enough. Defensively, the team was sound and created a number of turnovers but at other times they 'switched off' and allowed easy shots to be had by the opposition. The scoring was shared pretty evenly across the team tonight. Going into the semi finals (which will be at home) the team have won 5 in a row and are looking likely to win and indeed retain the ISACK Basketball title. Best of luck boys- an excellent start so far!
U13 ISACK Girls Volleyball
The girls will play their final fixture of the group stages Thursday afternoon. The report will follow next week. They have already secured a place in the semi-final which will be played next week.