CHAMPIONS (out of 12 schools)
In 2014, 2015, 2016, TES were crowned as BSME U11 Champions. Last year, we managed an extremely pleasing 2nd place and this year, we reclaimed our crown! 23 of our U11 athletes travelled to Dubai and in extreme heat and against very tough competition, quite simply blew the crowds away with their grit, determination and passion!
We were the only school who managed to finish in the top 3 in every sport, as well as win the most gold medals in athletics! From the very off-set, it was clear our kids were there to compete and anyone wanting to beat us, would have to put their best foot forward! To be crowned as champions once again, is a truly remarkable achievement and one we are extremely proud of!
Athletics; 1st
What a superb start it was to our BSME U11 campaign! Straight off the aeroplane and into the Athletics competition, which clearly it did not deter our kids!
In both track and field, TES were the superstars of the day. Whilst final results have not yet been sent through, 90% of our athletes were placed in the top 3 in every event.
Dexter, Ciaran, Nunu, Harry and Zarah all managed to add individual gold medals. TES achieved the most 1st’s after beating off tough competition in their respective events. Our relay teams, managed 2nd and 3rd on the day. Special praise must be given to the girls as the day before our departure, one of our strongest athletes had to withdraw from the competition. Erin, Zarah and Isabella stepped in for Divine, with little/no preparation. All 3 of them did their job and did it well and I will be forever grateful to these 3 girls for stepping up to the mark!
Achieving 1st place in the Athletics really was an outstanding feat, considering our limited resources and distinct lack of track!! Well done to all of our athletes for your hours of hard work and enthusiasm! 1st place was nothing less than you deserved!
Girls Football; 3rd
The girls started off the day well, winning their opening match against HIS, Dubai. Nerves were soon shaken off and it looked like we were in for a treat in the blistering heat! Our second game against SES (the eventual winners of the tournament), saw us suffer our first of two defeats. It was a close game and either team would have deserved the win, however it was not to be and we lost 1-0. Credit to the girls however, after this, they well and truly found top form! In their final 3 group games, the girls scored 10 and conceded 0 - outstanding! Particularly coming off a 1-0 defeat.
Our performances during the morning were enough to see us safely through to the semi-finals, where we faced Horizon, a school we have plenty of sporting history with!
It was a tight affair, but unfortunately history repeated itself and a momentary lapse in communication and concentration, provided Horizon with the window of opportunity to score their one and only goal; enough to prevent us from progressing to the final. Once they scored, Horizon proceeded to place 5 players in the box, making it almost impossible for our girls to get the equaliser. Never mind, we had to settle for 3rd/4th on this occasion.
Our last game of the day, was against JPGS. The girls had worked hard all day in the sun, where little/no shade was available. They dug deep, desperately trying to win the game in order to take home some silverware. They were all over the opposition, but just could not score!!! It went to Golden Goal. The girls gave it one last push as they were on their last legs, and it was enough to secure a 1-0 win! 3rd place is an amazing achievement and we as their coaches are immensely proud!
Boys Basketball; 1st
Quite simply sublime, from start to finish! The boys winning today's tournament was never in doubt, as they started brilliantly and never relented throughout the tournament. During the group stages, the boys were in control and looked good. Confident dribbling, passing, defending and rebounding meant that our boys were well and truly up for the win.
In the group stages, the only school who presented our boys with a real challenge were ICS, who we later faced in the final. All of the boys managed to get on the court and each made their impact on the results. After the morning session, our boys were top of the table; by a mile! Their semi final was also against Horizon, who last year denied our boys the title.
The boys were immense and no momentum or determination had been lost. They played extremely well throughout the whole game and were clearly the stronger side. Their final scoreline of 14-2, does not truly reflect how well the boys played, storming to victory and earning themselves a place in the final- well deserved one might say!! Our final was against ICS, who we had faced earlier in the group stages. The boys started off nervously, going behind for the first time all day. However the boys grit and determination were enough to ensure that an ICS victory, would not be happening on their watch. They dug deep and worked hard, managing to win the final 10-6! They were undefeated all day, so no one could argue that they really were the rightful winners! A huge well done to all of the boys.
Swimming; 3rd
As if 6 hours of competition wasn't enough, 11 of our kids were then asked to compete in the water! It was a fantastic effort from the squad, particularly from our boys relay teams, who managed to win not just 1, but all 3 relay races...and comfortably! Sam Boesley also added 2 wins to his name in the 100m and Freestyle. James also had a fantastic day in the water, managing top 3 finishes in all of his events as well - we will find out tomorrow where exactly! Dexter, Finnley, Sam Roden and Oli also swam extremely well and between them, added more top 5 finishes to our tally!!!
On the girls side, Orla, Alice, Natalie, Isabella and Filippa, all finished in the top half of the competition in each event. Their efforts in the 4x25m relay may have bagged them a top 3 finish, after they swam their hearts out! All five girls really gave it their all during the afternoon and we are extremely proud of their efforts today!
Girls Netball; 2nd
What a season it has been for this remarkable group of young ladies. When you look at our squad of 8, only 1 has been a member of TES netball before. The remaining 7, are either brand new to the sport, or relatively inexperienced. So what they achieved over the weekend, really was quite outstanding!
The first 2 games were excellent. 23 goals scored and 0 conceded. The girls were looking good and confidence was building. Their third game against SES proved to be challenging initially, as at half time we were 3-2 down. In the second half however, the girls gritted their teeth and turned the game around to win it 7-4. We won our 4th group game with relative ease, meaning that we had qualified for the semi's, irrespective of our final group game result. Horizon did get the better of us and we suffered our first of 2 defeats. BUT, confidence was high and the girls were happy that we had qualified for the semi's.
We faced Victory Heights in our semi-final and it was evident that both teams were hungry for the win. The game started neck and neck, until TES eventually began to pull away, having done enough work to seal the deal. The final score was 5-3; TES were in the netball final! We faced Horizon again and unfortunately, the wheels had come off the TES wagon. Horizon were a very good side and did deserve the win; but credit to our young team, who really did fight tooth and nail today and epitomised grit and determination! A VERY pleasing 2nd place finish!
Boys Football; 2nd
The boys had a very similar start to their day, dominating in the early games of the group stages. Comfortable wins, one of which being 4-, well and truly put the boys in contention for the final today. Our final group match however, almost upset the balance, as for the first time all day our boys fell behind to Horizon. 1-0 HES after the first couple of minutes of play. The boys needed at least a draw, to ensure safe passage through to the semi finals. They dug deep and fought back and in the dying minutes of the game, found the equaliser. Phew!! 1-1 and our boys were also through to the semi-finals. The boys were looking strong and confident, as they faced the host school Safa. The boys played well, showcasing some slick movement around the pitch and wonderful passing. Clearly the stronger team, the boys went through to the final on a 2-0 win. Undefeated so far- could they win their final game of the day?
The faced Horizon International in the blazing heat! It was tight game, however the TES boys were definitely the more involved of the two teams, but couldn't quite create the chances needed to score. After 12 minutes of intense play, neither team had managed to score. So like the girls, the winners would be decided by 3 minutes extra time golden goal. 1minute went by and still 0-0. 90 seconds went by, still 0-0. With just over one minute left of extra time, HIS managed to fire the ball into the back of our net. To say the boys were devastated, would be an understatement. They had worked hard all day. But to finish 2nd, is still an outstanding achievement and we are very proud of what they achieved on the day.
ISACK Girls Volleyball
TES 1 - 2 NES
Our U13 girls were undefeated across every sport (except for swimming) this year. Champions in basketball, netball and table tennis- and currently joint top of the table in football- could our girls manage to win the volleyball season as well?
To say it was a disappointing start to their final season, would be a gross understatement. The girls had trained hard over the past couple of weeks and certainly during break-times, they looked sharp and full of confidence. Whilst volleyball is not necessarily our strength, the girls were beginning to utilise three touches effectively, serve consistently well and communicate much more effectively. However none of this progress was evident during the game.
They started well and NES were on the back foot to begin with. We served well initially and when needed, were returning the ball effectively, using 3 touches well. But the wheels of momentum soon came off and before you could blink, NES were storming ahead. Confidence was plummeting, serving was lost all too easily and the girls looked lost on the court. A team talk was called, in the hopes that the girls could snap out of this ‘phase’ and for a short while, they did. They challenged NES once again and began to play more effectively. Serving however, was a different story. The final score in set 1, was NES 25 - 14 TES. Not a good start! As we moved into the second set, both teams seemed to have lost momentum, as it was point for point to begin with. But before we could find momentum, we were all too quickly behind once again. The score stood at 13-5 and we were once again in trouble. The girls however, did not go down without a fight and we were able to score 6 consecutive points, to bring the scoreline back to 13-11. Mistakes came once again however and before we knew it, the gap had opened up. 18-11 now; the TES camp were sweating. Some last minute substitutions were made, in the hope that we could claw our way back into this game. But it was too little to late, despite the best efforts of 80% of the girls on court. 25-20 in the second set. Shock was sent through the TES team as for the first time this year, we had been beaten. In the third and final set, TES managed to serve well and play some half decent volleyball. We won it 15-8; where was this confidence and belief earlier on I hear you ask?! In sport, it is easy to take a loss to a better team, but unfortunately our girls cost themselves the win,making far too many mistakes on the day. Here’s hoping we can quickly turn our fortune around before it’s too late!
ISACK Boys Basketball
The boys started their ISACK Basketball season with an incredibly tough game at home against a very talented NES team. The boys started the game extremely well and limited the NES to few shots from inside the key and forced turnovers on numerous occasions. The defence was near perfect in the opening quarter, limiting NES to one basket, which happened to be a long 3 pointer. On offence, the boys spaced well and passed the ball around, resulting in an 8-3 quarter lead. Each of the starting five of Truman, Matthew, Omar, Benjamin and Woojin all had steals and were deflecting passes, creating turnovers of possession. In the second quarter the opposition scored more and were able to get the TES team in foul trouble, resulting in lots of free throws. TES still managed to maintain a lead however the margin had closed to 5 points, 18-13. The opening of the second did not go well for TES as they conceded an easy basket and then turned over the ball leading to another basket for NES. Due to the amount of fouls being committed the team had to rotate and Jack, Jad, Richard and Finn all contributed from the bench. NES had one standout player that was putting up big points and he really began to catch fire with his shooting, scoring from the 3 point line and making contested shots up close. By the end of quarter 3 the score was 22-21 TES and the game was getting really tight. In the final quarter, where teams can play full court, the game caught fire with both teams putting up lots of shots and scoring a significant percentage of them. For the first time in the game the boys looked disorganised at times and allowed a number of offensive rebounds to be picked up. This led to the opponents taking the lead for the first time in the entire match. The momentum of the game was swinging from team to team with both sides trading baskets and the lead. Despite NES having some very good individual players, the TES team were able to pass the ball around as a team and create easy shots for each other, whilst NES were relying on one individual to do all the scoring. With under 2 minutes to play TES managed to take a 4 point lead and were successful in holding on to the lead at the end of the game, winning 38-36. There were some fantastic performances during the match, with Benjamin leading the TES scoring with 21 points, whilst the team captain Truman added 9 more points and providing at least 10 assists for the team. A great start to the season boys; we look forward to the remainder of the season!
ISACK Girls Table Tennis Tournament
Last Tuesday saw the annual ISACK girls’ table tennis competition take place. Once again NES were the hosts and our team of Year 7 and 8 girls set off with the challenge of regaining the trophy (a trophy previously won for 5 consecutive years, but currently ‘on loan’ to NES). No pressure on these girls, then!
The venue was, as always, tight with not a lot of room for manoeuvrability. The girls, however, faced the challenges head-on. BSK and NES were the opponents and the competition was strong. The girls had been out at break times trying to perfect their techniques and confidence was fairly high. We knew that we could play well but how good were our opponents? Only time would tell.
With only 2 other schools to face there was no real room for error and the girls set about their task well. First up was BSK. Darcy, Lara, Angelina, Josefin, Amelia and Leila began confidently and all took early leads with some solid, calculated play. Accurate serves left their opponents with limited options and patient play helped TES to build good leads. The BSK number 2 seed started to play with more confidence in her match and steadily gained control. We battled back well, at one point winning 4 points on the trot. However, a slight misjudgement with a return helped the BSK girl to squeeze home for a narrow win. This helped our girls to focus fully and dig deep in their games. The round came to a close with our remaining 5 girls all securing positive wins.
Next up were the hosts, NES, who boasted 3 former TES girls in their team! This would now be a challenge. More strong serving and shot-making again gave our girls control. The number 4 seed table was the game to watch here as the match went all the way to 10-10. After some confusion about the required winning margin, play resumed and the points went back and for. Unfortunately, luck was with the NES girl and she squeezed home 13-11. Again our remaining girls moved into overdrive and, with pride at stake, stepped on the accelerator. Convincing wins ensued and the round finished, again, 5-1 to TES. 12 games played, 10 won!
Maths came to the forefront now and calculations meant that TES had an unassailable lead. The trophy was coming home! The girls had played exceptionally well and were, as always, a credit to TES – showing a great, sporting attitude throughout. Thank you for your efforts and very well played girls! Thanks also to the parents who squeezed into the NES gym, your support, as always, was appreciated.
ISACK Boys Table Tennis Tournament
Monday, 5th March, was the date for the boys’ ISACK table tennis tournament, again at NES. The Year 7 and 8 boys had prepared for the competition by playing an inter-house tournament in school and the 6 players had fought off strong competition to be chosen for the squad. TES were once again the defending champions and needed to play well to have a chance of retaining the trophy. Some of the team had played in the tournament last year and were aware of the conditions and this helped them to relax a little as the start approached. BSK, NES, KES and TEA had all brought strong teams and the level of table tennis was high from seed 1 down to seed 6. The atmosphere was electric and the noise from the U15 and U19 tournaments (running alongside our U13 one) was at times deafening. We managed to maintain our focus and with personal pride at stake, as well as TES pride, we took to the tables. Great serves, strong rallies, fantastic movement and powerful smashes ensued as we got off to a brilliant start - winning 5 of the 6 matches against BSK.
NES were our next opponents and they were the toughest team to beat. Their number 1 seed was an outstanding player and Omar had to work hard to stay in touch. After a brave display, the NES player just proved too strong. Jack, our number 2 seed had a titanic tussle with his opponent. With strong rallying and impressive smashes, eventually Jack triumphed - 11-8. Aayan, Woojin, Hamad and Lewis all had to bring their A game to keep NES at bay and after a tense few minutes, we walked away with 4 wins from our 6 games. A statistic that was to prove crucial as the tournament entered its latter stages.
TEA put up a strong fight as we entered the next round of games. There were no easy games now and the boys maintained focus and calmness under pressure to battle to 5 wins and only 1 defeat - another impressive round of table tennis. All of the games were only won by 2 or 3 points, showing how good the TEA team was. Nevertheless, it was evident that the boys really wanted to retain this trophy! After 18 of our 24 matches we had won 14 and lost only 4. Truly fantastic results, given the class of the opposition!
NES were still our main opposition and, following a quick teamtalk, it was clear that 6 wins against KES would be enough to see us at least draw for the championship. The boys saved their best table tennis for last. Trying to find weaknesses was key and some deliberate shot-making, angled in at the body of our opponents, limited their scoring chances – leading to TES dominance. A great set of results and a well-deserved 6-0 win signed, sealed and delivered!
After 24 difficult matches, we had finished with 20 wins and 4 defeats. We were confident that this was enough to take our trophy home – but we had to wait for NES to complete their round of games against TEA.
It was great to see the boys invested in each game, knowing that 1 NES defeat would ensure TES would be champions. After what seemed like an eternity, the games came to an end and NES, to our joy, had suffered 2 defeats. Quick maths all round meant that TES had won. Unfortunately we had to wait for the U15 and U19 games to end before it became official.
After a long, patient wait the tournament was over and the results were announced - TES were champions! The trophy had been retained again! Congratulations again to Omar, Jack, Aayan, Woojin, Hamad and Lewis who performed brilliantly on the day. They played their hearts out and truly deserved their success, showing great sportsmanship during the course of the event. Another TES team triumphant and a credit to the school, as always.
Thank you very much for your efforts, boys and thank you parents, for waiting until 6 o’clock to take them home! A long, but successful evening!
KFSAC 3/4/5/6 Swim Gala
Last Monday saw our swimmers back in action, in the second and final KFSAC gala of the year. The kids were full of confidence going into the competition and were hoping to at least match and if not better, their 2nd place finish in round 1.
Nine schools participated in the gala and TES managed to finish a very credible 2nd place overall. Given that KES (who won), have well over 50% of their squad trained by Elite- compared to our 2 swimmers, what was achieved was truly excellent! My heartiest of thanks and congratulations go out to the swimmers and Ms Chal and Ms Grace, who have worked tirelessly this year with all of our swimmers and produced some very pleasing results. A huge congratulations to all of our TES swimmers this year, both in KFSAC and ISACK.