Kickstarting a new year of sports at Wellington

Nick Starbrook Director of Sport

 

The last academic year was a particularly important one for sport at Wellington, as we witnessed a significant expansion of the number of teams (especially in the Senior School) and the raising of the overall profile of sport across the College, highlighted by our participation in ACAMIS and FOBISIA as full members. We saw pupils of all age groups engaging with both new and familiar sports in record numbers, eager and determined to hone their skills and test themselves against other athletes in their age group both within the College and further afield.   With the new academic year in full swing, we aim to keep building on this momentum and deliver another excellent year of sport for Wellington. With this in mind, Saturday 24th August was a very encouraging and uplifting day for us all, as we held sports trials for teams covering much of the College’s full age range, including:

• Senior School netball and volleyball teams
• Swim squads from years 4-13
• Football teams from years 4-9, comprising 15 individual teams
• The U15 FOBISIA team, a first for this age group

In total, more than 500 pupils and several hundred parents were in attendance, as the glorious sunshine allowed for a full day competitive sport to determine team placements. This was also a chance for parents and pupils to come and see exactly what’s available this year in sport and for the pupils to try out for teams which they might not otherwise have considered. Our aim with these trials was to showcase not only what pupils can expect in terms of sport on campus, but also competition opportunities at the national, regional and even international level. I was gratified to see that even after one year of participating in FOBISIA and ACAMIS, awareness about these events and similarly large sporting conferences is rapidly growing throughout the College and wider Wellington community. We are blessed in terms of the level of support that our pupils enjoy, as parents and teachers reliably turn out in morale-boosting numbers to our fixtures, even though many of them are held off campus. As a PE department, we are always highly appreciative of this fact, and accordingly we are always looking for ways to channel the admirable support shown by our partners among the staff and parents. I hope that each year, awareness and enthusiasm around these major tournaments will continue to grow.  

Eyes on the prize

This year is also about building on the tangible sporting successes of the one before. This means that we aim to place higher in local league tables across myriad sports, and advance from participating in major sports conference events like ACAMIS and FOBISIA to outright winning them. Our teams’ experience of overseas competitions has greatly increased, aptly demonstrating to them the very high standard of competition they can expect to face. They know what they are up against and consequently what they have to do to secure victory. Enticingly, tournament wins of this nature are not far away; last year’s U11 FOBISIA saw our pupils reach three of the finals of the four events, so it’s clear that Wellingtonians have the talent, ability and determination to win. I am convinced that all we need is time. Fortunately, our pupils will soon have another opportunity to test themselves internationally, as we will be sending five teams to the British International School 7-a-side tournament in Phuket in November. Once again, I am beyond pleased and proud of the enthusiasm, dedication and positive attitude displayed by our pupils. I’m equally appreciative that no matter what teams they try out for, they have the support and encouragement of their parents – a factor that makes all the difference in a discipline that is as psychological as it is physical. I look forward to seeing what our newly formed teams can accomplish this year. I suspect that there will be a great deal of big wins, personal bests and encouraging stories of team and individual prowess for me to write about as the year unfolds.

More relevant articles :

• Wellington boys and girls win 1st ACAMIS football tournament
• U9 Netball | Building a love of the sport early on
• Wellington sends first teams to FOBISIA in Thailand