An Exciting Sports Day!

Written by Lucy Yang from High School

With music playing, an exciting sports day began!

During breakfast, boarding students smelled not only the pleasing aroma of the food but also sensed the excitement of the day ahead. They were all at once discussing what colour they would each be wearing for Sports Day. The students all wore different house uniforms: white for the Byron House, blue for Newton House, purple for Austin House, and black for Hinton House. Although all the students were wearing different house colours, they were all thinking about one thing: winning games!

The sun shone brightly on the stands – everyone was glowing, all radiant and eager to do their best. Mr. Doruk, in his opening speech, said, “Academic courses may not accompany you for your entire life, but sports will always bring you a healthier life.” After all, a healthy body is the foundation of a wonderful life. Ms. Lisa then announced several precautions for the day, and emphasized that if students couldn’t manage to compete in any given activity, they should not force it and instead simply try their best.

Let the games begin! Mr. Michael acted as Master of Ceremony for the event.

The first competitions to occur were the running events, which thankfully happened while everyone was at their most energetic. As each event progressed, everyone in the stands cheered and marveled at the speed of the first-place winners, while encouraging the slower competitors to persevere – perseverance is victory. In the boys’ 1000m race, one competitor, sporting an ‘instant noodle’ haircut, amazingly established a full-lap lead on the other competitors! Was his prowess due to the power of his hairstyle? It was truly breathtaking!

In the girls’ 100m race, one competitor accidentally lost one of her shoes shortly after the start, but she still attempted to finish the race even though she didn’t have any chance of winning.

In one 400m relay, students on one team had fallen behind, but the last runner tried her best to overtake the others – a great display of courage and will. The score was tied, and everyone performed to the best of their abilities.

The shot put and long jump events happened simultaneously. Many students volunteered to keep track of the results for the participants, and I was one of them. As a volunteer, it was interesting to observe the individual attitudes of each athlete before each of the various events commenced: some were very nervous, while some were calmer.

Lean back and lower the chassis;

Prepare, whistle;

Lie flat is the slogan;

No matter the result, just fight!

Everyone in the tug-of-war competition did their best, and the only thing they had in their heart was to win.

After a much-needed noon break, everyone was refreshed and ‘lived’ again, full of energy and ready to participate in the afternoon events. In the afternoon, mostly team games occurred, and the emotions in the stands were as high as those on the field. Everyone on the field enjoyed the tension and excitement of the team games, and those in the stands cheered for their team to win. Sure enough, people’s emotions can be infectious. Everyone in the water game ran to the bucket several meters away at a rapid speed while preventing the water from being spilled from the tattered iron box. Everyone brought their best performance to the challenge – they moved as light as swallows and ran faster than arrows.

In the end, the games ended perfectly. They were preserved forever in the pictures taken by the photographer and in the hearts and memories of the students.