Student Achievements

Find out what some of our students have been up to...

My tennis journey

My tennis journey…

I started playing tennis when I was seven with my dad, mum and brother at home. We used to play something like Squash by hitting the ball against the wall. My dad taught me how to hold the racquet properly. In Covid times I played quite a bit with my dad and brother and improved my forehand and backhand skills. I then joined the Tennis Club at school. It was fun playing with friends. During the holidays I started learning tennis on weekends with a friend. When I got better, I participated in my first tournament. I was very nervous and I lost the first match but somehow, I won the other matches and got a Bronze medal! I was upset but I was confident because I played with other children my age.

I kept training during holidays and eventually started to become more confident. When I got back to school, I heard about another tennis tournament which I was going to definitely participate in. When the day of the tournament came, I woke up early and practiced with my brother for 30 minutes. I registered for Under 10's. I realized my friend was there to. When I played my first match, I was extremely nervous but I won the game. I was very happy. We had to wait 10 minutes for each match to finish so it took some time. I had to play 7 matches. I tried my best. My final match was 6-6. it was best of seven until my partner missed my backhand and I WON! I was so excited to win my first gold medal. I could not believe I had actually won a tennis tournament!

By Vyan

Chess

I first started playing chess when I was 8 years old with my mum. I found it entertaining and fun and so I decided to continue playing and when I turned 9, I joined a chess club. Through this, I had the opportunity to gain more strength in chess like working on ‘The Queen’s Gambit’, ‘The King’s Indian Attack’ and ‘The Fool’s Mate’. I didn’t win every match but I persevered and now I am much better. Even though chess is a board game, I like to think of it as a competitive battlefield. I have attended many tournaments, for example The Mombasa Open and the IAPS Chess Tournament in Nairobi.

Most recently, I participated in the Coast Regional Qualifiers chess tournament and came first. Because I did well in that tournament, I was given the opportunity to go to Eldoret to compete in the Kenya National Qualifiers tournament. Here I played 8 pressured but fun matches and won 6, drew one and lost one, coming 8th overall in my age group in Kenya. Being in Eldoret for this experience was fun and exciting and I made many new friends. My next aim is to become FIDE rated.

If you are thinking of starting a new activity, I would highly recommend chess.

By Aaryan

Get Published!

Have you done something outside of school that you’re really proud of?

Write or send a video to Mrs Sennik or Mme Mwangi and get your story published!

rupali.sennik@braeburn.ac.ke or ingrid.mwangi@braeburn.ac.ke