Term One Sports Report!

This term draws to an end and as we draw breath, we look forwards to more exciting times ahead. We have worked very well both here and on several occasions in Nairobi and across the school our students have excelled themselves, pushing their own performances and improving their skills. I know I speak for the entire sports team when I say we are very proud of them, their dedication and their achievements.

Some have made fantastic progress throughout this term; for this Rens and Isabella in the primary school and Gaetan in the senior school spring to mind. Then when it comes to outstanding performances, there are several that vying for accolades, including swimmers in Ernest, Fidel, Matis and Aiden who all qualified the national event, and athletes who competed at the Kasarani events, where the top performers from the top schools across Kenya compete; there were some excellent individual performances at these events including Ernest's bronze in the high jump.

We have also travelled for football and unfortunately had a few events cancelled, or postponed due to the heavy rains. Happily these did not have too much of an impact on our sports days and interhouse cricket events, although we were slightly hampered and slowed by the after effects!!

We now look forward to hosting schools from around the world for the COBIS games. We have been selected to host teams of year five and six for a three day competition including a day of athletics, a day of swimming and a day of football. It is very exciting and we hope that we will have many parents along to support and cheer on our students during the events at the end of March.

Primary Athletics

This term has seen us compete as part of the Umoja athletics squad, a squad made up of four other Braeburn schools. This has meant that the children have had to work really hard just to make the team. We had many good performances at both junior and senior Kasarani events.

The junior Kasarani event saw us take five students, Willa (long jump/ relay), Daisy(100m / long jump / relay), Nicole (Discus), Denis (Discus) and Aiden (Javelin). David (Long jump/ relay) had also qualified for the Umoja team but was unable to attend. The performances on the day had everything from heart and endeavour to skill and expertise. The children had a wonderful time, they made new friends as the team was brought together and challenged themselves in the impressive Kasarani stadium.

The standards of the young athletes were extraordinary, this is essentially the best young athletes at school age from across Kenya and our students did extremely well. With sixteen schools and teams present, they managed some very notable performances, with Daisy missing out on the final for the 100m by 0.02 seconds, Denis and Aiden managing a seventh place in their throws and Nicole eighth. Willa and Daisy both performed well in their respective jumps, again finishing in very respectable positions. The group were an absolute pleasure to take, with Nicole shining as a leader and taking the younger athletes under her wing.

Junior Sports day

This year's primary sports day was, to be frank, amazing. Just to have been able to get the surfaces to a point where we could use them after the floods was incredible. Credit to the grounds staff and a slice of luck with a break in the rain that was long enough to allow us to run, jump and throw all morning!

The events were exciting, with some excellent performances in several events. In the field, Garang and Alvin were two stand out performers, managing great performance across all his events, others winners include Herman (Vortex), Mollie (Long jump), Shamin (Quoit/Vortex), Alex (Quoit/Vortex), Adam (Long jump), Etienne (Long jump), Adam J (Turbo Jav), Otto (Quiot) Vyan (Turbo Jav) Ayden (Quiot) Sean (long jump).

When the children were on the track we saw many excellent races, many very close. We started brightly and had Alvin(600m), Sean(600m), Mattie(400m), Clemmie (400m)and Otto (400m) winning their longer races, then Alex, Levi, Isabella and Kizito won their (200m) heats. Alenka, Sean, Dev, Otto and Isabella then won their (100m) sprints. David, Adam J, Natasha, Oli and Cleah managed to win their (75m) sprints. The craziness of the ball shuttle saw Adam, Amina, Marcus, Natasha, Otto, Sophie, Cleah, Sean and Vyan have success. We must not forget some frantic parent ball shuttlers and sprinters, with some very competitive performances, the children were super proud!

The final scores were really close, with only fifteen points between the winners and third place, in fact in the two age groups, Simba had won the yrs 1,2,3 and Chui the yrs 4,5,6 events!

1st Kifaru

2nd Chui

3rd Simba

Well done Kifaru with the overall win!

Junior Inter house Cricket

The Junior cricket was keenly contested this term. The houses played very well and everyone seemed to enjoy the social element of cricket!!

All had two good games, with Adana playing well with the ball. Ishmeer also surprised everyone with his skills in the field. Simba’s Joone managed a couple of wickets and Alexander also bowled well and Mollie batted well as did Garang, scoring many runs from the bat. In the older age group Nangdeng, Alice and Zahra performed well in the Simba vs Chui outing, with Alvin and Etienne scoring many runs for Kifaru. Daisy was also batting well in the same game for Chui while Chris bowled a very tight over.

In the younger age groups, Years 1 to 3, we had a Kifaru win over Simba (very close scores!) and in the Year 4 to 6 Simba won out with Chui in second. This all added up to an overall Simba win.

Overall results!

1.Simba

2.Kifaru

3.Chui

Fantastic job all of those that played!!

Senior Kasarani

The senior Kasarani event saw us travel with a strong group of eleven keen athletes. We again were part of the Umoja team and as such had to qualify for the event. So just to make the team the students have had to perform at their very best. The event was again during the heavy rains that hit the country, drenching everything. We took great pride in wearing the new Umoja kit, with its stripes signifying the schools that collaborate.

The events came thick and fast with Ernest making great strides in the 800m and Louisa in her 800m race. The field events went off with a bang, with some personal bests for Poul (long jump) and Aayan (discus). Aayan was actually sitting in third place until the final round of throws where he was edged down to an excellent fifth position. The boys 4x400m was an absolute killer for the boys, they ran their hearts out, with Poul, Alex Ernest and Aimaan all putting in fantastic shifts. There were several other good performances, from Charity, representing the school for the first time, Hendrika putting her all in during the 100m and Ana throwing her Javelin. Lilly both jumped and ran well, really working hard to pressure the extraordinarily quick winners of the 100m, and Fidel who was very unfortunate with an early injury preventing his further racing after a great start in the 200m. The icing on the cake, after a few near things, was when Ernest claimed the bronze medal in the high jump.

All in all the trip was a very good experience, with some superb performances, some coming close to medals.

Senior Sports day

Senior sports day was great fun this term. The children were nonplussed that areas of the field were resembling duck ponds! They got on brilliantly and showed some fantastic camaraderie during the morning. The day seemed to rush past as we saw multiple excellent performances in both the track areas and the fields. The track saw some exciting races, with the 100m races being very close, and the 400m allowing us to reminisce on the exploits at Kasarani!

The final scores for the event were very close. Chui were in third place, but only one point separated Simba in second and Kifaru in first! The closeness of the scores hopefully describe how the event was approached, with a fun, but competitive spirit!

1. Kifaru
2. Simba
3. Chui

Great job all of you athletes in secondary school!

Senior Inter house Cricket

We had again succumbed to the rain and were forced to move the inter house cricket to the main field. The students eagerly played games that did not pull any punches! There were several sixes scored, by Fidel, Alex and Matis and fours from Lilly, Poul, Ernest and Denis, among others. In the first game Chui and Simba had a slug fest after a slow start. The game gradually got closer that Simba got to the score set by Chui. Simba won out with some good batting from Ernest and Arnav. In the second game Kifaru again managed to chase down the score set by Chui. This left an exciting final between Kifaru and Simba. Simba batted well, setting a very good 46 as a target. Some great shots from Lilly, Arnav and Ernest saw them looking quite comfortable. However, Kifaru had very different thoughts and came out swinging! Fidel, Alex and Matis batted hard hitting several sixes and cutting into the lead very quickly. They didn't slow up at any point and Matis came in and rattled off a very quick 12 runs to take the lead. What a breathless morning of cricket!! A very quick thank you to Mr Daniels for his excellent umpiring alongside myself.

1. Kifaru
2. Simba
3. Chui

Little sports - our turn to help out a little.

This term as a department we have been supporting a local group organised by an NGO. The group uses sports and in particular Rugby and Football to empower children from impoverished backgrounds. We have supported the cause with the use of our grounds and some equipment, along with a little support with the coaching methods used. The U15 girls rugby team recently managed an excellent second place at the renowned Safari Sevens tournament in Nairobi. The girls were in attendance at the recent secondary production, and we very much look forward to continuing this partnership as our own Rugby programme continues to grow! Great work guys!

Ronnie Jennings:

This term's Ronnie Jennings award was very easy to give. This student has represented the school at national competitions in both swimming and athletics, winning a medal at the Kasarani event being the icing on the cake. It is a great pleasure to hand over the award to such a deserving student.

Well done, a fantastic term Ernest Took!

Thank you all for the support, energy and positivity this term. We are very excited about the next term and all that it holds. A big thanks also goes out to all the staff that support our fixtures, events and travel, and of course to the children themselves for their hard work.

Kindest regards,

Nigel Moyse and the sports department.

IT'S YOUR TURN!!

We have had a few requests from parents to have a social sports time. We would like to suggest that on Wednesdays from 4.00pm Netball will continue and on Thursdays from 4.00pm football and/or touch rugby will commence. Both sessions are for any parents to join staff for some fun!

We also have our cross country route available for parents both before and after school, if you fancy a run (or walk!!) let us know!

nigel.moyse@braeburn.ac.ke

deborah.barasa@braeburn.ac.ke