House Volleyball 2021
There was a competitive atmosphere with each House trying their hardest to win overall. Students enjoyed lots of fun and tense moments too, from falling to save the ball, to scoring points from amazing ace serves.
Panpan – F5
Last week was a very intense week, with Inter-House Volleyball from Monday until Thursday. Not only that, but House Arts had also just finished leaving many teams with almost no time to practice together. Despite this lack of time, all the teams performed exceptionally.
On Monday and Tuesday, Upper School battled it out in Sports Hall 1 with Teresa winning 6.1 and Pankhurst winning 6.2. On Wednesday, Form 3 and Form 4 played, and the outcome was Mandela being first in F3 and Teresa in F4. Thursday was the competition for Form 5s. I was one of the players for Teresa, and I think the team played pretty well considering the very limited time for practice. From spectating all the games, I think Adil’s 11 service aces for Mandela deserves him the MVP title.
Most of the people involved in the competition, whether they were Lower or Upper School, boys or girls, didn’t usually play volleyball. However, everyone still tried their very best for their team, and it was very impressive to see how most of them improved their receiving, setting, spiking, and serving skills throughout the game. I think the most impressive part of this year’s volleyball was the amount of support and cheering from House members. It didn’t matter if the team lost a game against one House; the House Captains and Heads of House cheered on for their teams ‘till the very end. It was a VERY FUN experience overall, and I look forward to the same next year.
Sam – F5
Inter-House Volleyball was such an amazing experience. My friends and I enjoyed playing volleyball competitively. Since volleyball is a team sport, before the game, we discussed and practiced a lot. This brought us closer to each other and created a better teamwork environment. Despite the results, I am glad that everyone who got involved in the volleyball competition managed to have fun and made it such a memorable event. I look forward to other upcoming Inter-House competitions.
Yun – F5
House Hockey 2020
The inter-house hockey tournament took place during Wednesday ‘afternoon games’, gathering a fair few spectators. A total of six matches were played that afternoon, giving every house an opportunity to play against the other three houses. Mandela was short of players, due to the fact they struggled to find substitutes beforehand. However, they established coordinated tactics before the first game, enabling them to attack and defend well throughout the game. The teams’ passing and spatial awareness helped them score two goals in the first game, scored by Seb. Mandela won the next match against Teresa, mainly due to Jacob’s strong attack throughout the game. Mandela drew the last game, struggling to outplay Gandhi, however were overall winners on the day.
Mandela did not win the inter-house hockey tournament through pure skill, but rather teamwork and coordination. The whole team was willing to put in their best and maintain energy, which proved especially hard with no substitutes. We thought we would come last or close to last, but it became apparent that communication skills, hard work, focus and sportsmanship were more important than athleticism, helping us to attain the much-desired win for Mandela House. Our respect goes out to the other houses who competed; it was an exciting afternoon!
Seb – F4
House Basketball 2020
On 12th February, Pankhurst’s Lower School basketball team participated in an inter-house basketball tournament. Many thanks to our house captains, Praew and Leo, who put together a wonderful and tough squad.
In the first game against Mandela, we knew they were resilient, but we won with a good defensive start led by Kong and Victor and then outscored our opponents.
After the break, we were playing Gandhi (they were in the same position as us, winning their previous game against Teresa). However, our team was strong, and we were able to defend their best players, as well as orchestrating our offence to a manage a second win.
Then, we faced our last match, Teresa. Our defence started to lack physicality as we fatigued, therefore allowing Teresa to gain a lead in the first few minutes of the game. However, we re-strengthened and strategised, and caught up with their score. In the final moments of the game, the score was 11-10, Teresa leading by one point. Facing our best opponents, we got the final chance and were able to shoot a game-winner, putting Pankhurst first in the tournament.
Many thanks to our players and our house captains for their efforts!
Kenny – F4
House Cross Country 2019
This year’s first big house event was House Cross-country, on Wednesday October 2nd, and as always it didn’t disappoint. This year there was a record number of 502 finishers, 178 of whom were in the Lower school race – this was quite a feat, despite the downpour of rain during the days leading up to the Wednesday, that as Mr. Canney warned us before the race that the weather had left the 2.89km course muddy and extra challenging; the mud sucked our feet into the ground (in fact I heard someone lost their shoe and carried on running- now that’s commitment). That was the only downside to having the course run around the surrounding fields, otherwise it provided an opportunity to run a course that isn’t allowed the rest of the year, and luckily it didn’t rain on the actual day. A big thank you is owed to the hares, Mr. Cale and Mr. Jones, who managed to run the course, staying ahead of all the runners, and encourage the runners at the same time. Congratulations to Pankhurst for winning the overall Lower School Boys and Girls categories, and Gandhi for winning the overall event. The Lower school individual results were:
Boys:
| Position | Name | Form | House | Time |
| 1st | Leo | F5 | Pankhurst | 11:58 |
| 2nd | Sushant | F5 | Teresa | 12:00 |
| 3rd | Ben | F3 | Teresa | 12:51 |
Girls:
| Position | Name | Form | House | Time |
| 1st | Wing Hin | F5 | Mandela | 14:31 |
| 2nd | Jennifer | F5 | Mandela | 14:37 |
| 3rd | Myrtle | F5 | Teresa | 15:22 |
After completing the race students were treated to biscuits, water and juice by the fabulous catering staff. There was also plenty of team spirit with Upper School too, and those who had already finished cheering on those finishing the race. After Upper School’s race, Dr Outram presented the trophies. All in all, it was a great event.
Lower School Tag Rugby Tournament
As the scorching sun shone in the sky, Concord’s four ‘houses’ gathered to compete for the Tag Rugby Trophy. Two teams from each house entered, all who had practiced beforehand, to prove that they are all able of winning the event.
The first two houses – Gandhi and Teresa – prepared each of their teams to start off the tournament. As the first whistle was blown, the teams clashed together in a bid to ‘bring the trophy home’. During the event, all the teams played each other and there were many interesting plays and excitement that ensued. Teresa, Pankhurst, Gandhi and Mandela all played their very best and were promising contenders to win the trophy…
At the end of the afternoon, it was time for the prizes to be handed out. As the prize-giving ceremony commenced, everyone was on edge, as the same question flashed across everyone’s minds: “Who won?” – As the names were read out, it was deemed in the end that Pankhurst won the trophy, with Teresa coming 2nd, Gandhi 3rd and Mandela 4th. As the trophy was given out, a round of applause was heard from the crowd of students all of houses. Despite the competition and everyone being so into the game, at the end of the day, we were all still happy for the winners, and the sportsmanship never died down throughout.
Leo – F4
House Cross Country 2018
As we all know, the Inter-House Cross Country took place last week. Before the day of the race, the enthusiasm only seemed present on the faces of our House Captains and Prefects. Words like “agony” and “pain” were even used to describe it… So it seemed like no one was going to run the entire race. But of course, things you expect never happen – and in this case, this was a brilliant thing!
At lunch-time on Wednesday, the Dining Hall was still packed with people, but the supply of food seemed to be very sufficient. Strange, as normally the most popular food options may have run out fairly quickly. But why? The answer was clear when you saw trays with the ‘smaller’ portions of food on every table. People were having less for lunch, because of the cross country that followed. And the Dining Hall was emptying out very quickly as the time ticked by, approaching the second hour of the afternoon.
Behind Main Hall, crowds of Lower School students were waiting for the commencement of the race. You could see a clear division between the colours of the four different ‘Houses’. In circles, they all cheered, motivated one another and did warm-ups. The atmosphere was extremely friendly, but all of us knew the first inter-house competition of the year was about to start…
The crowds and atmosphere kept building up and more and more people kept joining the different Houses. That was until the crowd’s chatter came to a halt when a safety briefing was given. Runners claimed their designated starting positions on the edge of the lawn, waited for the signal, everyone now ecstatic about the race. After a couple of failed attempts of the starting gun, “BANG!”, we were off.
Spots of yellow, green, blue and red sprinted across the field, upwards towards the fence. Everyone was running. Of course, some overtook and flew by, but you could tell all of us were trying our best for our team. The course for Lower School is shorter than the Upper School route, however, still challenging – especially at the twists and turns of the off-road section about half way. The surfaces were rough, uneven and bumpy too. There were a couple of slips and falls, but we all managed to stand up, regain composure and kept on running. At the finish line, a massive crowd of cheers and encouragement awaited every student. The ‘taste of the fruit of success’ when we all crossed the line, I can’t put into words. But what we did feel was adrenaline running through our veins.
What next? Handing in the finishing tickets to your House’s desk, getting your name on the scoreboard. You’d turn around and people were cheering for the remaining runners, whilst others handed out water to the finishers. People had their hands in the air as they crossed the line in celebration! You started to understand the meaning of the phrase, “Focus on process, not outcome”.
Of course, at last, Gandhi House lifted the trophy high, winning the Inter-House Cross Country for an impressive and consecutive third time. But I think everyone is going to agree with me in saying we all enjoyed it immensely.
Kenneth – F4
House Volleyball
The school had only been open for a week and we had four ‘house competitions’ already. We didn’t really have much time to practice…
I was one of the Pankhurst members who played both basketball and volleyball. After the basketball match, we had about 4 days to practice for our volleyball competition, but I believe the houses didn’t practice as much as perhaps needed because volleyball club is held only on Sunday night. But that didn’t really matter because participation is the key, right?
Anyway, the tournament was really (really really) FUN. All four houses were so competitive. Gandhi House produced some ‘free play styles’ that were so unpredictable but actually worked (…sometimes). Mandela has got some tall players which gave other houses a hard time to block or smash the ball against them. Teresa has got capable players and, of course, that power serve from Gavin Chen, and Pankhurst has got some skillful volleyball players too. Each house showed good teamwork and so, this enhanced the level of enjoyment. Fun moments occurred whenever we tried out new tactics, new movements and played in different positions. Most people involved in this competition, whether they are F3, F4, or F5, boys or girls, they don’t usually play volleyball. However, everyone tried hard and did their best for the team and it was very impressive to see most of them improved their digging, setting, smashing, and serving skills throughout the game.
To be honest, no one was really ‘carrying’ the team or did their jobs perfectly. We all made mistakes on the day and personally, I didn’t serve the ball as well as I should which was one of the reasons why Pankhurst lost to Teresa. But, nevertheless, it was the teamwork that improved the skills of everyone and eventually led to the enjoyment of the games.
The final result was Pankhurst and Teresa being joint winners of the competition. However, this is just another year of house volleyball so I’d like to encourage everyone, especially F3 and F4, to take part in this sport and also the other remaining house events this year and next year. Who knows? Maybe next year the victory will be yours.
Tee Saran Punpipatpaiboon – F5