In 1961 John F. Kennedy said in his presidential inauguration speech,

“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country”. Well, we have seen a similar sentiment put into practice in the inter-house events this term with all the sports captains struggling to fit volunteers into their house teams. This is a very good sign. And for the first time in a long time, these competitions are wide-open. In fact, at the opening event of the year, the cross-country, the three teams tied for the title! However, Minerva then went on to win the football trophy and shared the honours with Atalanta in the basketball. But clearly Atalanta are not going to give up their mantle without a fight, as they won both the junior and senior badminton competitions.

At the beginning of term, seven adventurous students plus two parents took on the challenge of a triathlon. Six of the students completed the whole course with Ruan Roux as the fastest overall and Tasmin Beckwith the youngest finisher.  A triathlon is not something that you can do without some kind of preparation, so all the participants should be congratulated for their efforts in preparing for this event over the summer holidays.

In November, several of our students also entered the Vevey road races. Allison Schmidt came fourth in her category; Ross Bramston and Alex Urquhart-Ducharme, sixth and seventh in theirs.

The arrival of Mr Potts has added a new dimension to the football programme this term and he took the junior boys’ team to within a whisker of winning the Under 13 Riviera League. Playing some highly skilful football, a single goal in the last minute of the last game was all that deprived them of the champion’s spot. But such is the nature of competition; the excitement it generates would be less so if victories were always guaranteed. So congratulations, boys. The girls’ teams have also had a new lease of life; both juniors and seniors entered teams into the ADISR competitions, with the juniors reaching the semi-finals.

The swim team maintained their magnificent record at the Neuchatel swim meet by winning medals in eleven of the twelve races that they entered. With a squad of only six, the team placed second overall, beating much larger schools in the process.  A word of warning though: the size of our squad is very small and we need more swimmers coming through especially from the junior ranks if these standards are to be maintained. So, if you are at all interested in putting a bit of competition into your life, getting fit and having fun along the way, then think about joining swim club next term.

Remember again what  JFK said, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country” ; a maxim that could be applied to belonging in any community… such as a school like St George’s. But then again JFK also said,

“Ich bin ein Berliner”, “I am a doughnut”. So who knows what to believe. 

And finally, a farewell. After 16 years of service and commitment to students at St George’s, Miss Byng is hanging up her volleyball pads and moving to the French Alps. We wish her well in her new business venture and thank her whole-heartedly for all the effort she has put in to developing the students’ sporting passions and talents over the years. Education and childhood only come around once and Miss Byng has been pivotal in providing many, many opportunities for students at St George’s to discover new things about themselves via the medium of physical education. Thank you again, Miss Byng, and good luck.

We wish everyone an enjoyable break and hope that all of you will seek opportunities to be active every day of the holidays. See you in the New Year.

Jan Hill

ADISR Junior Boys Football Team

Junior Girls ADISR Football Team

Road Race Team