The Spring term has been dominated by skiing.  Pupils travelled once a week for ski lessons to the nearby resort of Les Mosses where conditions have been excellent this year. At weekends, staff also ran optional ski trips to various resorts within the region e.g. Verbier, Villars, Gstaad, Morgins, Les Crosets etc.  These sorties proved to be very popular and enjoyable for staff and students alike.

A number of pupils also took up ski racing this year.  Despite being a lakeside school, St. George’s went from strength to strength as the season progressed and students showed that they could hold their own with the mountain schools.

ISL Five Schools Races 04 February 2000

The racing season began with the ISL “Five Schools” competition in Morgins.  This gave the newcomers a chance to try their hand before entering the bigger races later in the term.  Unfortunately, injury and illness hit the team badly on the day.

Aiglon Giant Slalom Invitational 06 February 2000

Next came the Aiglon Giant Slalom Invitational at Gryon. Under fabulous blue skies and with the support of our recreational skiers who joined us on the Chaux Ronde piste, the junior boys in particular showed the first signs of a promising future.

SGIS Junior Ski Championships 11 February 2000

With the snow falling heavily, conditions in Gstaad proved to be difficult.  Nevertheless the team put up a very respectable showing against some of the best ski racers in the region.  The team was also pleased to have along skiers from the Junior Department for the first time.

The Governor’s Cup 26 February 2000

Leysin American School hosted this annual event once again.  The weather was perfect, although it certainly needed to be, as the course was the toughest that our racers had encountered up until then – steep and icy at the top with a fast middle section.  Results were our best yet.

ADISR Championships 01 March 2000

Extreme conditions blighted what had promised to be the biggest event of the ski calendar.  With deep snow hampering the course setters and cold conditions making it very uncomfortable for competitors waiting at the starting gate, it was decided to curtail the event after the first special slalom, leaving the results as they stood. Unfortunately the heavily rutted course got the better of many of our racers.

Ski Team

Ø                  Andrew Shaw
Ø                  Angela Hitchens
Ø                  Max Klement
Ø                  Steven Van Beek
Ø                  Faisal Baeshean
Ø                  Edward Harty
Ø                  James Spelling
Ø                  Lisa Klement
Ø                  Solveig Suess
Ø                  Vivianne Loopuyt
Ø                  Rebecca Haworth
Ø                  Christopher Dorocant
Ø                  Loris Pitteloud
Ø                  Stephanie Hitchens

Ski Tests

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The ski tests were able to go ahead this year with the pupils having had plenty of opportunity to develop their skills throughout the term under the tutelage of our regular instructors at Les Mosses.

Our thanks go to Pierre, Antoine, Alan and Jean-Luc who ran a fun ski programme based on developing skill and mobility on skis.  A record number of pupils passed their gold test this time around.  Congratulations to everyone who achieved their own personal goals.

Gold  

Max, Steven, Faisal, Georgina, Angela, Thomas, Andrew, Gail, Monique and Portia.

Parallel

Valérie, Urs, Alexandra, Katrina, Michael, Miguel, Charlotte, Linus, Aina, Adil, Kseniya, James and Courtney.

Silver

Shannon, Zoë, Edgar, Grant, Francisco, Nicholas, Pilar, Luisa, Elizabeth, Kaoruko, Amy, Charlotte, Chantelle, Judith, Nidhi, Sassan, Sachi, Chris, Lizzy, Elitsa, Lucia, Mikako, Annabel, Margarita, Melina, Lama, Varun, Renata, Asma, Raphael, Teddy and Dawn.

Station

Jenny, Rachita, Hilda, Saki, Tadataka, Ana Paula, Ksenia and Sarah.

Bronze

Arabella, Roshane, Cristina, Rachel, Javiera, Vernon, Lizzy, Rahul, Amanda, Elizabeth, Zainab, Tiago, Daniela, Leonela, Cristina, and Miss Hickey.

Super Mini

Serena, Ria, Surraya, Mami, Konomi, Mayu, Olga and Hayat.

Mini

Shahrinaz, Hanan, Yashika and Francisco

Blue Board Snowboarding

Elisa, Olga, Virginia, Hulkar, Denise and Alyson.

Red Board Snowboarding

Polina, Nicole, Iyabode, Maria, Fernanda, Robert and Dean.

Well done and congratulations to all the students who tried out for a ski test regardless of whether they passed or failed.

Inter-School Competitions: ADISR Football 26 January 2000

The senior girls’ football team had another foray into cup competitions and got a taste for what they need to do in order to play with the best.  The team had some close matches but unfortunately never managed to capitalize on their chances.  The team came 8^th out of 8 and afterwards were determined that they had to commit themselves to more practice in their own leisure time if they were to improve.  Nevertheless, the experience was enjoyed by all.

SGIS Senior Basketball 29/30 January 2000

The senior girls’ basketball squad had an overnight stay in Zurich when they travelled to the SGIS championships.  The team played together as well as they have ever done and were excited to reach the final only losing out by a few points.  Well done girls.

SGIS Junior Basketball 04/05 March 2000

 The junior girls’ squad went into this tournament with their confidence riding high having recently beaten CDL in a friendly match.  CDL turned out to be our first opponents and our girls notched up a significant victory, 15-11, significant in that it proved to be the making of the girls’ self-belief.

St. George’s then progressed as unbeaten group winners to the semi-finals where they scored a comfortable win.  The final itself lived up to all expectations in terms of excitement.  Although our girls lost out to La Chataigneraie, arguably the favourites, they should be proud of the way in which they made up for a wobbly start, only just failing to pull back the lead before the final whistle.  A truly commendable team performance, providing an example of the maxim that “the whole can sometimes be greater than the sum of its parts”.  An excellent performance – well done girls.

Our junior boys’ team went into their tournament as underdogs.  Nevertheless, they set themselves individual and team targets in each game which, by and large, they succeeded in achieving.  Although they came 7^th out of 7, they certainly gave a good account of themselves and learned much from the experience.

SGIS Volleyball Championships 11/12 March 2000

The senior volleyball squad travelled to Brillantmont for this two day event.  Although the team notched up a respectable 4^th place, some of the girls were disappointed not to have done better.  However, they will appreciate that we can all learn from disappointment as well as from success and hopefully the girls will have taken away some valuable experience for future competitions.

It is important to remember that sport provides a platform for developing self-esteem and confidence within our physical world.  Sometimes this means pushing ourselves further than we thought we were able to go; challenging our capabilities and venturing beyond our comfort zone.

There are many pupils who have done just that this term, although they are not mentioned in the above roll of honour and yet such personal achievement is just as worthy of mention.  So it is only fair here to extend our congratulations to all those pupils who found the courage, whether on the ski slopes, on the games court or in the swimming pool, to stretch themselves beyond what they thought they could do.  You too can be justly proud of yourselves and I hope that others follow your example.

J. Hill, P.E. Department