BSAK triumphs at COBIS Games in The Netherlands

Schoolchildren of The British School Al Khubairat in Abu Dhabi won the prestigious Council of British International Schools (COBIS) Games 2013 this week in The Netherlands. Courtesy BSAK

The British School Al Khubairat has won the prestigious Council of British International Schools (COBIS) Games 2013 this week in The Netherlands.

During the four day event, the team of 15 athletes from Years 5 and 6 competed against 14 other British international school squads from across the world in basketball, athletics and football. They performed very strongly in each section of the competition, emerging as the clear winners of the overall title.

In the basketball, both the boys and girls teams reached their finals but narrowly lost out to strong opposition. They won overall on points, and led the table at the end of day one.

In the athletics, BSAK won six golds, four silvers and two bronze medals, with several record breakers. Ethan Collings (Year 5) smashed the COBIS boys' 400 metre record with a time of 1.09 minutes; Jasmine Gray (Year 6) broke the girls' 800 metres record with her 2.49 time; and Conor Duggan enjoyed a very short record period as his record breaking 2.39 in the boys' 800 metre semi-finals was broken in the final by The Netherlands. BSAK's points kept them at the top of the table for the second day.

On day three, the BSAK mixed team played some excellent football, reaching the final but losing 2-0 to a very strong Madrid team. BSAK won overall with 150 points, a clear margin of 30 points over King's College Madrid who came second, and The British School in The Netherlands who were third with 110 points.

The BSAK athletes were: Tadgh Walsh, Ben Burridge, Kai Bhullar, Jen Sykes, Jasmine Gray, Paige McDonald, Medhi Cheddad, Reem Salem, Ethan Collings, Matilda Scragg, Marcus Digby Johns, Sienna McKenna, Shane Duggan, Conor Duggan and Charlotte Cunningham.

The other British school teams were from Egypt, Turkey, Norway, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Kazakhstan, Libya, Russia, Spain, Czech Republic, Luxembourg and Nigeria, making it a truly international competition and enhancing BSAK's reputation worldwide.

"This is an outstanding achievement for all the athletes involved," said Mr Mike Wolfe, Acting Head of BSAK's Primary School. "The determination and commitment shown by all the students was absolutely amazing, both in the months of training running up to the competition and during the games themselves. The students represented the school, and Abu Dhabi, admirably and were excellent ambassadors for us both on and off the sports field. The standard of play across all three days of the competition was very high, but our students rose to the challenge. We are all unbelievably proud.

"Thank you to our sponsors, BP, for their support for the second year running and for providing all our athletes with a fantastic COBIS Games kit. I would like to thank Miss Gillian Ensor, Miss Nikki Jackson and Mr Pete Jones for organising the trip and training the students, ably assisted by Mr Pete Collings and other members of staff and parents who have worked so hard over the months to ensure the team were ready for the competition."

Mr Paul Coackley, BSAK's Principal, commented: "This is a tremendous achievement for our young athletes. This is the second year that The British School Al Khubairat has competed in the COBIS Games, and it is testament to the dedication of the children and the commitment of the staff and parents involved that they have risen to the top so quickly. This certainly puts us on the international schools' sporting map, and I am exceptionally proud of all the children who took part."

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