Introduction
“Strengthening the Core”, the 2013 NorthGate College Sports Day theme demonstrated that the core is indeed strong and getting stronger inside of NGC, if the success of our recently held Sports Day is anything to go by. Held at the UWI Sport and Physical Education Centre in St. Augustine on Thursday February 19, 2013, it was another memorable tale in the journals of the College.
Pre Sports
As with anything NGC, the day began long before the actual event. The NGC air was electric with excitement from the beginning of January as Sports Day activities drew teams of students together. There was a series of thrilling and varied pre-sports events: football, cricket, academic relay, aerobathon and Road Race. Points accumulated before went towards the actual Sports Day, and, for the last two events, the more team members participated, the more points your team could get. This drummed up support and team spirit.
Pageantry
NGC has never settled with the traditional March Past of typical sports days. Instead, a strategic decision was taken to include pomp and pageantry, causing the students to collaborate towards a presentation that speaks to guests and each other. It is a dramatic expression of an ident
ified theme. All NGC Sports Days begin with Pageantry. Students include narration, drama, music, dance, banners and other dramatic additions in their presentations. The theme of Pageantry 2013, “Strengthening the Core” produced amazing presentations and kudos must be given to Accuracy for a well-deserved win.
Fun Events and Flat Races
As usual, everyone got an opportunity to participate as events were specifically designed to cater for the serious athlete as well as those participating for fun. It was a keenly contested day with lots of laughter, lots of cheers and even more fun. Congratulations to Charise Laveau who was the Lower School Victrix Ludorum, Isaiah Taylor who was the Lower School Victor Ludorum, Desiree Harper who was the Upper School Victrix Ludorum and Micah Ballantyne who was the Upper School Victor Ludorum. When the points were tallied, it was Purpose who emerged victorious.
Post-mortem
NorthGate College Sports Day was an occasion of fun activities, healthy competition, collaboration and pageantry par excellence. It was a day that brought together students (past and present), staff, parents and collaborative partners. It continues to provide an outlet for the creativity of the students as seen through their pageantry, the speed of athletes and the skill and strength of other participants. The student leaders must be given special commendation as they single-handedly coordinated the events leading to the sports day. They also ensured that the teams cleaned up the grounds before we left. They started well and finished well. We look forward to Sports Day 2014 and all that it promises.