Secondary Sports Day

Friday 3rd July dawned bright and clear, if a little cool (this is Zambia's dry season and it is also winter) but a good day for sport. Amano's Secondary School Sports Day began at 0830 and provided an excellent morning of competition prior to a long weekend break with two public holidays to enjoy! As usual Steve and Jo Grove, our sports teachers, had planned and prepared well for the big day. Steve and Jo's contribution is easily overlooked but without them the students would not be trained and the planning for the big day would not be done! They were ably assisted by various people, but special thanks to Matt MacDiarmid who set up a PA system and kept up a steady stream of announcements and comments, Rod Boatman and Andrew and Amanda Kirk who assisted Steve and Jo in many ways and visitor David Foster who presented the certificates.
The day was marked by many improved 'personal bests' and a great deal of enthusiasm and determination by the participants. An added 'edge' was a new points scoring system which allowed competitors to attain the title 'Victor (or Victrix!) Ludorum.' To qualify students needed to compete in five different events and accumulate a score for the certificate. The effect of the system is to encourage competitors to try hard even in events they may not personally win because they can still gain points for the aggregate score.
The school records were broken in a number of categories. Here is the 'roll of honour:'

Under 14 Girls Elisabeth Breuninger 1500m
Under 14 Girls Womba Musamba Shot Put, Discus and Victrix Ludorum
Under 14 Boys Daniel Vedder Clean sweep and Victor Ludorum
Under 16 Girls Christina Chipemba Javelin
Under 16 Girls Womba Mufundi Shot Put and Victrix Ludorum
Under 16 Boys David Ng'ambi 100m, Shot, Discus and Victor Ludorum
Under 16 Boys Wankunda Silengo Javelin and Triple Jump
Under 19 Girls Gabi Pflaum Long Jump and Javelin
Under 19 Girls Rabecca Mwale 200m, Discus, Triple Jump and Victrix Ludorum
Under 19 Girls Esther Kampamba 1500m
Under 19 Boys Benji Mutti 100m
Under 19 Boys Bupe Siwale Long Jump, Triple Jump and Victor Ludorum
Under 19 Boys Wila Musamba Shot and Javelin

Primary students provided part of the audience, with other secondary students encouraging their colleagues when not participating. The PTA provided refreshments. If a disappointment has to be recorded, it must be the lack of support from parents - their presence would be much appreciated in future!