Can people still show good sportsmanship?

Sometimes friendly sports matches are taken a bit too seriously. At the end of the game, the winning team would brag about their victory and the losing team would feel bad even though it was a friendly game. There would be shouting and screaming coming from the winning team. From the losing team there are sad faces and people yelling at other players for not helping or missing such an easy goal. All of the teams should just show some good sportsmanship because it was only a friendly game. This is what happened during the last few minutes of the friendly football game.

The two teams playing on the pitch are the Martinshaw primary school and the Leicester primary school. The game is coming to the end, the score is currently tied at 0 - 0. One team just needs to score a goal in order to win. One of the players from Leicester primary school runs up past the halfway line, a player from Martinshaw comes in and slides to get the ball. At the last second the ball was gone, he had just passed the ball to another player on the team. Martinshaw acts fast and goes into a defensive formation but the Leicester team is one step ahead and lobs the ball over the defenders and shoots. Martinshaw is relying on the goalkeeper to stop the ball from going into the goal. The goalkeeper jumps, his hands are out, his heart is thumping the ball just flings over his fingers and its a goal. The crowd is cheering, the Leicester team is going wild the score is now 1 - 0 to Leicester Primary School. Martinshaw is gutted that they couldn’t keep it a tie, but they stilled carry on playing.

Martinshaw starts with the ball, and they are off with a good start. Passing the ball through the Leicester team players. They just need to score one goal so that they can get a tie of 1 - 1. Midfielder is running up, and passes to the striker, one mississippi: the striker takes the ball. Two mississippi: lobs the ball over the defender, three mississippi: he shoots. The ball is flying through the air, the goalkeeper gets his hands up and blocks the ball. He shoots the ball towards the other goal. *TWEET, the whistle has been blown. The Martinshaw team has lost the game 1 - 0. This reporter went to talk to a Martinshaw player and asked how he felt about the loss “I am disappointed that we lost the game, I thought we had it but in the end the score was 1 - 0.” Quote Thomas Billson, student at martinshaw. The Leicester team was cheering and boasting of how good they were.

There is one team boasting and another feeling bad, why can’t the Leicester team have good sportsmanship. The thing that the Leicester team is doing is making the other team feel bad. It doesn’t matter whether the Martinshaw team lost because they will have another try when they play in a competitive tournament they can use different strategies that they learnt from this game. Leicester team can practice strategies that they learn’t from this game and they might be able to win their next match. We should all just congratulate the other team no matter whether they win or lose. You know that the other team has tried their best so just congratulate them for trying their best, you shouldn’t keep bragging about your win.

Written by Dylan 

The Pro’s of Exercise

Watching TV on the couch on a Friday night, flipping through the channels when you come across the sports channel, seeing all the professional athletes do their thing, Kobe Bryant shooting round the arc and swishing a three, Usain Bolt tearing up the track and Michael Phelps speeding down the cold pool, you get the point.

In all seriousness, many adolescents are worried and concerned about their bodies. Teens these days suffer a negative body image. Negative body image is when someone thinks that they are too fat, too skinny, too weak, too short. Maybe for girls it is when they are not pretty enough. Research has shown us that exercise boost our self-esteem and helps tone our bodies and keeps our hearts healthy. Exercise is something that everyone needs. It also helps us stay positive and mindful as well as keeping us fit.

If exercise is not in your daily regime, you may face many physical problems, Obesity being one of many. Not only does Obesity cause physical problems but also social problems. If you don’t exercise, Obesity is inevitable. Bullying is something that could be one of the consequences of being obese. People may tease people or make fun of them for being obese but it is not entirely the obese persons fault. Genetics play a major role on obesity.

On the plus side, exercise also helps us perform better in school. Scientists have observed students activity levels in a 7th grade classroom. The results came out just as expected. The students who played a sport almost every day were more attentive and performed better.

Sure exercise is tiring, maybe even boring for some people but it should not be treated like a chore. People should think of it as something that you do mindlessly, without thinking about like brushing your teeth every morning or night and eating your breakfast. Lots of people love exercise and sport, just like many people in Middle School. Harit Raghunathan, from 8JRa said “ I really enjoy playing a sport and exercising, it helps me reduce stress. Another reason is it gives you a sense of determination and the drive to become better. If you are competing in an ACSIS team, you find that there is a sense of competitiveness in everyone, the fact that you want you and your team to win and even if you don’t, you will feel proud that you have at least gotten that far.” Almost everyone in 8JRa said that they love sports, depending on which one. Sport is a part of exercise, so it counts. No one can live without exercise, it is a need.

Written by Arjun

A-Team

The group of 30 or so girls went silent on the field. Ms. Thomson knew it was late around 4:30 and everyone was eager to go home but even more eager to find out the touch teams . She held up the clipboard and anxious faces and started to spread through the girls.

“I know some of you are going to be disappointed in the teams but we need to speared the experience and skill throughout the teams.” This made the girls even more scared and anxious. She moved her eyes back down to the clipboard, a quick glance back up.

“B-Team..” And then she started to read out the names. Names would pop up here and there, as every name was said girls like lost puppies would stare down to their hands. As she read out more and more names, hoping not to hear their names, people started to fidget with their water bottles. There were twelve or so girls who were picked to be on the B- Team, some of them wen’t sad and some of them looked really shocked to be on the bottom.

“ Well with the B-Team done.... Now leaves the A-Team.” Everyone who was not called during the (scary other word) past two minutes, rejoiced inside. Ms. Thomson started to read out names again, but this time for the A-Team. As their names were said girls started to sit up taller and smiles showing their white shimmering teeth started to appear.

Written by Kiana

Support in Sports

Music could be heard loudly playing from the new Singapore OCBC Swimming Arena, where the Swim Starts competition was taking place, last Friday night. Everyone was exhilarated as the UWC East swim team took their seats in a group on the east side. The audience buzzed with anticipation, eager for the action to start.

World champions, Olympians, World Record holders - they were all lined up, ready for their races. Kicked off with the men’s 100 freestyle event, the night was off to an exciting start. With the promising amount of $10,000 cash prize for 1st place, maximum effort was put into their performances, keeping the crowd cheering on their feet. Whoops and shouts were heard from the audience, the cameras occasionally flicking over to film groups, playing it on the large screens.

A group of swimmers from UWC East crowded the empty platform about the swimmers’ exit. Waving their hands and leaning over the railing, they were able to get high-5s and autographs. Completely in awe by the sport celebrities in front of them, they cheered and shouted, unable to properly process their surroundings.

The night came to an end as all the participating swimmers slowly walked around the pool, back to their exits, waving and smiling at the crowds of screaming fans. With the music and cheers fading, the night neared it’s end.

As the audience dispersed and left the arena sticky and sweaty, like most of the other viewers who also got autographs and handshakes, this reporter was unable to stop smiling or squealing for the rest of the night.

However, as great as the night had seemed to all the aspiring swimmers, some of the spectators were not impressed. According to a parent of one of the UWC swimmers, the event was way overpriced and a waste of effort for themselves. Because of the lack of time - the event only lasted one night - there were not as many races as was expected, leaving a few viewers unsatisfied.

Some parents and friends are not as supportive, their attitudes can either rub off on their children, or make them even more determined to defy them. With lack of support, swimmers may find it harder improve, but some swimmers are able to motivate themselves off anger and bitterness, to prove a point to their parents and friends.

Sportsmen can burn out after a few grueling years, or continue and advance to becoming world famous. Support is an important part of any sport, and without it, swimmers are likely to quit after the pressure becomes too much. Families and friends should support any sports that their children do, and cheer them on, because without support, no one would be able to succeed in life.


Written by Kelly

What Do Sports Days Actually Mean?

Last year, there was a certain anxiety and wait for the 2 most arguably popular days in UWCSEA, the Sports Days. Both days were extremely fun-filled and students of Grade 7 relished the day. These were going to be the days when the mentor groups would compete for the glory of winning the Sports Days. Everyone knew how the day would unfold.

Out of all the interviews held, mostly everyone had loved the 2 days of sports. “I’d rather play video games than swim all day and run around on the field.” said one of the annoyed students. The eventual winners of Sports Day was 7 DSz. Kunal Daga from DSz said that “We worked really hard to keep fighting and win the points.” When asked about the team in a whole, Kunal said “I’m pretty sure everyone gave their best and were really motivated all through out.” Another student from DSz said “I’m glad that we won Sports Day because my friends were always nagging me about how I was really bad at sports. This shut them up.”

After a long day in the sun, the students were excited and waiting to know who won. Going bottom placed to first, the boo’s were loud. As soon as SMu was announced 2nd, the whole of DSz ran out and started giving each other high-fives. There was chaos as other classes blamed them of cheating and made other such ridiculous claims. Even through their best efforts, the teachers couldn’t calm down the students. As the pandemonium wore of, the teachers took control.

Even though they had lost, students from the losing teams were pretty cool about it. According to an unconfirmed source, they didn’t believe that their class could win at all but were happy to have taken part and have a lot of fun. While some believed that their class hadn’t put in 100% effort and were very disruptive to the team’s moral.

Overall, people seemed joyful as they exited out the Astro-turf. They had gotten their well-deserved break from the exhausting routine of Middle School work. Not only that but they had gotten a day where they could bond with their classmates. This was a day full of learning and collaboration even though it might not seem so. For the students this was just a fun day, but the big idea behind this was to bring the school together.

Written by Kunal