2021 Magazine

165 2021 | Edition No. 24 | T he sports year started in an un- conventional way. Rather than kit- ting out in the various summer sport equipment, our learners were gather- ing on the field to build their fitness levels after a long holiday in the hope that the normal routine would take over soon. The Preparatory learners have shown great resilience through- out the year as their sporting choices have chopped and changed due to the ever changing protocols. Parklands On the Run To end the Summer Quarter the Preparatory learn- ers competed in the first ever Parklands on the Run. This event encouraged learners to run, walk or even crawl around the course, as the goal was to accu- mulate as many House points as possible. In total our Preparatory learners completed 1639 laps of the course and covered a combined distance of 1290km! This event was hugely popular and we hope that it becomes a permanent feature on our sporting calen - dar. In the future we hope that we can also welcome parents to compete alongside their children. Rugby &Netball The rugby and netball seasons didn’t quite go as planned. With lots of excitement surrounding the re- turn of inter-schools fixtures, the learners were en - thusiastic to take to the field. Unfortunately this was short-lived due to the impact of the COVID-19 third wave. The learners continued to enjoy the benefits of our fitness programme. Hockey & Soccer The Winter Quarter allowed for more freedom on the Preparatory sport fields with contact sport per - mitted to return. Once again the learners were able to participate in hockey and soccer activities. With many of our learners having last played these sports nearly two years ago, this provided a good opportu- nity for us to focus on the fundamentals of the sport. Indigenous Games The Winter Quarter ended with the Preparatory learners celebrating Heritage Day. This was a very special occasion as the learners got to experience South African heritage from a sporting perspec- tive. Learners participated in traditional games such as tug-of-war, hopscotch and skipping. Learners were also introduced to new games such as “drie stokkies,” a traditional jumping game, and upuca, a game where the objective is to move a group of stones out of a circle while throwing a larger stone in the air. The morning was a great success and we hope to grow this celebration of our South African heritage in the years to come. Water Polo Water polo was given the green light to go ahead with training at the beginning of the year and it saw a great interest in the level of sign ups from our learn- ers. Being classified as a contact sport has limited the participation in matches in 2021, but we have been able to get some much needed training under the belt and hope that in 2022 we will be able to build on these foundations. This year we welcomed the Grade 3 learners to the water polo programme for the first time, as we look to further strengthen the future of water polo in our school. PREPARATORY