Phaedra, Year 9, Century Park Campus

One of my favourite things about YCIS is the diverse and plentiful sports programme. For one, the school provides students with a wide variety of sports throughout the year, such as touch rugby, soccer (the MOST popular — naturally), floor hockey (one of my personal favourites), volleyball, badminton, and last but not least, softball. The winter sports are the most fun for me, personally.

Let’s start with hockey. Typically, the season starts in mid-November when students just start to see their breath form into clouds of steam in the air. We have practices at lunch, usually twice a week, where we run drills and most often have mock-games and scrimmages between D1 and D2 teams. Hockey is a bit of a rough sport, but it builds strong character in players and such a bond and team spirit within team members.

Volleyball is honestly one of my favourite sports because, number one, it is one of the most teamwork-centered sports I have ever come across, and two, it has a striking similarity to “keep-the-balloon-off-the-ground”, ironically. With practices during lunch, as well, and games with other schools, volleyball is one of the most popular sports at YCIS. Volleyball requires a lot of agility and quick thinking, but more than anything, trusting your teammates, co-ordination, and teamwork are the basis for creating a successful volleyball team.

Sports at YCIS are definitely one of the school’s best attributes, but there is something about the winter sports – scoring points with friends in the chilly air – that is particularly prominent in my mind, and I think anyone with a passion for sports at our school and school spirit will definitely agree.