Dear Chinthes,

ISY are football champions again! Both the high school girls and boys football teams won their championship games to make ISY Yangon Athletics Conference champions! Please read the High School Athletics section for more information on their matches.
Middle school volleyball winds up this week with the end of season tournament. Please read the Middle School Athletics section for a match report from their game versus Yangon International School and information about the tournament that happens today at ILBC International School.
On Monday the elementary school students had a chance to display their football skills. The Community Sports Club, a group of high school students, have organized a friendly football mini-league that will continue next Monday. Please read the Elementary Athletics section for more details.
Please read the Facilities section to see how the December holidays will affect the ISY facilities schedule.

Elementary Football Mini-League

Elementary School Athletics

The ISY high school student run Community Sport Club has organized an elementary school football tournament for ISY students. This tournament was held on Monday, December 4 and continues on December 11.
The students were invited to sign up for the tournament and those that signed up were placed in even teams. There are two sections for this tournament. Grade 2 and 3 have their own competition and that will be played on Monday the 11th. Grades 4, 5 and 6 are in the other section and they played on Monday 4 and will finish their tournament on December 11.
The spirit in which this event has been played was at a high level. Sportsmanship awards were given out to worthy recipients after each match. There was also a high level of skill on display by all teams and players.

Middle School Athletics

Volleyball
On Wednesday the middle school volleyball teams traveled to Yangon International School. YIS were able to host the boys and girls A teams and the girls development team.
In the boys game YIS were undermanned but put up a good fight. On the other hand the ISY coaches were able to give most of their squad game time. There were some moments that went against the ISY team, however, for most of the game ISY were leading and in the second set took control of the match. The match score finished 2-0 to ISY.
In the girls game our Chinthes started off hot again, playing like a team determined to win. Winning the first set fairly easy. However, somehow the ISY players cooled down in game two and three. The score finished 1-2. The developmental team did just that, developed with each and every point played. This group went down 0-2

Football
With the successful close of the middle school volleyball season the middle school football season starts. Training will start in January and be similar to volleyball and basketball.
Training will start January 10 and be on Wednesday and Friday, 2:40-3:40 and after ASAs start Wednesday 2:40-3:40 and Friday 3:30-4:30.
Just like the previous MS seasons, anyone that signs up can come to training. We want you all to come along, improve your skills and have fun.
Also, like previous seasons, teams will be selected to play against the other Yangon Athletic Conference schools. We will play home and away games and then an end of season tournament.
The form will be sent out to all middle school students on Monday.
If you have any questions please email Mr. O’Sullivan.

ESports
On Monday the secondary students will receive a form about ESports. This form will allow the students to indicate if they would be interested in playing ESports as a group and maybe a team. Please look out for this in your emails on Monday.

YAC Football Finals

High School Athletics

Football
ISY are champions again!!!
On what proved to be a tense, but great day for ISY football, both our girls and boys high school football teams won their respective championship finals.
The girls path to the final reads more like a Disney movie than a football season. Firstly, ISY qualified fourth for the playoffs. This meant they would play the top team this season in the semifinal. They beat that team in a penalty shootout to earn the right to play in the final. This meant they would play the second favorite team in the competition, ILBC International School, in the final.
The girls got off the bus knowing that if they played well they could win, and if they didn’t, then they would probably go home empty handed. The girls had a clear gameplan. Play strong defense and put pressure on their defense. This would pay dividends for the ISY girls. The ILBC forwards did not get many chances and when they did the ISY defense and goal keeper took care of any chances they had. At the other end ISY put a lot of pressure on their defenders when they had the ball and this amounted to many corner kicks.
It was through a corner kick that led to ISY’s first and only goal. The corner was kicked short to the ISY attacker and she glanced the ball, curving it over the defense and the ILBC goalie couldn’t handle the spin on the ball and into the goal it landed. First job done. Score in the first half. Second job to go. Put pressure on the ILBC defense and defend the lead.
The second half was a tightrope of emotions for the ISY team, coaches and supporters. The ILBC team were able to break through the tight ISY defense on a couple of occasions but the ISY scramble defense and a couple of excellent saves by the ISY keeper would keep the score at 1-0. The full time whistle couldn’t come soon enough for ISY, yet it did and ISY would be champions as the score would finish 1-0. This was a well deserving result for the players, coaches and supporters.
The boys played at the same time on the other field at South Dagon and the drama would be no less than the girls final. ISY were playing International School Myanmar. In a very closely contested game, ISY managed to squeeze past ISM. Both teams hit the post and the bar a couple of times but in the end it was ISY who prevailed. In such a tight game sometimes it is a touch of brilliance or a defensive mistake that can be the difference on the day. In this case it was a bit of both. ISY’s goal keeper scored our only goal from a kick in his own goal box that the opposition keeper couldn’t handle. This would be the difference at the end of the match. The scores would end 1-0.
This was a great day for ISY football. I hope that this marks the beginning of a long run of ISY football success!

ESports
On Monday the secondary students will receive a form about ESports. This form will allow the students to indicate if they would be interested in playing ESports as a group and maybe a team. Please look out for this in your emails on Monday.

SEASAC Information

What is SEASAC?
The Southeast Asian Student Activities Conference is the athletics and activities conference that ISY belongs to outside of Myanmar. Each year ISY sends students to athletic, Model United Nations conferences and arts festivals. These events are a very valuable opportunity for our students to connect with other like minded students across Southeast Asia. This section in the Athletics and Activities blog will outline some of the important information and general happenings around SEASAC events.

SEASAC Dates:
SEASAC Touch Rugby @ UWCE, February 2, 3 and 4
SEASAC Basketbal Girls @ Kuala Lumpur Alice Smith School, February 2, 3 and 4
SEASAC Basketball Boys @ NIST, February 2, 3 and 4
SEASAC Arts Festival @ GIS and MKIS, February 2, 3 and 4

Community Sport

Every Friday, there will be community football. This will start at 6:00 PM and is available for ISY community members. Parents, students, staff and alumni are all welcome. 

Another popular community sport restarting is touch rugby. This will be on Thursday evenings at 5:30 PM. This is also for parents, students, staff and alumni. 

If you are interested in playing either of these community sports please come along at the given day and time and you will be welcomed.

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After School Activities 

Thank you to all the teachers, parents, student leaders and outside helpers that have provided a wide range of activities for our students. I think there was something for everyone to try, make a difference and have fun. Also, thank you to the students that have given something new a go or continued with something they love.
The next session will start on January 29. In January, please look out for information about how to sign up and what activities are on offer in this blog as well as the Principals’ blogs and the “Friday Notices” that are sent out by email.

ISY Sports Broadcasting

Last year a sports broadcasting club was started at ISY. They were able to cover some of our high school basketball games with great success. They produced a very professionally polished product.
This year they will cover our high school athletics for the whole year. If you are interested in this please follow the link below and this will lead you to the group’s Youtube page. So far the group has covered two high school volleyball games and some of the high school basketball games from last year.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIzBh86SGxeV22RG6ZHYW2g

Swim Team

Here are the training times for our elementary, middle and high school swim teams.

ES Swim Team:
Monday, Wednesday and Friday 2:20-3:20 PM

MS and HS Swim Team:
Monday, Wednesday and Friday 3:30-5:00 PM
Tuesday and Thursday 6:45-7:45 AM

Questions or More Information

As always, if you have any questions about what is in this blog or anything else that you may think of related to activities or athletics please feel free to contact me at:

josullivan@isyedu.org

Kindest regards,

Mr. Jonathan O’Sullivan

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