Athletics & Community Blog

Athletics & Activities Blog – August 14

Let’s get the ball rolling…

Welcome back to ISY for the 2020-21 school year. It has been an unprecedented summer for us all and I know we are all are anxious to get started at ISY once again! I am getting lots of questions from students and parents about how things will look for athletics and activities at the start of the year. Although there are still many unknowns, I will attempt to address most of your questions below. Never hesitate to reach out to me at lisom@isyedu.org if you have further questions or concerns.

SEASAC 2020-21

ISY is a member of the Southeast Asia Student Activities Conference (SEASAC). During a normal school year, each varsity sports season ends with an international tournament hosted by one of our SEASAC member schools.

SEASAC Athletic Directors met in June to discuss the way forward for the athletics conference for the 2020-21 school year. Considering the restrictions placed on travel for the foreseeable future, it was decided that boys’ and girls’ volleyball and soccer, normally Season 1 sports, would be cancelled outright. Golf and cross country, also Season 1 sports, will be postponed until season 2 or 3, and rescheduled when/if it is determined that we can travel safely around Southeast Asia and quarantines have been lifted.

We met again this week to see where things stand in each of our respective schools/countries. Most schools are very similar in that they are able to start PE classes right away, but not regular ASAs or team sports yet. Several schools have been in session for a couple of weeks and are starting team sports next week in small pods. Member schools will be getting updates about how things play out over the next few weeks.

There was a proposal to have SEASAC sports competitions on each of our respective campuses once we can start practicing or organizing intramurals. Some ideas include:

small intersquad swim competitions with times posted to a master document
soccer penalty kick competition with hoops placed in the upper corners for points (1 point for a goal, 3 points for upper corner)
volleyball hitting/spiking competition with targets placed on the floor for points
cross country races on treadmills

The following are the original dates and locations for this year’s tournaments. Keep in mind that all of these can and probably will change in the near future.

Volleyball / November 6-8 / NIST
Golf / Timing under discussion / HIS, Bangkok
Cross Country /Timing under discussion / GIS, Kuala Lumpur
Soccer / November 6-8 / SAIS
ARTS / January 28-31 / NIST, Bangkok
Tennis / January 29-31 / AIS, Singapore
Girls Basketball / January 29-31 / TTS, Singapore
Boys Basketball / January 29-31 / BSJ, Jakarta
Touch / January 29-31 / RIS, Bangkok
Senior Swimming / March 4-5 / CDNIS, Hong Kong
MUN / March 4-7 / KLASS, Kuala Lumpur
Girls Softball / March 19-21 / BPS, Bangkok
Boys Softball / March 19-21 /GIS, Kuala Lumpur/MKIS, Kuala Lumpur
Badminton / March 19-21 / ISY, Yangon
Junior Swimming / May 7-9 / AIS, Singapore

YAC 2020-21

In addition to SEASAC, ISY is a member of the Yangon Athletic Conference (YAC). All middle school and high school sports teams compete against local schools as part of the YAC over the course of the school year. Where possible, the YAC aligns with SEASAC in order to ensure that ISY varsity athletes can participate in both leagues and have a chance to play a full, local season before traveling internationally.

YAC Athletic Directors have been meeting regularly to decide a path forward for local sports. Although many schools around the world are starting their school year off with non-contact, outdoor sports such as tennis or golf, we here in Yangon must also consider the rainy season. The YAC is therefore tentatively choosing to start with singles table tennis and badminton, as well as cross country (possibly starting in October) and swimming.

Once we are able to begin, athletes will only practice on their respective school’s campus and in small team pods at the start of this year. If we are able to set up competitions this season, it will be in small groups without fans or parents in the gym. We will livestream some events where possible.

Before any local sports can begin, it is imperative that each YAC member school starts their respective school year in a timely manner and gets all of their students safely back into class. Our return-to-play protocol can only begin once our return-to-class protocol has been successfully implemented.

Depending on what the SEASAC Athletic Directors decide this week, the YAC may reschedule volleyball and soccer for later in the year, instead of canceling those seasons outright.

As new information becomes available, I will communicate with parents and athletes.

Session 1 After School Activities (ASAs)

ISY will be reviewing how things are going at school in general before making the decision to restart after school activities, including service learning groups. We will also have to take into account any government requirements regarding these activities. Parents and students can plan for ASA groups to be smaller than usual in order to facilitate social distancing, but just as dynamic as in previous years. We will update the community once a timeline for ASAs can be put into place.

Swim Team Update

ISY was fortunate to be able to open the pool to our community during the month of July and also host daily swim team practices. Coaches Moe, Win, and Kyaw offered practice Monday through Friday for four weeks, allowing our swim team members who were still in Yangon a chance to hit the water once again.

ISY is following international guidelines for reopening pools during a pandemic. Based on the success of the July swim program, we hope to get the pool open as quickly as possible once students are safely back to class on campus. The pool will not be used for the first two weeks but this will be reconsidered on a two weekly cycle as students get used to our safety measures. ISY may also have to follow guidelines on this issue from the government.

Fitness Room

The fitness room will remain closed to the community but can be used by students as part of PE activities.

As a reminder no student will be permitted to participate in any of our programs until the government mandated declaration has been completed on PowerSchool. If you have recently returned to Myanmar, please do not send your child to school until your quarantine is completely finished.

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