Dear Chinthes,

This week we welcomed back all our traveling SEASAC representatives. The students from SEASAC arts, basketball and touch rugby all arrived safely from their travels. By all accounts they had an excellent time and learnt a great deal about their chosen sport/activity and what it is like to travel as a team. Please continue reading below for individual updates from each team/group.
The ISY boys middle school football team had their first home game of the season on Friday night. They were playing ILBC International School. Please read the ‘Middle School Athletics’ section for an after match summary.
Today was the last day to change from one ASA to another ASA. Please read the After School Activities section for more information on this.

SEASAC Girls Basketball

SEASAC Arts Festival

SEASAC Touch Rugby

High School Athletics

Touch Rugby

The Girls Touch Rugby team outperformed expectations, scoring more tries than any other team in ISY Touch Rugby history. Faced with challenges like injuries and scorching heat, they displayed exceptional teamwork, endurance, and talent. Their journey finished in a nerve-racking duel in which they demonstrated a good defense, played without any replacements, and even made a sensational interception. Their perseverance, kindness, and unwavering loyalty to one another throughout the tournament represent the true essence of what it means to be a Chinthe. We are extremely proud of their achievements and the spirit they have demonstrated.

Boys Basketball

This report is from Coach A-G.
“The boys basketball team won our first game and that was a relief. We also came back in our third game from 9 points down with 2 minutes left and won by 3. A few key shots and aggressive defense won the game. At the end of the first day, the boys were feeling good, had gained confidence and knew they had more in them. Unfortunately, we lost both games on the second day, with one of the teams we beat the first day taking the win by 10 points. That was a frustrating day. Our final goal was to win the final match in order to take 7th place. In the first quarter, we were down by 10 points and we were worried. By mid-second quarter, we found ways to score and figured out how to stop the other team from scoring, took the lead and never looked back. What we learned during the tournament we will apply when we play against other YAC teams during the final few weeks of our season.

Most importantly, the other teams awarded our boys the sportsmanship award. This is given for fair play, connecting with players from other teams, playing with determination and showing compassion overall.”

Arts Festival

This write up is from Ms. Wilks, one of the SEASAC Arts chaperones.
“SEASAC Arts in Kuala Lumpur was an opportunity for students from the region to collaborate on a range of art-based projects and to celebrate the transformative nature of art. We received a warm welcome from Mont’ Kiara International School. The team there had worked tirelessly to ensure an engaging and diverse program of excursions, taster sessions, and more involved workshops, all based on the arts, whether it be dance, theater, or visual arts.
The first day was focused on inspiration. To whet our appetites, in the morning, we watched performances from some of our host school’s students, followed by a solo dance by Amirah Redza, an alumna of the Garden School in Kuala Lumpur. We were encouraged to think about the importance of the arts and to push our boundaries to be receptive to new ideas and collaborations.
The rest of the day, we went out into the city to draw inspiration from a wide range of places. Some groups went to the National Gallery, some to Central Market and Chinatown, some to Brickfields, others went jungle trekking, and a further group went to Rimbun Daha. The idea was that, over the rest of the weekend, we would harness our collective experiences to arrive at a final creation, whether it was a visual arts piece, a theater piece, a dance, a ceramics creation, a light painting… The list of opportunities seemed endless.
The second day was focused on taster sessions using a range of media, followed by master workshops where the students honed their skills. We had students doing painting with light, dance, plein air sketching, and expressive drawing. Some students made cyanotype prints, others published zines; we had a student exploring Shakespeare, and others throwing themselves wholeheartedly into a version of contemporary Malaysian dance.
The culmination of the SEASAC Arts event was marked with an exhibition of artwork and theater and dance performances. The students learned lots of new skills, and some were pushed to their limits. (The dance group could not walk down the stairs that morning because of all the squatting positions they had practiced as part of the contemporary Malaysian dance routine!). There were thoughtful discussions of the role of art in society and art-based careers as possible future pathways. New friendships were made, and we left with great memories!”

Girls Basketball

The ISY girls team enjoyed a successful SEASAC tournament. Going into this tournament with a very inexperienced team they grew stronger and more experienced with each game. The girls placed in sixth place in the end, but came in first place in their hearts and minds as far as experience they gained. Watch out SEASAC division two next year. This might be the year of the dragon but next year could very well be the year of the CHINTHES! One final note: every team member scored at least one basket during the long weekend in KL. As a Coach Just said, “I couldn’t be more proud of how this team maintained their composure”.

SEASAC Boys Basketball

Middle School Athletics

On Friday last week ISY played ILBC International School on the ISY field. This was the first time our ISY boys would play at home. The game started not how we would have hoped with a deflection from an ILBC player going into our goal. This would put us 0-1 down within minutes of the opening whistle. However, it would not take ISY long to bounce back.
ISY would dominate the rest of the game. ISY took their opportunities to score very well, and ILBC had very few chances because of our strong defense.
ISY would win the game comfortably 4-2.

After School Activities 

Today was the last day to change from one After School Activity to another After School Activity. This will give all the students time to settle into their ASAs and really contribute to their chosen ASA for the next eight weeks.
Parents will be able to check their child(ren)’s ASA schedule on PowerSchool. They will also be able to check where and when the ASAs will be and who is the ASA supervisor. This information will be automatically updated as changes are made to the students’ ASA schedules.
After the second week of ASAs, February 9, there will be no more changing from one ASA to another. Please make any changes to your child(ren)’s ASA schedule before this time.

The times for ASAs are as follows:

Elementary school ASA 2:20 – 3:05 PM
Middle and high school ASA 2:40-3:25 PM

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

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

Community Sport

Every Saturday a group of ISY community plays badminton and pickleball in the ISY gym. This is from 3:00-5:00 PM. 

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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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

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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