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The FOBISIA Games is a competition where British schools from South East and Central Asia come together and compete in a 4 sport tournament against 7 other schools.
Our students were naturally excited and nervous about being the first students from Kazakhstan to participate against other schools from this region. Training in swimming and athletics during the winter months was a necessity and football and tee ball training in April kept the students busy right up to the start of the tournament. A FOBISIA practice weekend in Almaty against Haileybury Astana and the British School of Tashkent also helped preparations and allowed our students to practise their events in a competitive setting.
Prior to the games starting, our students had 3 days to acclimatise to the hot and sunny conditions of Bangkok and a fantastic trip to the aqua park did just that! The team were ready to go on Day 1 which was the swimming and athletics events and Haileybury Almaty students gave it their all.
In the swimming events, the students faced tough competition but managed to hold their own. Their efforts had earned them a respectable sixth place out of the eight schools participating, with a number of our students collecting medals on the podium.
Similarly, in athletics, the Haileybury Almaty students put in a valiant effort and secured a fifth-place finish. It wasn't the top spot they had hoped for, but more individual medals were earned on the track and on the field, with pupils achieving personal bests despite no podium placing.
The Tee Ball A and B teams also competed, with the latter securing a fourth-place finish. The students had played their hearts out and had learnt the rules and skills of the game.
The boys' and girls' football teams had also given their best shot, but unfortunately, they finished fifth in their respective competitions. The boys were just 5 seconds away from a semi-final spot and the girls were just 1 goal short of also making the semi-finals. However, they had shown excellent sportsmanship and friendship throughout the games, and their determination and grit had not gone unnoticed by the other schools.
As the competition drew to a close, the Haileybury Almaty students had plenty of reasons to be proud of themselves. They had competed against some tough opponents and had shown the world what they were made of. The memories and friendships forged during this experience will last a lifetime and we will be back in Bangkok next year to compete once again for Haileybury Almaty and Kazakhstan.
