HONG KONG (SE): Siu Ming Catholic Secondary School celebrated its 50th anniversary and annual sports day at Tsing Yi Sports Ground on February 20 and 21. The sports ground overflowed with zeal, passion and excitement as students engaged in a wide array of energetic and sports events ranging from track, field, cheerleading and games-infused relay.
It has been three long years since Covid-19 swept the world and many of the school activities had been cancelled for fear of the spreading the decease, leading to cohorts of students missing out on the opportunity to shine on the field.
After years of no major events or activities, everyone was really looking forward to this Sports Day. This year, particularly for the graduating form, this was their last chance to participate in such an activity.
It was with relief that the school could fall back to familiar motions of once again hosting such an activity, yet at the same time it was an unfamiliar activity since teachers and students alike all needed to acclimatise once again their jobs for the various parts.
The opening ceremony started with the rising of the flag, the singing of the school song, the prayer, the athletes’ oath and then a marching performance by the Junior Red Cross, team Y. U. 93.
Up in the audience stand, cheerleading teams filled the railings with colourful banners. They cheered their respective houses with tambourines and plastic batons in hand.
Students displayed determination, perseverance and a great amount of effort. Some athletes shed their sweat on racing tracks with a dogged aim to reach the finishing lines while others exerted their sporting zeal to throw, to jump and to cheer. The four houses were awarded points depending on the positions their athletes finished each competition. These were then combined to form an overall total.
As part of the school’s 50th anniversary, the medals of this year were different from in the past. The usually monochrome medal with the standard red, white and blue ribbon became a multi-coloured medal with a festive bright yellow ribbon.
The house captains and their committees offered a bouquet of colour-coordinated flowers and placed a wreath of flowers on the heads of the winners of their houses
Cherry Chi Lam-lung of Class 6D broke the A Grade Long Jump record at 4.48m. The previous record of 4.45m had stood since 1982.
The cheering teams strutted their stuff while singing and chanting their slogans, mesmerising the audience with their energetic performances. Teacher-judges gave marks based on their aesthetics and uniformity. The proud parents were with happiness.
It has been three long years since Covid-19 swept the world and many of the school activities had been cancelled for fear of the spreading the decease, leading to cohorts of students missing out on the opportunity to shine on the field
As is tradition, the Teachers-Students Relay was a fun-filled event with students and teachers teaming up to complete different tasks while running, starting with throwing and catching hoops with a pole, throwing and catching beanbags with a cone, two people skipping the same rope, running while doing the hula hoop, three-legged race and then finally a flat out run.
While the 10 contestants of each team raced for the goal, the rest of the students of the participating classes cheered and screamed their support with balloons from the sidelines.
The Sports Day ended with a speech by the guest of honour, Yiu Tak-tam, the Incorporated Management Committee-Parent Manager and Parent-Teacher Association Executive Committee Chairman. He commended the students for their spirit and sportsmanship as well as emphasising on the importance of continuing to do sports.
The school principal, Sr. Anita Kwok said, “I would like to thank all the colleagues, especially the PE teachers for their support and co-operation. Special thanks to the Parent-Teacher Association, the Past-pupil Association and all the staff of Tsing Yi Sports Ground.”
The day ended on a high note and it was with high spirits that everyone hoped that next year, such a fun-filled activity could be held again.
