The German International School Dubai are “highly motivated” and have “big ambitions” now that they’re increasing their commitment to sport says coordinator James Dodd.
The school is now looking to provide more options than ever before for students, by engaging in a variety of sporting events and organized competitions.
Dodd explained: “Slowly, we have been working with students of all ages to establish basic skills and to reach a certain level of ability that is required to join competitions.
“The school is now in a position where they have recruited staff to come on board and take these students to the next level and get involved in organised competitions.
“After seeing the potential and the amount of commitment and support from both the students and parents, it was paramount we push more teams from multiple age groups into competitions.”
The first step in this push has been the school’s football teams; the U12, U16 and U19 teams all began competing in DASSA competition for the first time this past year, with the U12’s finishing a respectable fourth in their league with a record of three wins, two draws and two defeats.
And Dodd is confident that this is just the beginning:
“This is definitely the start of the school getting involved in further sporting competitions,” he said. “This is the pathway that will hopefully lead to more students becoming involved in sports and competing at all levels and ages.
“As students see their peers being more active and enjoying a sport they love they tend to follow the same path.”
One such student is 11-year-old Maximilian Mrozik, who jumped at the opportunity to play competitive football:
“It’s something me and my friends have been wanting for a while,” he revealed. “We all play together during break time and always thought it would be awesome to play in a real competition.
“Before our first competitive fixture I was nervous, but afterwards I very much enjoyed the match.”
Dodd added: “The students have, of course, been pushing us to enter competitions.
“They gain great enjoyment out of playing sport whether they win or lose and are just happy enjoying their time playing with friends and doing what they love.
“The excitement is substantial when games are announced, and you can see the attitude of each player change once they know they have an upcoming match.”
As Maximilian points out, whether they’re successful or not as a team, the chance to test himself against others is a priceless experience at his age.
He said: “For me [competitive sport] is important to develop myself as an athlete – but not to compare myself against others.
“All I want to do is better myself and work alongside my team.”
Having said that, there is definitely an optimism around the school that – if they keep up the good work – then they can be challenging for medals:
“As a school, we would like to win as many games of football as possible,” said Maximilian. “If we work as a team then, possibly, we can win trophies.”
Dodd expanded: “We as the German International School Dubai are highly motivated and have big ambitions to continue building and developing the students to their maximum potential, and to work towards competing against the best.
“The more we can develop our sports teams the more the school will get involved and get right behind every team.
“If the dedication and commitment of the students stays, we hope to – of course – one day win trophies in many leagues.
“The future here is looking very positive around the sport culture with more and more students participating and requesting sports activities, which is a very positive outcome.”