Swimming, golf, girls’ football, and the benefits of youth sports.
Our Sharks swimmers were excited to compete in the RSAC 3 & 4 Swim Meets in January and February, against other Jeddah-based international schools. Hosted here at TKS, at the Island Recreation Center, the British International School of Jeddah, American International School of Jeddah and Jeddah Prep and Grammar School were invited. We were delighted that these schools were able to join and to increase the number of swimmers during this year’s swim meet, compared to last year.
Our swimmers have been working hard since the start of the academic year on their technique, skills and endurance in the pool, under supervision of the swim coaches.
In January, we had 50 students representing our Sharks swim team from G1-9 and in February, 54 students representing the Sharks from G1-12.
Our students have displayed great commitment, resilience, team spirit and continuous improvement of their performance in the pool throughout the academic year. They have also been supporting each other, particularly during the relays, motivating each other to the point of swimming personal best times.
TKS achieved third place in the overall team score category, with 731 points. We were overall age group winners in the 6 & Under, 8 & Under and 10 & Under age groups. TKS was third in the 11-12 age group.
During this event our swimmers achieved 45 personal best times, swam 3 national qualifying times (NQT), 1 national consideration time (NCT) and 4 regional qualifying times (RQT), based on the Saudi Age Group Swimming Time Standards. TKS scored 10 first places, 13 second places and 9 third places.
National Qualifying TimesAnand Bambar in 100m freestyle, 50m breaststroke and 50m butterfly
National Consideration TimesCliona Mallon in 50m breaststroke
Regional Qualifying TimesEmily Hall in 100m backstroke Lucia Potter in 50m breaststroke Amber Rosmade in 50m breaststroke Marcel Driguez in 50m breaststroke
TKS achieved second place in the overall team score category, with 1030 points. We were the overall age group winners in the 6 & Under, 8 & Under and 10 & Under age groups. TKS became third in the 13-14 and 15 & Over age groups.
During this event, our swimmers achieved 39 personal best times, swam 5 national qualifying times (NQT), 1 national consideration time (NCT) and 7 regional qualifying times (RQT), based on the Saudi Age Group Swimming Time Standards. TKS scored 6 first places, 21 second places and 8 third places.
National Qualifying Times
Anand Bambar in 50m backstroke, 100m breaststroke and 50m freestyle Abigail Li in 25m backstroke Tevaeh Campbell-Anguna in 25m freestyle
National Consideration TimesBeatrice Rueping in 50m freestyle
Regional Qualifying Times
Tevaeh Campbell-Angunain 25m backstroke Camilla Guo in 25m backstroke and 25m freestyleLucia Potter in 100m breaststroke Amber Rosmade in 50m backstroke and 50m freestyle Sierra Remington in 50m freestyle
We appreciate all the support a variety of staff members have given us over the past couple of weeks. Thank you TKS Operations & Facilities, Coastline, HSE, and students, parents and staff who volunteered.
Go SHARKS!
Daan SengersK-12 Aquatics Director
TKS Sharks Golfers were delighted to welcome students from four other schools in November to compete in the very first TKS Golf Invitational. We had the British International School of Jeddah, Nun Academy from Jeddah, along with the American International School of Riyadh traveling from within the Kingdom. We were also delighted to welcome Khartoum International Community School who traveled from Sudan. Twenty-eight students competed.
Our students had been working hard on their games since the start of the academic year, building on the fantastic work put in by Coach Aron at Safaa Golf Club. We had 15 students representing the TKS Sharks from G2-G12. Our students showed fantastic team spirit throughout the season, playing fun team events during practice and also supporting each other with tips and encouragement on how to improve their individual games. This clearly served our team well when it came to the Invitational as the Sharks recorded multiple successes.
In our Championship 18 Hole Event our Golf Team Captain, Cameron Johnson (G12). celebrated with a great up and down on the last hole to secure a fantastic win against strong competition from Riyadh and Khartoum.
In our 9 Hole Red Tee event, it was a clean sweep for TKS with Haroon Ullah (G9) in 1st, Aalia Ebrahim (G9) in 2nd and Atisam Faisal (G9) in 3rd.
In the 9 Hole Orange Tee event, it was another clean sweep for TKS with Vojta Strnad (G5) in 1st, Coll Bryceland (G3) in 2nd and Ben Lamee (G7) in 3rd.
Finally, in our 6 Hole 150 yd event, TKS scooped all the top spots with Aidan Liu (G5) in 1st, Cillian Horgan (G2) in 2nd and Carter Amosa (G5) in 3rd.
More important than the result, however, was the effort, respect and team spirit shown by all our golfers as they encouraged and cheered each other on. Golf is known for being challenging, but also a great sport to teach valuable life lessons, and our students are fantastic examples of this. Golf is developing rapidly in the Kingdom, with professional events taking place regularly just up the road in KAEC. As a result, it's a great time for all TKS students to get involved with the game and we are so lucky to have access to a world class facility here in KAUST at Safaa Golf Club. Thank you very much to Safaa for helping us run this event.
A huge thanks also to all the TKS Staff, Safaa Golf Club members and parents who came out to support this event. We are so grateful to have so much support as we develop our golf program at school.
Evan Bryceland MYP PHE Teacher (Grades 6-8) & Golf Coach
In January, we took a group of U12 girls to play football against BISJ. Our top team finished the day undefeated, winning all three games and our second team finished third, winning one game and losing two. All the girls played hard and represented TKS well.
In the words of midfielder/striker Sarah Thaslim:
"We got on the bus to go to play soccer against BISJ with our coaches. The excitement just pours in. There we were, wishing the team the best luck while knowing how much we’ve been practicing for this big game. We sing our school anthem to bring more courage. We start planning our tricks and celebration. By the time we were done, we reached the school. Everyone was nervous but more excited. We arranged the teams and the game started. Every game was a 1-0 win for our team.
“Then the last game comes. It was a tight game. We knew teamwork was key at that moment. The second half comes along and we are tired and sweaty, but still going on as we know we represent TKS. Suddenly the ball reaches our team. Everyone runs up to the other side for more chances to score. While running we could hear our second team (which is not playing) shouting “Let’s go, Sharks, let’s go!”
“When we heard this, we ran faster. The ball reached me. I tried to shoot but missed. My team gets the ball again, shoots and misses, we attempt one more time. My teammate shot and the ball hit the crossbar and came directly to me and my other teammate. This time we shot together and scored. “GOAL!” We shouted and ran to our side to celebrate. The whistle blew and we shook hands with the other team while sharing a big grin with our own team. To be honest, I have no words for that moment - it was so delightful!”
Special thank you to coaches Andrew Wright and Kathryn Hare, and Jorge Rodriguez for organizing the event.
Sarah Thaslim (G5) and Andrew Wright (Elementary School coach)
The 2023 U14 girls’ football season was a great experience for many players. Players were able to learn more about the game of football.
The football season this year was enjoyable, interesting, and challenging. We had the opportunity to challenge ourselves in a variety of ways, such as learning the best ways to take corner kicks, penalties, free kicks, and so much more. We also met new people and learned how to communicate with our teams, which helped us during our tournaments.
Every player, regardless of ability, learned perseverance and discipline during the season, and this is evident in how players performed in games.
Across two tournaments, left-winger Laiba Shah (5 goals), captain Marie-Chantal Arzel (2), center-forward Alanna Kabli (2), right-winger Mais Mahfouz (5), midfielder Sofia Barhoumi (2), top-scorer Haya Abugosh (6), striker Leila Al-Babili (5), and dead-ball specialist Mariam Alattas (2), all scored many goals for the U14 A team, aided by Priya Alevoor as goal-keeper and a solid defensive unit of Bayan Ltaief, Haya Albatran and Khadija Adamu.
This balanced attack of talented multiple goal-scoring forwards helped the A team win the first day of SAIKAC and automatically led them into the semifinals.
On the second day of SAIKAC, the A team finished third and the B team finished fifth at the end of the tournament. With these results, we were able to learn how to handle both success and failure.
Lastly, we want to thank coaches Manos Volikakis, Toluwalogo Darumola, Zack Smith, Santiago Duran and Andrew Wright for supporting us and helping us become stronger players throughout this season.
Marie-chantal Arzel (G8) and Andrew Wright (U14 coach)
In February at AISJ, the Sharks U19 girls’ football team won the Saudi Arabia-wide SAIKAC title for only the second time in TKS history, after first taking the first title in 2017. This follows on from U16 winning the SAIKAC title in Dhahran last year, and indeed this year’s team featured many of those experienced and competitive players from the U16 squad. The Sharks beat BISJ in a tense penalty shoot-out in the final, after an excellent tournament in which TKS won every game!
Captain Aella Tsorpatzidi said: “This season has been one of the best seasons we've had. We had a great connection as a team as we built friendships. One of the reasons we were undefeated in the games was because we never gave up. Even if we lost in the first half, we always brought it back on our side as we kept positive the whole way through.
“What also really helped us were the coaches, Fernando Bermudez, Dawn Burks and Andrew Wright. They were present in all moments throughout the season, pushing us and believing in us the entire time. They helped us build good sportsmanship and respect, which was highlighted in the tournament.”
Aella Tsorpatzidi (G12) and Andrew Wright (U19 coach)
A special thank you goes to our departing senior players: captain Aella Tsorpatzidi, goal-scoring attacking midfielder Omamah Jamil, striker Lina Ghaffour, and stalwart goalkeeper Mariam Hoteit. Aella and Omamah in particular have represented TKS at girls football every year since Grade 6, and made their debuts for the U19 team in Grade 8 (Aella) and 9 (Omamah). We wish all our seniors the very best in their future studies and hope that they keep playing football!
Children love to play. As we know, this is a very important part of their physical and mental development. As our children mature, so do the games they play. Developmentally-appropriate games and activities are important to encourage growth and development.
As our children learn to play with each other, valuable lessons can be learned through participation in team sports at an early age. It has been shown that team sports can help develop physical competence, emotional confidence, social connection, cognitive gains, and much more.
Children that are involved in team sports at an early age are more likely to perform well at school and have fewer behavioral problems as a result. Children that have good experiences in youth sports are more likely to continue living a healthy and active lifestyle as adults.
In fact, it has been reported that 95% of Fortune 500 executives participated in high school athletics. This is not to say that one will lead to the other. Rather, if we can help create the right conditions for our children to flourish, youth sports should be one of those components.
However, in North America, it has been reported that 70% of children quit team sports by the age of 13. The reasons the athletes give are because it is not fun anymore, it becomes too competitive, and they are separated from their friends. Many athletes are being rushed through the youth development system without taking into account the wholeness of the individual. To prevent this from happening, we must always put the needs of the athlete first.
Our youth sports program at TKS has kicked off with a tremendous amount of support from teachers, students, and most importantly, parents in KAUST. This community-based program is led by parent volunteers and aims to create a nurturing environment for all of our young athletes. By creating a culture where volunteerism, community, and fun are valued, parents are ensuring our youth athletes flourish and have every opportunity to learn and grow.
This season over 270 young athletes will participate in the TKS youth soccer community program. Over 50 parents and TKS students have volunteered to coach, referee, and organize each team this season. This tremendous effort is a great start to encouraging as many youth athletes as possible to participate in team sports for as long as possible, in the best environment possible.
If you would like to help volunteer for youth sports in any capacity, please contact Jorge Rodriguez, Elementary School Activities Coordinator, atjorge.rodriguez@thekaustschool.com
