Babis Mamas, Head of Sports, explains how the pandemic has led to a new approach to our outstanding sports programme.
Earlier this year, amidst the first Coronavirus lockdown in the UK, I was struck by a quote from the YoungMinds organisation.
To me, this unquestioningly relates to the field of sport. On top of all of the benefits of being outside and moving, sport is the best context within which young people can develop their abilities, their mental strength and resilience. Through sport, students are provided with a safe environment in which they can take risks, make mistakes and adjust quickly. You can give them the tools they need to grow, in a place that they love. So, with not just the physical health, but the mental wellbeing of our students in mind, it is with great determination that we started the new school year with a full sports programme for as many students as possible.
As soon as the UK first went into lockdown, the ACS Cobham sports team started thinking about what a Covid-safe future school sports programme could include. Careful planning followed. We’re in a very privileged position to have contacts with international schools all over Europe, so from April to June we were busy consulting with colleagues from Switzerland to Brussels.
Many faced different levels of restrictions, so their experiences were useful. From these conversations a plan emerged. July was our ‘re-socialisation period’; we opened up with soccer and tennis clubs following strict social distancing and guidelines. It was a way to bring students together – many for the first time in a long time – and help them to feel better about themselves.
With school re-opening in August, our goal to offer a full programme – including soccer, tennis, volleyball, cross-country, track and field, basketball, swimming, barre classes and even strength and conditioning – posed a huge logistical challenge. Simon Tomlins, the sports centre Operations Manager, was working around the clock examining guidelines closely to ensure all risk-assessments were in place and our provision was as safe as possible. My aim was to create a happy place through sport, his job was to keep everyone safe. The wide range of facilities on campus here at Cobham made everything possible.
With a renewed programme this year, we have also eradicated the traditional team system. No longer are students split by ability, they are now in ‘groups’ defined by their bubbles. This has given us a fantastic opportunity to ensure that all students can get involved in the co-curricular sports programme. While previously students tried out for teams, this year everyone can do any sport they signed up for. Despite the logistical challenges, it’s been so worth it – our sports facilities have never been so full of students’ joy.
Without the drive of competitions, we questioned whether students would be motivated to do sport. Our fears were not realised – this year has seen the biggest participation in co-curricular sports ever. Out of the 950 students across Middle School and High School, we have around 720 participating in at least one after school sport with similar participation in Lower School. The difference this year seems to be the reduction in pressure to compete and the students desire’ to get out and do things with their friends. They are so appreciative of the simple opportunity to participate that they take the new rigorous hygiene regime in their stride; never before have we had to stop a volleyball session every 20 minutes to sanitise the balls, or clean 15 bags of footballs after every session!
Sport allows young people to play and learn with immediacy. You shoot the ball and miss the basket – that’s failure straight away, and you get to do that 50 times in half an hour. You try and try again and learn how to deal with the failure until you see results. That ability to persevere and overcome challenges is what helps students’ deal with adversity and build resilience.
Looking back on the past year, I am so proud that we have been able to offer such a robust sports programme, and I am overwhelmed at how flexible and appreciative the students have been.
But, our learnings from this year means we are also looking at developing an ongoing two-tier system of development and performance. We hope to maintain the inclusivity of the sports programme, alongside the return to external competitions. It will provide high-level training, but will also give context to those who just want to participate. Sport for all has never been so important.