DESS CROWNED 2018 BSME GAMES CHAMPIONS The 2018 British Schools in the Middle East Games were held recently in Dubai, with 16 schools from across the region taking part. The format of the Games involves teams competing over three days in six events, with each event scoring points towards an overall trophy. The Games commenced with an Opening Ceremony which welcomed all the competing teams to Dubai. After months of hard work, it was finally time for the DESS children to have the opportunity to compete and they didn t let us down, putting together one of the most dominant team displays in the 14-year history of the BSME Games. DAY 1 - Athletics 1 st Place With athletics normally towards the end of the BSME Games, this year it was great to start the games with the athletics first and with all the DESS athletes raring to go! Individual highlights of the day! 1st Place Nick Fritz in the 75m sprint in a time of 10.41secs 1st Place Nick Fritz in the 150m sprint in a time of 21.02secs New School Record 1st Place James Linton in the Turbo Javelin with a distance of 25m 40cm New School Record 2nd Place Ama Baffoe-Bonnie in the 150m sprint in a time of 22.80secs 2nd Place Milla Cass in the Shot Putt with a distance of 7m 87cm 2nd Place Nick Fritz in the Long Jump with a distance of 4m 2cm 2nd Place Michael Aubrey, Nick Fritz, Jacob Cassar & Nabil Hanna Boys 4 x 75m Relay time of 1 min 2 secs 3rd Place Nicol McMillan in the High Jump with a height of 1m 20 cm 3rd Place Ama Baffoe-Bonnie in the Long Jump with a distance of 3m 46 cm 3rd Place Milla Cass in the High Jump with a height of 1m 20cm Special mention also to Alice McCann who broke the school record in the Turbo Javelin with 14m 20cm to finish in 4th Place. With so many podium places and strong performances by all the team. DESS finished up as winners of the Athletics! And congratulations to Nick Fritz who was also named as athlete of the day by the organisers!
DAY 1 - Swimming 1 st Place With the swimming at the end of the first day, after the athletics, it would surely turn out to be a long day for all the children. After some unexpected pool troubles and changes, DESS set off to make their mark in the water at the Games. Having adapted well to the sudden pool changes and not having diving blocks to start from for the 25m races, DESS ended the evening with some amazing swimming results to bring home 5 Gold Medals, 5 Silver Medals and 4 Bronze Medals. With so many hard earned medals as well as most of our races finishing in the Top 5, DESS finished up as winners of the Swimming for BSME Games 2018! Well done to: Alice McCann (1 Gold and 1 Silver) Maisy Baker (3 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze) Isla Edgar (2 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze) Isla Henry (3 Gold and 1 Silver) Sabrina Sheriffdeen (1 Gold) Marnus Wessels (1 Gold, 3 Silver and 1 Bronze) Zac Pollard (3 Silver and 2 Bronze) Cian Gorani (2 Silver and 1 Bronze) Nicholas Fritz (2 Silver and 1 Bronze) who all played an integral part in bringing home the winner s trophy for DESS!
DAY 2 - Girls Football 6 th Place The girls had a tough start to the pool stage of the football competition against our old friends from Bahrain BIS Jeddah. DESS played really well and fought hard to secure a draw. The girls then went on to win their next two games 1-0 against Cairo English School and Brighton College. These brilliant results meant that DESS finished 1 st in the group and qualified for the cup quarter finals. The quarter final v El Alsson was a tough game where DESS had a lot of possession but just couldn t get the break through. El Alsson scored a great goal to win the game 1-0. DESS were determined to come back strong and in the next game against Al Yasmina played some lovely football and won the game 1-0. In the 5 th /6 th place final we were drawn to play against BIS Jeddah again. The game was highly competitive with both teams having chances but neither team could break the deadlock in normal or extra time so penalties were required. Some amazing goalkeeping from both teams was displayed but BIS Jeddah managed to win the shootout. The girls were absolutely amazing all day with their effort and sportsmanship on and off the pitch. The team only conceded one goal in open play all day which was a credit to the awesome team work from all the girls. DAY 2 - Boys Basketball 3 rd Place Drawn in one of 4 pools on the day, the boys had 3 games to play. The team made a great start beating The British International School of Jeddah by 22-6. The next games up were very close games with a 1-1 draw against British International School Cairo with both teams showing excellent defence to keep the score so low! In their final pool game versus British International Abu Dhabi, the team edged a great game by 5-4. Following these results, DESS won their pool and progressed into the play off stages to decide the 1st to 8th places. In their quarter final they once again produced a determined team display to win by 8-7 to British School Al Khubairat. This meant the team were now vying for a top 4 overall finish. Once again the game versus eventual winners Kings Al Barsha went down to just one point with King s coming out on top by 6-5. In the boys final match of the day to decide 3rd and 4th positions, the whole squad produced a fantastic performance to gain bronze medals by beating Brighton College Abu Dhabi 21-2. The whole squad can be very proud of their performances on the day!
DAY 3 - Netball 1 st Place The girls had a phenomenal start of the competition with a 25-0 win over Azzan Bin Qais International School. We then went on to win their next two pool matches 17-0 v British International School Cairo and 13-0 v Al Yasmina Academy. These fantastic results meant that DESS finished 1st in their pool and progressed through to the quarter finals. The girls then continued their success with a 15-0 win v British International School Abu Dhabi which meant they qualified for the semi-final. In the semi-final the girls faced St Christopher s Bahrain and continued their success with an 8-2 win. The final was between DESS v Kings Dubai. The girls turned the first centre to get the first goal and by the end of full time it was 11-1 to DESS. The DESS girls were crowned overall winners of the 2018 Netball Tournament. We are so proud of the girls and how they supported each other - they played outstandingly all day and were so positive throughout. Well done girls. DAY 3 - Boys Football 2 nd Place The boys started the tournament playing some lovely possession football which resulted in a 1-0 v British School Muscat. The second game was a similar story against a very well organised British International School, Cairo but the quality did show in the last few minutes. DESS managed to score late on, resulting in another 1-0 win. The final group game ended 0-0 against a determined Brighton College (Abu Dhabi) which meant DESS finished top of the group. The boys then met Kings Dubai in a tough quarter final who they overcame 1-0. In the semi-final DESS were faced with El Alsson British and American School who took the lead early on which put the pressure on. Just when the game started to go against us, our captain, Nicol McMillan equalised with a strike from the halfway line to make it 1-1. After extra time and no more goals, the game headed into the dreaded penalty shootout. The hero of the season, Noah Vizzard, yet again managed to save 4 penalties which put our team into the final. The final was against a very strong British School Al Khubairat team who ended up as champions. DESS gave everything in the final but, with tired legs from the whole weekend, BSAK took control. The best team on the day ended up winning and the boys all congratulated each other, which meant DESS finished in a very respectable 2nd place out of the 16 competing schools.
FINAL PLACINGS With the results of the swimming and athletics withheld until the Gala Dinner on the final evening, the DESS team knew they had put themselves in a strong position after the three days of competition, but were still unsure if they had managed to secure the overall trophy. There were wild celebrations, however, from the DESS children as they were announced to be BSME Games Champions 2018 in what was an unbelievable performance from the whole squad. BSME GAMES CHAMPIONS 2018 DESS! RUNNERS-UP THIRD PLACE British School Al Khubairat St Christophers School Bahrain A huge thank you must go to all the staff who gave up so much of their time over the weekend and to the individual coaches who have prepared the team so well: Mr Palmer-Myers Mr Bosch Miss Stevenson Mr Cuddihy Miss Waugh Athletics / Basketball Swimming Girls Football Boys Football Netball CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WHOLE DESS TEAM ON A FANTASTIC TEAM EFFORT!