WELCOME THE SPECIAL EDITION OF OUR BLOG

I ask you to think of the epic battles fought in the sporting arenas of old. The Circus Maximus and Colosseum in ancient Rome, the Ancient Olympics in Greece come directly to mind. We now think of the tournaments of the modern days… the Modern Olympics, the World Cup football, the Ashes, the Tour de France, backyard cricket at the house of the Chappell brothers. Epic battles of men and women against each other and the elements. Body and spirit fighting at the elite level for the chance to stand on the top position of the winner’s dais. All these grand events however, pale into insignificance, mere games of chance, a game of tiddly winks amongst children, compared the grand spectacle the was……..  

 

(wait for it,.............cue rousing background music, maybe “Thus Spake Zarathustra”, the really cool music from the opening scene of 2001 a Space Odyssey perhaps)

 

You ready ????????

 

THE “GARTY FAMILY”

BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT !!!!!

Impressed, aren’t you!!!

Now read on……

I know I have used the phrase before , but it is true, you really had to see to believe it. In fact, I saw it and still don’t believe it.

The actual tournament started on the 1^st of July and concluded on Wednesday the 10^th. The drama, the agony and ecstasy, the jubilation of victory and crushing despair of defeat were played out before us. Well….. maybe I am exaggerating a little but it was really cool!

the old court in all it's glory

as you can see, sadly in need of an upgrade

Still, I digress. The action started only days before the actual tournament with the resurfacing of the school basketball court. Boy, was that fun to watch, and also a little terrifying as well! The resurfacing was sponsored by a school from Canada and was greatly appreciated.

 

It was carried out by contractors who normally work on road resurfacing. You have read my previous blog posts on Jaffna roads? .....Am I painting a picture for you? Workplace health and safety…what is that? The old court was given a brief brush down and the new surface placed directly over. Various layers of crushed road base, sand, some sort of really fine dust and boiling hot tar were placed on again and again like a Sara Lea sponge dessert (you know….layer upon layer upon layer)

spreading the "magic dust"

 

needs to be flat, doesn't it?



"bubble bubble toil and trouble" to misquote the Bard

To watch the tar being boiled in large 44 gallon drums over an open fire, then being ladled into a modified watering can and poured by hand over the courts was amazing.

 

 

 

Check out the neat footwear

These guys worked in searing heat and the smell of the tar still sticks in my memory. You could not escape it anywhere in the school. And given our home is right next to the court , we had dust and smells for days. Keeping the kids off the courts was also an interesting exercise with students trying to play at one end of the court and laying of tar at the other. Shouting at them to get off the court had little effect.

with the freshly painted walls, the official pavilion looked very sad

 

 

 

With the tournament starting on Monday, lines were being painted on the court late Sunday night by the light of a variety of trucks and cars shining on the court. Walls were painted and flags and banners hoisted high and by the end the place looked great. During the night the “official pavilion” fell down with a deafening crash and we were really glad we were not under it at the time. It was put up again and is still standing as a monument to the event even today!

 

the new court in all it's glory

I don’t know how they do it, it must be part of the Sri Lankan culture, but they seem to be in total disarray, yet, at the very end, it all comes together. They love a festival and special events and go all out to put on really special occasions.

 

Finally the official opening day arrived. More gold chains around our necks, a guard of honour as we made our way to the courts from the school gates between two lines of cheering students. After the obligatory opening speeches and ribbon cutting, "let the games begin". Over 26 matches were held in a variety of venues throughout Jaffna

Jacinta doing the official duties

Angel's U17 against St Patricks

Some of the excited crowd on finals day

 It was a great event with some fantastic games of basketball to be seen. There were lots of skinned elbows and plenty of bandages on knees, but this did not slow the kids down. The students and staff really got behind it all and the exhibition of school spirit was inspiring. For the record, Angel International "Blues" took out the under 15 division and our under 17's came in as second runner up with Jaffna Hindu College claiming first place.

U15 Champions, Angel "Blues"

U17 Champions, Jaffna Hindu College

If you click on the link below it "should" take to a youtube powerpoint presentation made by one of the staff that has gone up on the school facebook page

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqjA4Ur59sw

Be sure to cancel the new tab after watching to get back to the blog post.

The two links below will hopefully connect you to a couple of videos on youtube showing a group of kids having a hoot of a time cheering and generally having a good time. The feeling around the school was fantastic for days and the whole extravaganza was well worth it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix4hjZLHKN4&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5bTD8c0-gA&feature=youtu.be

Again, be sure to cancel the new tab after watching to get back to the blog post.

So many people were involved in the planning and execution of this tournament but special mention needs to be made of Dinesh, who planned coordinated and M C' d the whole thing and to coach Ramanan and his team who worked with the students so well. The whole point of the exercise was to give the students an opportunity to excel at something other than academic results and to promote a school identity and raise school spirit, in these respects it was a raging success.

I wonder that if in years to come when they hold the "The Garty Family" Basketball Tournament and are handing out the trophies and the perpetual shields to that years winners', someone may ask "who were the Garty Family?" It would be nice to think that some of the staff or students may remember.