The competition was intense from the moment the Red, White, Blue and Orange teams emerged from their buses. Decked out in their official team shirts--designed by logo-contest winner Elisabeth Lukas (2012 MPD, Indonesia)--the students, staff and professors lined up on the field at the KOBACO Training Institute on May 31^st. The much anticipated KDI School Sports Day had arrived and each team was intent on emerging the winner.

In the short pre-ceremony, Dean Nam stressed the importance of sportsmanship, fair competition and most importantly, fun! The teams were then led into a warm up stretching routine and pep rally courtesy MPP Representative Ray Antonio Veras (2013 MPP, Dominican Republic).

With their voices and muscles prepped for battle, it was time to start the games! The first half of the competition featured Catch the Tail & Dodge Ball. The White and Orange Teams took the early lead in the games, tying for first place in Catch the Tail, while the Red Team dominated in Dodge Ball.

The teams then received a break from the competition to refuel with a delicious buffet lunch and also took time to explore the grounds of the institute and capitalized on the scenic setting by taking plenty of pictures.

The competition revved up a notch when it was time for the Soccer matches. Whoever was not playing on the field, was on the sidelines waving pompoms and cheering sticks and vocally motivating their team in an effort to secure the win. The competition was heated and the cheers boisterous by the time the White Team and the Blue teams met in the final match. The game came down to penalty kicks, but the White Team had a secret weapon in the form of Djurdja Djurisic (2013 MPP, Serbia) to propel them to victory!

Soccer was followed by the Relay Race, which was easily won by the Orange Team. Meanwhile, the Red Team handily took the Tug of War top prize with admirable teamwork. However, it would come down to the fair play and cheering scores for the winner to be officially declared. In the end, it was the White Team which claimed the coveted top spot. The Orange Team took second place, the Red Team came in third, while the Blue Team brought up the rear.

But by the time the teams loaded once more into their buses to return to campus, points did not matter. The air of competitiveness was replaced with feelings of pride in their team’s efforts and a congeniality forged through the bonds of teamwork and sportsmanship. KDI School Sports Day 2013 was a resounding success!

By Kendra GRIFFITH (2013 MDP, Belize)