INTER-HOUSES ATHLETICS COMPETITION

INTER-HOUSES ATHLETICS COMPETITION

2 March 2020 2193 By Mwila Mumba

This article gives an account on the Athletics and Chess Competition which took place in Chingola at Don Bosco Youth Centre on Friday 28th February, 2020.

It was an amazing and fabulous day to see the young people from Don Bosco Technical Secondary School actualizing the words of Don Bosco which say: ‘play, dance, jump, run, sing; do whatever you want but sin not.’ They actualized this saying through Inter-House Athletics and Chess Competitions. It was a happy day for the pupils, teachers and Salesians belonging to this school.

During this event, the Guest of Honour was the Rector of Chingola Community, Rev. Fr. Leszek Aksamit Sdb. The competition was among the four (4) different houses from Senior and Junior Secondary School. The Houses are as follows:~ Da costa (orange in color), St. Francis de Sales (red), Cafasso (sky blue) and Mary help of Christians (dark blue). The competition was inclusive because they were in categories; under 13, which was for Junior Secondary and under 17 which was for the Senior Secondary School. In all the categories, there was a race for girls and for boys.

Although the event was delayed in starting due to rain, nevertheless, the event was successful. The competitions started in the mid-morning with track events:  5000m, 3000m and 1500m in which Mary Help of Christians House dominated in both Senior and Junior Secondary. Later on,  Cafasso House started dominating in the  800m, 400m 200m, 100m races and the  4 X 100m relay races. Apart from the races, there were also other competitions such as Chess, Javelin, Shot Put, to mention but a few. It was gigantic to see other pupils who were not taking part in any activity cheering for their friends.

During the event, everyone participated and you could see the Salesian atmosphere between the Educators and the Learners. The presence of the entire members of the Salesian community (including Salesian Aspirants) spiced the event with Salesian presence which is one of the essential elements in Salesian Preventive System of Education. Despite having other duties, the Rector also came and interacted with various young people.

During and after the races, the pupils were given some refreshments and snacks. The programme ended with cleaning up of the surroundings and announcement of the results by the Sports Teacher. The following are the results: First Position was taken by Cafasso house, followed by  Mary help of Christians in second position. Da Costa House was in third position and St. Francis de Sales house was in fourth position. Cafasso House was crowned winner of the 2020 Inter-House Athletics and were given a trophy. Mary help of Christians House was also given a trophy for being in second position. In the Chess competition, St. Francis de Sales House came out first, followed by Da Costa House then St. Cafasso House in third position.  Mary Help of Christians House came outr fourth  in Chess.

The Sports Master thanked the pupils for their cooperation and good behavior during the event and he also thanked the Guest of Honour, teachers, Salesian Aspirants and all who took part in the event. The event ended with a prayer.

Surely it was a happy and memorable day.