Sports at International Schools

SofaKing
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Dec 09, 2016 1:32 pm

Re: Sports at International Schools

Post by SofaKing »

International Schools tend to be a mixed bag in terms of their athletics/sports programs. There are some excellent schools out there that do cater to high level athletes but I can't imagine they would compare to top domestic schools in the US. Schools in the US have student longevity, socio-cultural association, funding, and sheer size and numbers on their side. In addition to that, students have more opportunities to progress in their sport beyond school level due to the sheer options available to them.

In saying that, I coach a sport at my current school and I also coached at my previous school. At my previous school, the top level students that I coached would absolutely hold their own in the vast majority of top US schools. This was more down to these students developing and competing in leagues outside of school in the host country than it was anything to do with our very limited offerings (both in terms of facilities and my ability as a coach) at school. In my current school, the students get a lot of exposure to their chosen sport (early morning and after school 2-hour training sessions; at least 6 hours of practice + a game each week). This is a very large school with excellent facilities but we are still limited by the numbers of students who are genuinely interested.

In terms of technology: I'm amazed by what I have seen over here. We have the option of live streaming games, videoing sessions and having high school students edit the footage to be used in coaching meetings, drones to capture aerial footage of games etc. Some of these are probably a little over the top, especially seeing as most of the coaches are teachers who coach in their free time and won't use the resources.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

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Post by PsyGuy »

@tommypizza

We are still having a problem with the definition of "big" NECIS is 11 ISs and ISST is double that. Were still talking club levels.

@WT123

This is the IS forum not the DODEA forum, those terms arent used in ISs. Though you are right I would never coach, EDC isnt motivating to me.

@Overhere

Im stating they are not competitive, and to make that conclusion I needed to do a comparison.

The APAC ISs are tier 1/elite tier ISs which was already stated and I concur with.

@SofaKing

I would agree the top competitive students in IE are at that level because of what hey are doing outside the IS. I would add though that IE sports do offer opportunities for players in sports and positions they would not have in DE. Its more likely an average player can get a starting position earlier than they would in DE if they ever got it.
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