SAISA Boys Football 2024
As of February 13, 2024, OSC has started its annual SAISA Boys Football Training. The end goal for the football team is good placement in the tournament on April 17th, 2024 in Kathmandu, Nepal. Last year, I traveled to Dhaka, Bangladesh to compete where we unfortunately came 6th.
However, along with the team, I was also expecting a change this year in myself. Last year I had played goalie for the team a position I fit into well having had prior experience for most of my childhood. Yet, this year I wished to not have the pressure of being in goal on my shoulders. This led to me trying my hardest to let the coaches play me outside of goal. Unfortunately as of March 7th, I have been unsuccessful as I have a pretty locked-in role in goal. I will keep you guys updated on my positional situation with my future experiences.
Hello again! It is now April 4, 2024. We have been training non-stop as a team and are ready for our trip to Nepal. A quick schedule change has changed the tournament structure as there is no time for all the matches on Lincoln School’s one football pitch. Because we are flying in on Tuesday we have been chosen to compete on Wednesday afternoon ahead of the tournament start against the home team and the home crowd. This is frightening for our team as our tournament resides in this game.
The tournament is structured with 2 groups of 5 teams and the top 3 placing teams in each group advance to a playoff. With Lincoln being in our group this game could be decisive. With this being said, I think our team compared to last year is a major improvement and we are heading in the right direction for the tournament kick off.
Service & Creativity Update-Term 2
After a very successful SAISA Boys Volleyball tournament hosted at OSC. Gecko Gear headed into the next term prepared to welcome the SAISA Girls Football teams to OSC once again to host SAISA Girls Football 2024. Our first goal was related to building relationships with the kids on campus as Adam, Sandeep and I were involved with swimming with kids in SOS Village. However, this would have to take a break as the Christmas break was quickly approaching. Right before the break, I headed out to see multiple suppliers to see if we could get a more locally produced and sustainable production process. Yet, time was tight so if I had found success in finding a supplier it would have to wait until the last season.
Our next goal was to design merchandise for the SAISA athletes who would travel during SAISA season 2 and the Girls’ Football Teams traveling to OSC. Before this, however, our service needed to come to school on Saturday, January 20th, for Hope for Kids’ charity Cricket game to sell merchandise. As Zoe and I arrived to set up the stall we were welcomed with a good deal of business, selling our new hoodie, GO GECKO’S T-shirts, and our wristbands. We also brainstormed ideas for SAISA and the future like having removable tattoos and tote bags.
Poster made for Hope For Kids Circket match advertising our new hoodies that was posted on our Instagram and put up around school. (Made by Gecko Gear)
Tattoo Ideas developed. (Image: Gecko Gear)
After making quite a few sales at the cricket game from 1:30 to 6:00 pm, we packed up and prepared ourselves for SAISA football which was in a few weeks. This term since Christmas was a bit hectic as we had missed around 3 weekly meetings due to holidays, SAISA, and WWW. The team had all finalized designs and here were the designs Adam and I worked on for SAISA season 2. Another goal we had for this season was to redesign the Gecko Basketball kits which came out as a learning experience as they were different from what we sent the supplier. Right before SAISA, Mr. Poulus (Service Coordinator) started to organize service meetings every month for the ‘kids on campus’ service groups where we were congratulated on our money made and we developed ideas to be more sustainable. Zoe, Ms. Sue, & I were at the meeting as the main leaders of the service and we agreed to take responsibility of paying for the transportation of all the other service groups as that was an expense that was unaccounted for.
Designs I helped produce. (Work & Image: Darius Conconi)
Jersey Made for Basketball Team. (Image: OSC Supplier)
After all the designs were set, Zoe, Hadiya, and Irina took the duty of selling merchandise to the SAISA girl’s teams. As SAISA finished and we totaled our revenue we had made Rs. 327,550 ($1,053). After the successful selling from the girls at SAISA, we were then congratulated once again at our next service meeting for making approximately as much money as the service budget given by the school to all the services as our combined revenue was around $2,000. We also started our next goal of designing merch for SAISA season 3 and one problem we realized was that the kids who come to swim with SOS Village needed goggles and their service could not afford to supply them. Therefore, we decided to go above what was expected and we made care packages for the kids who came on campus with SOS Village. It consisted of a pair of goggles, a towel, an OSC drawstring bag, and a gecko gear bracelet. This is when we also welcomed 3 new 6th grade members into our service as well for the next generation and growing our size.
WWW – Northern Narratives 2024
On January 29th, 2024, at 3:00 AM, my Week Without Walls (WWW) group of 12 peers set out to drive all around Sri Lanka and see many different culturally significant, beautiful, and historical places. Day 1 consisted of lots of driving mainly as it started with a long drive to Mihintale to have lunch and visit the Kings Pond. The Kings Pond was lovely and was a nice place to write our letters to send off to my parents back in Colombo.
(Ansel, Stephie, Vicky, Myself at Kings Pond, Photo: Ms. Lockwood)
After the King’s Pond began another tedious drive. We drove as a group to Jaffna’s Northernmost point: Point Pedro. Point Pedro was a lovely destination to enjoy the beautiful sunset in Jaffna and send the postcards we had written to our parents. As the sun started to set a cool breeze overcame the group as we took a lovely beach walk to relax. Unfortunately, another drive was to come as we took a 30-minute drive to the outskirts of Jaffna to visit Keeramalai Springs and arrive at our lovely hotel for the night.
My Brother and I are at Point Pedro. Photo: Mr. Lockwood
Keeramalai Springs where Alex and I swam, Photo: Ms. Lockwood
The next morning consisted of waking up bright and early to go to Delft Island. Delft Island, also known by its local name Neduntheevu, was a lovely experience, however, the scorching Sri Lankan heat made it one to forget. The day started by driving to the Ferry Location so that we could take the one-hour ferry ride to get there. Whilst waiting for the Ferry, Adam and I had bought matching pink cowboy hats from one of the local vendors posted outside the port.
Adam and I with our matching hats on the ferry. Photo: Ms. Lockwood
After the ferry ride, we arrived at Delft Island to meet our guide who led us around the island. Delft Island was full of surprises with stray dogs, unused temples, a beautiful large tree, old Dutch settlements, and ruins around every corner. There was also a lovely lighthouse, a sketchy lunch, and my personal favorite; was an Aloe Vera juice stall which was that served purple Aloe Vera juice. After the memorable Delft Island, the tired group ventured and dragged themselves back to the bus where we took another one-hour bus ride back into the heart of Jaffna where we first got to see the beautiful Nallur Kovil temple from the outside before walking down the road to the famous RIO Ice Cream store where we enjoyed an amazing sweet snack before heading back to our hotel for bed.
Beautiful Delft Island Trees, (Photo: Vicky)
As Day three began, we ventured to Jaffna Fort and saw the heritage and lovely scenic views from the fort of Jaffna city. Seeing the city from the fort allowed me to realize the vast differences between Jaffna and Colombo as the infrastructure was completely different despite Jaffna being the largest city outside of western province. As we got caught in the rain exiting the fort we all stepped in the bus wet as the smell of mildew lingered through the bus. Lunch this day was delicious as we indulged in classic Indian food. The bus ride to Mannar following this was pretty tiring as it consisted of playing cards, talking and lots of sleeping. As we finally arrived we made a quick stop to Mannar fort, then to the grave of Adam and Eve (allegidely). After our bus tour we took a quick stop to the beach as we walked to see “sunset in India” from Sri Lankas closest point to India. In the meantime, however, The boys all joined together to play rugby with a washed up bouy.
Rugby on the beach. (Photo: Stephie)
Day 4 began after a lovely night at 4:30 AM before the sunrise to see flamingos. We started the day with a quick snack and a lovely view of the stars before going to the site to see flamingoes. The flamingo viewing consisted of a walk to the point of observation where we camped behind bushes with Mr. Lockwoods scope and analyzed the flamingoes. After the sightseeing, we headed to the Mannar donkey clinic and Mannar beobab tree where we got to learn about, feed, and pet the donkeys and finish with some refreshing coconut water. After the clinic we headed to Anuradhapura and took a walk of the premises and got to experience the lovely scenery and views of Pidurangla and Sigiriya rock. After our walk we unpacked at Back of Beyond in a treehouse. After cleaning up everyone gathered in the center for our reflection and then we did an activity in pairs looking for biodiversity. As Alex and I got partnered up we set out to look for some interesting life and when we returned the group was gone! we had been abandoned while everyone else was on a biodiversity walk with Mr. Lockwood!! As everyone got back we headed to bed.
Flamingo Watching through Mr. Lockwoods scope. (Photo: Mr. Lockwood)
Day 5 was my favorite day as we woke up before the sun once again and hiked up Pidurangala rock to see the lovely sunrise. After the hike we all gazed down on the lovely surrounding areas from the large rock face and Vicky took my favorite picture from the whole trip. After this we headed home and slept mostly the whole way.
Sunrise at Pidurangala Rock. (Photo: VIcky)
SAISA Boys Basketball
As of November 7, 2023 tryouts for the OSC Varsity basketball began. Being OSC’s most popular boys high school athletic, there were bound to be lots of students competing to be chosen to travel to the American Community School in Amman, Jordan. Tryouts started 3 days after myself and the volleyball team had just won the championship so there was bound to be fatigue heading into the first week. Luckily, due to our gr0up 4 science trip we only had one Tuesday training before we were able to take a week break from basketball.
As we got back from our trip basketball training had started. As a newcomer to the OSC team I would have to break into the coaches starting squad so that I could travel for the upcoming tournament. As an unnoticed first week of efforts I was unable to catch the coaches eye as I was certain he had yet to even know my name. As the second week had ended the same fate had occured for me as I continued with the B team unable to break in to the coach’s eyesight even. However, this all changed on the third week as I was able to come into recognition after beating the A team in our 5v5 scrimmage matches. This same recognition would come on Friday as I was able to make 4/10 of the 3 pointers made by our team in our team shooting drill. This would be good news for me as next week I was training in and out of the B and A teams and gained recognition from the coach by the 5th week when I was selected to travel. After the selection we had our first team game against Gateway College. This would be an unfortunate loss however.
(Playing Basketball Game 1 against Gateway College [I am the guy in red in the background by the 3pt line]. Taken by GeckoNet)
(SAISA Boys Basketball Team Photo. Photo: OSC Photographer)
Another week passed as we had our next game, a rematch against Gateway. As the game started off the score was dire for us as we could not cover from a 10-point deficit from them. However, at the start of the 4th quarter, we had closed the gap drastically even closing it to within 1 point as we had unfortunately lost 48-47. This game was the last before the break and the weird thing about the basketball SAISA season was that it was split up between the winter break, making it awkward for all participants to continue their flow of training.
After the break, recovery was rough. It started with two weeks of rusty training and games against Moir which both ended in our favor. After these starting weeks, things would get ever rougher as our WWW would begin leaving us one training session in two weeks before we travel for SAISA.
As SAISA Travel Day finally arrived, the team and I set out to the airport at 7:00 on Tuesday. As we all arrived exhausted and dreary we gathered our way to our gate and set off to Doha. After a 45-minute layover, our flight from Doha to Amman finally began as we finally arrived and settled down in our hotel at around 5:00 PM in Jordan. The first impression the team had when we landed was the shocking cold that spread throughout the whole country. For the first time in years, I was able to see my breath in the air. As everyone was knocked out early due to the exhausting day of flying we started the second day with a trip to the Dead Sea with one of our closest friend schools, Lincoln School Nepal. The Dead Sea was magnificent as the buoyancy that occurred from the salt was shocking for everyone. After a relaxing day of floating and making memories, we headed home for at sunset to prepare for the tournament that began tomorrow.
(Team photo at the Dead Sea; Photo: Coach Praneeth)
As Tournament Day 1 began, we headed to school for our first match-up at 11 against Karachi American School which ended with a convincing win in our favor. After this game, the dreadful 8-hour break between our games began. Not only was the large break a problem but we would stiffen up. But also, our second game was at 7:00 PM which, due to jetlag, was at 9:30 PM in Colombo. The time difference would prove to not have an effect. However, we were unable to come out with the win against our SAISA rivals, The American International School of Muscat. This defeat would make our tournament much more difficult though.
(Team photo on arrival wearing Jordanian keffiyeh. Photo: ACS Staff)
Going into the second day our two games were against Lincoln School and the American International School of Chennai. The first game against Chennai would end in our victory with a score of 48-56. This convincing win would be the start of the end of our journey. Unbeknownst to us, the deciding margin when a tie in the group occurred was related to defensive points conceded compared to what we had assumed which was Points scored – Points conceded. This would prove to be our downfall as our comfortable lead (so we thought) in the group heading into the second group game would mean we would start our worst players for them to gain experience and give the starters a rest. As I was subbed on in the last quarter the scores were close. OSC constantly trailing by just 2-3 points was a constant trend heading into the final seconds as a ball from Antoine to Ethan to me with just 11 seconds left on the outskirts of the 3-point line would fly, and the crowd would be left in awe. As the ball bricked off of the rim a rebound from OSC would once again be swung to Antoine to Ethan and then Myself again in a redemption shot I let it fly with around 6 seconds left on the clock. As the ball flew it hit the back of the rim once again before going to a Lincoln player who let the clock die out. My heart dropped as I had just bricked two clutch 3-point shots leading to our team losing 42-40. The disappointment was minimal as we assumed we were still top of our group. However, as we were informed the decider was points conceded. This meant we were the 6th seed instead of the 4th heading into the knockouts. This would lead to us playing the 3rd seed instead of the 5th seed. As the whole team sat in shock we were prepared to head into tomorrow with high spirits.
((Myself Dribbling)OSC v.s. TAISM Day 1; Photo: ACS IT Crew)
As the third day began, our game at 11 was the third of the day. After a late start, we headed to the school to play our game. As the team was confident, we warmed up in high hopes of pulling a win out against the American School of Bombay. The game started in our favor with us ending the first quarter 16-10. The emotions were high between both teams. After the first quarter, our lead had dropped to just two points though. The tensions rose as the end of the third quarter left ASB with a ten-point lead 44-34. Yet, we were not done fighting just yet as we pushed ASB within one point with the score being 45-46 with two minutes remaining. This would be the end of our success however as 2 back-to-back 3-point shots would give ASB a comfortable lead ending the game 47-57. This would lead to us crashing out of the tournament in 6th place while we comfortably beat the 4th place team.
Group 4 Science Trip
The group 4 science project trip is an IB requirement for all IB students where you and your peers embark in using your adventuring, knowledge and communicating skills in order to work together as a group and learn about your in-the-classroom topics through practice based and field work. The groups consist of one student from each of the science classes our school offers and one leader from geography who is in charge of the surveying and data collection. In my group, there was myself from Geography and Chemistry, Aniq and Sofia from ESS, Avi from Biology and Maelle from physics. The trip even though being a school trip was not for the weak of heart. It consisted of daily 3+ hours hikes including a 3 hour hike on the last day straight up a mountain with 2 hours of climbing 100s of feet in the rainforest, multiple hours in the rainforest surveying data and getting bitten by leeches.
However, the memories and time spent with friends was unmatched and an amazing experience. We started the trip early morning Wednesday with a 2 hour bus ride. We started Wednesday with a hike through Sinharaja rain forest to Martins lodge where we were then able to talk and see the land which we were going to survey tomorrow as well as take a trial test run in a 2×2 plot of land. As my group got into the plot I realized the intense fear of leeches 3 of my 5 group members suffered form. As after 5 minutes Avi and I were the only ones who remained. As the rain poured down strongly we called it a day after a successful time counting biodiversity, measuring luminousity and pH, and many other oddly specific tasks. After this, we were separated into 2 groups to stay at the two hotels offered.
As the second day began, a joint groan echoed through our stay as we dragged ourselves onto the bus and gradually headed towards the rainforest as we were set out for a day of surveying. Once there, we split up into different sections of the forest and took different plots of land. Our group took out with our gear and after a few hours of canopy analysis, counting plant species and other organisms, asking our guide for plant names and other strenuously menial tasks. Thankfully after the second plot the rain started raining heavily as it does in a rainforest. This graceful coincidence was amazing as we were able to go back home and hang out as a group for the rest of the night.
(Photo I took of the canopy during my second plot of data collection.)
At the beginning of the third day, I was able to wake up glad as we were about to leave and I could go home to my bed. However, this was short lived as when we met up with the other group we were told about the multi hour hike up 100s of feet in the middle of rainforest. As we set off pain and annoyance ensued as we realized how unprepared we were as a group. With very little water between us and no sign of when it would end we could do nothing but keep our feet moving. As we ventured deeper and deeper we realized that the forest had faded and the beaming sun was above us. As we got to the top a sigh of relief could be heard as everyone laid down leaving sweat stains in memory of what we had endured. After we all grouped at the top we made our way down back to the buses where we packed, showered and finally arrived home.
UN Day (Unity and Diversity Day)
UN Day Photograph in Annual National Pride Flag Walk (Taken by Gecko Net)
On October 20, 2023 OSC had its UN day. UN day, now commonly known as Unity and Diversity day is an annual event within the OSC community where our peers and teachers get together to embrace and exhibit their national pride. Walking into school that morning your eyes are met with a joyous festival of colors and traditional clothing from all around the world. The diversity is seriously astounding with the countless overstimulation of new scents and sights mixed in with traditional Sri Lankan activities.
SDG Goal 16 (UN Website)
My grade level and the COMUN members were combined and then split up into different groups to present the ideas of UN Day and its importance. I was partnered with Avin in my grade and Anneli from COMUN and we were given the task to present SDG Goal 16 to one of the two six grade classes. After being tasked with this seemingly impossible task to get 6th graders to pay attention to a presentation about Institutions on a friday before our one week October break. We decided and worked together to make a slideshow to present to the group (Slideshow shown as last image). After the presentation there were the games and my overall favorite part of the day which is the food stalls each nationality sets up. The polar opposite tastes were bewildering for my palate as Irish Stew and Phở were not the combination they were most accustomed to.
UN Day American Stall (Myself seen with Italian flag around my body, behind the flag) (Taken by GeckoNet)
The day came to a quick finish because of the early 12:30 dismissal, but the memories stayed longer; as UN Day with so many diverse cultures and backgrounds crammed into the small student body of OSC was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I would never have been able to experience at the local American Public School I attended growing up.
Sorry to backtrack, but my largest surprise about the day was the excitement and willingness the grade 6 class had to creating an institution. Seeing the different celebrities, or famous figures they would put in charge of their institution was not only amazing in seeing what they would come up with but also heavily interesting to see that so many kids thought the same way I had growing up. Adding lots of Videos and Interactive activities like Kahoots and Competitions where the groups of 6th graders would propose their institution’s laws, policies and values was a great way to end the first quarter of the year.
Slideshow Our Group Presented to the 6th Graders (Photo Credit: Dimath Ambalangodage)
SAISA Boy’s Volleyball 2023 CHAMPIONS!!
The Microphone turned on. The voice of our schools head of athletics, Mr. Turner, could be heard throughout the whole gym. Line by line, high schools from 7 nations all around south Asia and the middle east were seated down as the annual SAISA Boys Volleyball Tournament was about to kick off with the oath of honor. Coming in as the reigning champions, winning OSC their first ever SAISA Boys Volleyball last year, an aura of revenge and fear could be sensed in the other teams as they had all traveled to our domain for this years tournament. As the opening ceremony came to a close our next job was to prepare for our first group game. How the tournament was scheduled, the teams were split into 2 groups of 5 teams which were based on the placements of last year.
Our first game was against the Lincoln School of Nepal (LS). This game was pretty straightforward for the team and I as we beat them 2-0, convincingly. With our confidence at a high after this triumphant win our team got together and vowed not to lose a set for the whole tournament. This would very quickly be tested, as the second game of the first day however was a tougher match up against the American School of Bombay (ASB). The first set was evidently in our favor as we looked to be in the lead the whole time and in control of the pace of play. At the break, we went into the second set very confident. This would be short lived however, as ASB would take an early lead after a very consistent and powerful serve streak. With the score 12-1 our hopes were high, but our odds were low. The ultimate moment of relief and satisfaction for the team occurred on the next point after a serve into the net from the other team lead to the absolute outpour and appreciation from our teachers, parents, peers, and competition, with the stands going wild. This newfound support and confidence would then lead to our historic comeback, with my own contribution of a service streak of 8 which would close the gap to 11-13. As the match would then go into a tense deuce, we would come up on top, winning 27-25. Ending the game 2-0. After the first day, a cold realization came over our team as this year saw one of the most competitive SAISA Boys Volleyball tournaments of all time with every team being strong.
The next day held two games as well, with our first game being at 9 in the morning against the American Community School (ACS) of Amman, Jordan. They were an unexpected opponent, with a rough 9th place finish last year, they had eagerly improved. However, we were still able to confidently close out a 2-0 win. My proudest achievement from this game was the positioning of my hits and serves. As I hit a poor set lightly and into space to get our team the win. As well as serving the ball at the opposing teams weaker players, and in between their players allowed us to convincingly close out the game with a solid performance. The second game of the day was similar as we were able to efficiently win the first set. The second set however was more drawn out ending 26-24 in our favor. This was an ongoing trend in the presence of our team with an all out first set and a more lenient second set allowing the other team to close the score. In the defense of our team, the score was not convincing of the performance we displayed with our streak of not losing a set continuing as we ended the group stages with a record of 4-0 and a set record of 8-0.
As the final day began and we were top of our group I was expecting to wake up in a state of ecstatic joy and readiness. However, I was not able to plan according for the chills, achiness, sore throat and congestion I had woken up with. After waking up in a pool of sweat I was uncomfortable, not at my best, and sickly. I was not about to see myself sit on the bench for the whole of the final day though. So I took some Dayquil and got in the car with a headache and ready to sleep for the 30 minutes I had before we arrived. After a quick nap and lots of pain I walked into the blatantly vibrant blue campus of OSC and heading to the team room. After a brief talk, we had our goals set on the final at 6pm. As we went in, our first game of the day was a rematch against Lincoln School as we were able to confidently win 2-0 just like the first day. This time however I was able to be more of a reliable aspect to the team. Contributing with 4 service aces over the 2 sets and being reliable with my receives and serves. It was astonishing, like my feeling of illness had slowed down my brain to stop overthinking small actions and I was playing the best I had played all tournament. I also had low adrenaline and had no sense of pressure, unlike the first two days prior. I told myself, “If you mess up it is alright because you aren’t feeling your best.” And this lack of expectations and lenience for errors lead to myself making little to no errors on the whole of the final day. After a quick 2-0 win against Lincoln School we had yet another rematch against ACS this time, in the semi finals which was in the next hour at 12:40 with almost no break in between. This is the game I started to feel a bit groggy as the pain killers effect started to deteriorate, I felt slow, not agile and overall fell behind my normal performance level. This however did not come to much in the game as we came out on top with a 2-0 victory once again; keeping our streak of not losing a set alive. After this semi final win came the rough period between our semi final we just won at 1:30 pm until the final which was a whole 6 hours later. This wait was supposed to be shorted to 4 hours and 30 minutes but an unexpectedly long 3rd place game led to a delayed final start. Within this 6 hour rest period I got to take advantage of an almost 2 hour nap to help recover from whatever illness my body was plagued with. I closed my eyes at around 2 pm just to wake up at 4 pm feeling rested. Unfortunately, a headache and now grogginess lingered with the nap. I luckily woke up just in time to give myself enough time to bring myself up to speed for the final. At around 6:30 pm our team met up in the team room and the realization that this would be the farewell SAISA game for the 4 seniors on our team including our star outside hitter Ethan. A newfound determination grew for us as we had the pressure of the home crowd, The expectations from winning last year and the encouragement of winning this final game for our seniors.
As the Eagles from American School of Muscat, Oman walked after the third place match had finished the official game warm up began. And when the whistle blew at around 7:30 the game began. A new problem overcame us however as the court had shifted. What we were used to playing was a split gym with 2 courts with the 2 courts sketched out by a blue line representing the boundaries and a curtain separating the sides because we would train at the same time as the girls volleyball team so we would share the space. Yet what we had not accustomed for was the main stage center court which would be used for the final and 3rd place game. The excess space of the courts surrounds made the center court seem smaller in comparison. Our perception was also messed up not only due to the new abundance of space in the gym but also because the blue line of our court we were used to playing on was intersecting the new center court which was sketched out in yellow. The blue attack line we were used to playing on warped our perception of this new court which made the court feel smaller. This led to our homecourt advantage leading to a homecourt disadvantage as we were trying not only to mentally win this game but also mentally adjust to these new volleyball court boundaries we were experiencing. Numerous times I remember having to remind myself and my teammates to take a step forward because they saw a blue line running across the court and their minds thought it was the blue attack line where you would normally stand near or on when receiving in the front row. However this blue attack line was not part of the court and was actually a meter deeper than the yellow attack line. This change was evident as the first time we stepped on this unfamiliar court was for the final game. This led to a ‘swim or drown’ scenario as we had no time to adjust. Thankfully in our favor the final game was a best of 5 series and not a best of 3 like every game for us prior. Despite this hinderance of a foreign court we were able to take the first set 25-23. However there were clear differences and difficulties we were facing when looking according to the court. After switching sides the court felt just as foreign as we were beaten in our first set of the tournament 25-22. After this set our teams anger peaked, with some unjust referee calls that were in the opposing teams favor we were unsatisfied with the result of this set. This led to a tense third set as both teams knew that this set would give the other team a sure advantage into the next set. The beginning of the third set allowed us to gain a lead of 3 or 4 points early on and maintain it until around the 16 point mark where we battled point for point until OSC was able to overcome and finish off the set 25-23 once again. Making the score 2-1 in our favor. As the fourth set whistle blew we started with a service error giving the Eagles an early lead. This however would not last long for as we were able to get into an early groove and managed to get a streak of over 5 serves in 2 occasions in this set. This led to us maintaining a strong lead up until the final points of 22-14 where I had the privilege to serve. After 2 points of us maintaining our lead we were able to almost put away the game with the score at 24-14 and the ball being in my hand to serve the match point I was ready. As I walked back to the service line I contemplated what serve to do, simple and in float serve? My normal jump float serve (The serve seen in the video for the point before)? Or was it finally the time to play it risky and go for a jump topspin serve in front of the whole school? As I stood at the line and reflected on all the thousands of points we had scored as a team over the course of the past couple months leading up to this moment I decided to try a jump topspin serve in a game for the first time on match point in the SAISA finals. While the toss was too high and did not allow me to get a hit I wanted, it was still more difficult than the float serves I was used too. I was honored to be able to take the last serve of the year and not only jump serve for the first time but also take a huge step in my career as I know the same me that made the team last year would have never had the confidence or audacity to risk the embarrassment in front of the school by missing a serve on match point. The second after I served the ball over it led to a poor first receive which made it awkward for the setter who had to set the hitter from an off angle who ultimately hit the ball out. I was so ecstatic as we had been able to reach our goal of winning back to back and after training with the team for a the hours of sessions we had I felt so lucky to succeed as the great group of friends we had come to be.
(Video by Dr. Kleis, November 4, 2023. [Me serving on match point in SAISA Boys Volleyball Finals])
Service – Mascot Meeting + Shirt Selling
Over the last couple weeks I have been occupied with a lot of service work outside of our weekly meetings, meeting with designers, making shirts, and creating a school community. With the upcoming SAISA tournament coming to OSC. Our service had to take advantage of this quickly expiring opportunity to sell OSC apparel to the visiting schools. The main goal we had was to sell supporter t-shirts for all OSC fans like parents, students, teachers and rival schools. However before this my supervisor and I attended a meeting after school with the schools head of manufacturing and outside operations as well as graphic designers from outside the school (Figure 1).
(Photo credits: Ben Jackson) Figure 1
We developed ideas and I pledged Gecko Gears plan to firstly, become more sustainable and find producers using the most efficient materials and secondly/mainly, redesign the OSC gecko in two ways. The first idea was to redesign the branded gecko that was just a quick print onto all of the new OSC apparel and secondly, we wanted a fierce mascot as sort of like a badge for the school which was not used as much, but emphasized ferocity while not changing the gecko. However, we did not estimate how hard it would be to make a gecko look fierce. I pushed changes and in the end we were able to finalize two designs that the group was happy with (see figure 2 and 3).
Figure 2
Figure 3
After these ideas were done our service and I started the next big project that same week. We started making our gecko supporter shirts. After contacting the seller over 200 had come back in the mail and it was time to start selling. We divided a schedule where Zoe, Sandeep and I sold on Monday and Thursday. Hadiya and Darya sold on Tuesday and Friday and Adam and Irina sold on Wednesday for a week. I also sold shirts on Tuesday afternoon as there was a pep rally and parents were coming into school. As of today October 2o, 2023 at the end of the first week we had accumulated around 100 sales of shirts to teachers, parents and students in secondary and primary school. With the shirts being a huge success we aim to sell to the visiting schools. Initially, we planned that this would be enough shirts for the year because SAISA students were coming for Girls football in February as well. However, after the sudden success, the printing of more shirts is most likely necessary. Another side job we had was to make bracelets for school spirit as well.
(Photo of our service group at the primary assembly in the support T-Shirts)
Gecko Gear Instagram post
Creativity – Gecko Gear
For the Creativity section of my CAS project I am effectuating it through designing. The Gecko Gear service is my way of overcoming the Creativity obstacle of CAS as the service group designs and develops multiple creative designs that contribute towards our OSC community. So far our service group has been creative in ways of designing new OSC Hoodies, Shirts, Wristbands, Tote Bags, SAISA Tournament Merch and we are working towards creating a brand new Gecko logo for OSC. All of our Season 1 designs can be found in this google drive folder. My largest contribution towards the service group and for the OSC community was the designing of the SAISA Volleyball Tournament Shirt and Logo. If you have not read my other posts and are unfamiliar with SAISA. SAISA stands for the South Asian Inter-Scholastic Association. And they organize sporting events between 10 international schools all over Asia. Including schools from Jordan, Oman, Bangladesh, Nepal, India and of course, Sri Lanka. This year for Boy’s Volleyball in November, and Girls Football in February all 9 other schools will be coming to Sri Lanka to compete. Due to OSC hosting SAISA Boys Volleyball, our service group would have a lot of work to do to prepare for the tournament. Our first project was to get merchandise ready for the upcoming tournament. For this, My other leader and I worked together to design the logo that encompass this years tournament. It is used in all sorts of branding for the tournament. With the main display being on the livestream and on the GeckoNet Website.
My main contribution towards the tournament, and towards being creative is the design of the tournament shirt. The tournament shirt is the participation shirt given by the host school to all of the student-athletes from the visiting schools competing in the tournament. When creating this design I gained knowledge of the challenges that are created when making a T-shirt economically and also the problems that arise in designing the shirt due to the restrictions in SAISA’s policy. Some of these restrictions I faced were that; the design must have the tournament logo as the main frontal design, the back of the shirt should represent all the SAISA Schools, the shirt must include the SAISA logo, if the school logos are incorporated then they all need to be in the same format, etc. These policies were an awakening for me to the restrictions and how professional design for sports companies and companies in general are. After a while of submitting drafts and getting feedback from the school and my service supervisor, I designed the final design for the tournament.
(Boy’s Volleyball Tournament Logo)
(Back of Tournament Shirt, Designed by Darius Conconi)
(SAISA Tournament Shirt: Front, Designed by Darius Conconi)
Activity – SAISA Boys Volleyball 2023
For the Activity section of CAS I am dedicated to the OSC SAISA Volleyball team for the first semester of the school year. Ever since August 25th, there have been constant volleyball training sessions. Rigorous, intense, and not for those who are not determined. The main team that I am apart of has been training 5 days a week since the 25th, three times in the morning on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, In the evening on Tuesday and Friday with a lengthy game on Friday evenings. All of this for the annual SAISA Boys Volleyball tournament that OSC has the pleasure of hosting this year. Schools from Oman, Jordan, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh all come together on November 2-4 for a 3 day tournament to be crowned SAISA Champions. The photo below is of the game we played on September 22nd against Piliyandala College who showed up on motorcycles and full grown beards. The experience of the SAISA Volleyball team has been amazing to say the least. The way everyone is so dedicated to getting better, winning and willing to sacrifice for the team really allows the team to bond like no other and create the supportive but competitive atmosphere a team needs. It is also worth to note that OSC is coming off as reigning champions from last year where the team travelled to Nepal where we were able to reach gold. With a hunger to do the same and quite a young team we hope to achieve the same feat as the year before.
(Photo From OSC Facebook)
