JEDDAH — Atletico-16, the 8th Annual Sports Meet of MISJ Mahd Al-Uloom International School's Girls' Section, was magnificently organized on the school premises on Dec. 21-22. The school ground was filled with excitement as the students enthusiastically participated in track and field events displaying high sportsman spirit. The program began with the recitation of Holy Qur›an by Asma Jamal of Class 7. The sports events were distributed over two days giving scope for participation to the entire student population. Chief guest of the occasion Dr. Zeenat Mirza, assistant professor, King Fahd Medical Research Center, hoisted the flag signaling the start of the meet. Head girl Marwa Abdul Razack welcomed the gathering. The chief guest inspected the four houses of Ruby, Emerald, Saphhire and Topaz. A march past and the oath taking ceremony followed. The oath was taken by Mariam Noora Jamal of 10B in Senior Category and Saamiya Suhail Ahmed of 2A in Junior Category. The students solemnly pledged to uphold the spirit of true sportsmanship. The sports meet was declared open by the chief guest. She emphasized the importance of sports and physical activities in today's digital era. "Apart from health benefits, physical activity increases focus, self-esteem and mental alertness. Participation in school sports improves social skills, provides a sense of belonging, encourages team spirits and instilla values of mutual respect and co-operation," Mirza said. Delivering the presidential address, Principal Salma Shaikh said, "Gold medals are not really made of gold. They are made of sweat, determination and a hard-to-find alloy called guts." The students displayed a wide array of colorful and reverberant drill displays such as flag display, fan drill, aerobics, pom-pom, scarf displays, gymnastics, etc. The students enthusiastically participated in various team events like throw ball, kho-kho, treasure hunt, and tug-of-war. There were class wise fun games like sac race, book balancing, skipping, lemon and spoon race and hula-hoop pair race. Each student got an opportunity to participate either in a team event or the fun game. After the students› events, staff members also participated energetically in separate events scheduled for them. The trophy for the leading house was bagged by Emerald house. Master Nawaf of 1E, Ysra Shabuddin of 1B, Waheeb Abdul Rahoof 2 D, Tala Ashraf Abdullah of 2 A, Ysra Mohammed of 3B, Hani Siddique of 7B, and Ameera Hafiza of 9B were adjudged the best athletes in respective categories. The day ended on a cheerful note with a closing march past heralding the year 2017. Principal Salma Shaikh lauded the efforts of students and teachers, especially the sports coordinator Shammy Sajith and her team, for making the entire event a grand success.
