The COBIS Primary Games is our biennial international sports tournament for COBIS students in Years 5 and 6. The event provides an excellent opportunity for students across the world to compete with each other in a variety of sporting disciplines. The Games, which are held over three days, are also designed to allow students to make new friends and to widen their cultural experiences.
2019 marked the first visit to South East Asia for the COBIS Primary Games, as Brighton College Bangkok hosted a fantastic competition between 8-10 March 2019.
Congratulations to St Saviour’s School, Ikoyi who were the competition champions for a remarkable fifth year running. Their impressive team took home the gold trophy on all three days. Second place was a tie between Children’s International School (CIS) and Doha College, who both demonstrated great performances in athletics, swimming and football.
Day 1 started with a high-energy opening ceremony and a performance of ‘Be our Guest’ from Brighton College students. Teams then took part in a parade through the beautiful Brighton College Bangkok campus, led by a typical Bangkok tuk tuk. The competition then began with the swimming events, where we saw some tough competition in the pool.
During the evening, visiting teams were treated to a spectacular river cruise. Students ate a delicious Thai buffet meal, whilst sailing past the beautiful temples of Bangkok. They then had a fantastic time dancing at the boat disco and making friends with their fellow competitors.
The athletics events took place on Day 2, where students took to the track and field to compete and try to gain personal bests. We saw some incredible performances and many spectators commented that we may have witnessed future Olympic champions. The evening entertainment consisted of a fun BBQ and ‘Wibit’ challenge, where the students played on a giant inflatable in the pool.
On the final day of the competition, it was time for the football matches. Schools competed against each other in some nail-biting matches, whilst spectators cheered from the sidelines.
The weekend was rounded off with the closing ceremony at the Gala Dinner at the Grand Fourwings Hotel. Medals and trophies were handed out to the overall winners and runners-up for the three events and the overall championship trophy was awarded to St Saviour’s School.
The Fair Play award, voted by each school to recognise the team who most embodied the good spirit of the COBIS Games, was presented to The RiverBank School, Lagos. Team coaches from competing schools praised them for demonstrating respect, resilience and sportsmanship at Games.
Full results, points and scores are available at cobisgames.com while the event can be relived via the hashtag #COBISGamesBangkok2019 and on YouTube. You can view the photo galleries from the three days at cobisgames.com/gallery.
Congratulations to all athletes who took part in this year's COBIS Games - the high level of sporting performance on show was truly an incredible sight to behold! We hope all students, coaches and spectators had a fantastic time, have taken home long-lasting memories and have forged new international friendships.
A huge thank you to the entire staff team at Brighton College Bangkok for the hard work they put into the organisation and delivery of this event. Particular thanks go to the Director of Sport, Scott Demellweek, for all the time and effort he put into making this competition such a success.
Watch the daily highlight videos by clicking on the links below:
The overall championship points can be seen below:
