There is plenty of healthy competition going on in our community in this season. Saints of all ages are engaging in sports and games, displaying their skill and fitness, and enjoying the rewards that sports and group activities bring to us all.
Our Ahkvah (“Brotherhood”) School track and field team has had a prosperous year, with twenty young athletes qualifying in the recent regional finals. Ten boys and ten girls will go to the country’s (national) track and field finals on April 25, 2013, to compete in five different events; the 800 meter race, the long jump, the high jump, the shot put and the “sweaty” relay. (First leg 100 meters, second leg 200, third leg 300 and fourth leg 400) The excitement is really high and they aim to bring home the victory.
Our internationally-renowned men’s softball team, “The Mean Judeans”, have begun this year’s season with four straight wins! Last year, they made it to the finals, but did not come out on top, as they did often in prior years. This year’s great start is a promising sign for a strong season, wherein they hope to bring home the national championship once again.
This past week brought much excitement, as the preliminary races for the Rockameem Games was held, beginning with the kindergarten students! It is such a treat to watch the babies giving it their all and the parents and siblings cheering, jumping and running down the sidelines with them! Along with the kindergarten preliminary, the preliminaries for all school classes, first through twelfth grade, were also enjoyed.
On the basketball front, the young boys’ league, that plays every Saturday night, has certainly not disappointed its fans. The games have been exciting and the young players have shown forth real skill handling the ball and shooting. The season culminates this week with the championship playoff match.
We are also two weeks into the adult bid whist tournament of the Rockameem Games. Saints have paired up to bring their best game. Our Spiritual Leader, Ben Ammi was spotted at the first round, checking out the competition. He and his partner, his daughter Bahtiyah, began their play in the second round with a victory. Teams play to the double elimination rule, and several games are played simultaneously. You can hear a pin drop in the room, until someone makes a mistake or a team expresses the joy and relief of victory.
All this healthy competition is keeping joy in the air and the team spirit in the midst of the saints. All the youth are experiencing great character building and lessons of team work in their sports’ quests. Excitement is abound as we look forward to the culmination of all the contests… knowing that in the end, there are winners, but no losers.
