International School Sports

      In case you are reading the blog because of your burning interest in the title, let me assure you that I will get to the sports. First, however, an update on the Alien Bakery, the wares of which improve with each passing week. Here is the cake Lucas baked to celebrate my birthday -- and the birthday of a good friend from the U.S. who was visiting last weekend. I thought readers might be interested to see the progression of beauty and skill.
     If you are reading the blog because the cake caught your eye, I apologize for the fact that, unfortunately, cakes have nothing to do with International School Sports -- at least in my experience so far. So, on to sports.


     I am unsure to which nationality I should attribute the unusual (for us, anyway) attitude toward children's sports that we have encountered here. Although Institut International du Lancy is British in curriculum, I don't think their sports program is typically British, as I am told that many British schools are extremely serious -- not to say rabid -- about their sports. I'm also not sure it is typically Swiss; the Swiss runners whom we have encountered, at least, seem to approach their sport with a competitiveness bordering on assault (see Trans-Onesienne for details). So I'll just say that perhaps it's an international school thing. Whatever the case, the attitude toward sports at IIL is so relaxed that it is a bit unsettling for someone used to typical American insanity. A case in point is the IIL football team, for which Lucas has played since September (there are no sports seasons here, apparently). Practices run for about 45 minutes once a week. Originally, Lucas was told that he couldn't play in any games, since his birthday is in 2000, and the team is for boys born in 1998 and 1999. This fact seemed to slip the coach's mind, however, when it came to games. I think there aren't enough boys. Of course, I wouldn't know, since parents are not encouraged to attend games. Also, in the 8 months the team has been together, they have had two games -- one in October and one last week. They lost both, presumably to teams who practice for an hour a week, or maybe even more (and don't have illegally young players).

     May, apparently, is tournament time for sports. Exactly 10 days ago, Drew was invited to play on the school's lacrosse team for the international school tournament that took place this week. As far as we know, the school did not have a lacrosse team prior to 10 days ago. Further, the P.E. teacher who invited Drew to play had no idea whether Drew knew how to play lacrosse, which did not bode well for the team as a whole. Having had bad experiences with pick-up lacrosse games (experiences so bad that they involved ambulances), Drew politely declined.
     All three members of EuroSMAC were invited to participate in the cross country championships which took place yesterday. It was somewhat disconcerting to receive a permission slip for their participation on the afternoon of April  20 that was supposed to be returned "before April 20." At least, however, Luc, Ariana, and Johanna had already been training. How the school expected students to prepare for a cross country race given only a week and a half was a mystery to me -- but not one that I had to deal with, fortunately.
     Sports here are set up for the convenience of the parents -- meaning their convenience in not having to attend any events or transport their children anywhere out of the way. Therefore, sporting events often take place during the school day. That was the case with the cross country meet, so Johanna, Ariana, Luc, and I showed up at school at 7:20 a.m. so the kids could join the other IIL representatives on the luxury bus that would transport them to Lausanne for the meet. Johanna says that she plans to participate in many other school events if they involve rides in nice buses. I had planned to follow in the car, and asked the attending P.E. teacher if he could give me an address for my GPS. He helpfully showed me something that looked like a 19th century surveyor's chart. There were no street names, but the words "Chalet-à-Gobet" were written in script on a large amoeba-like shape, and he told me that's where I should go. It was unclear to me whether Chalet-à-Gobet was a town, a park, a road, or perhaps an actual chalet, but I didn't let such a minor detail bother me. The coach also explained that the races would be held "on the plain above Lausanne." Apparently he thought this would be meaningful information. I foresaw a long morning of driving around searching for children in running clothes. Miraculously, though, typing "Chalet-à-Gobet" into my GPS actually brought me directly to the large park where I could see the buses and tents that told me this was the right place. I could not see much else, as a cold rain was falling and a thick fog obscured most of the park.
     Despite the chill and the damp, the park was full of the kind of enthusiasm and camaraderie that attend such events. A cheery man wearing plaid shorts and carrying a megaphone gave directions in French and English, teams walked the course to scout out the slipperiest mud patches, kids painted their faces with mud warpaint and cheered for their teammates.

Johanna and Ariana with two fellow IIL runners before their race.

Lucas with teammate Ricky.

Cheering for teammates as they finish. The kids got to know several new IIL friends who share their enthusiasm for running. Though in general I like the relaxed attitude toward sports, this did make me wish that IIL had a real XC team.

The boys set out. The course started on a big hill, effectively wearing out the runners before the race even got underway. The hills and the mud made this a TRUE XC meet! 

Lucas finishing. He was 6th, which I thought was outstanding, especially considering that he was throwing up two nights before the race. Running -- or even the thought of running -- seems to do something odd to my children's digestive systems. This time, though, Lucas really did have the flu; we know because other family members caught it as well.

The girls starting. Johanna and Ariana are the ones in green. It is very difficult to take good pictures of moving runners with a cell phone camera, so you'll just have to take my word for it that they are who I say they are. Johanna did throw up at the start, as usual. She discovered this time that this is the way to deal with the runners who elbow and push for position. After you puke, everyone gives you plenty of space.




Johanna finishing. Sorry this is a bad picture, but I had to include it. She is running with a bike in front of her because she is WINNING!!!! (Please excuse the proud mom.)



Ariana finishing. She was in the top quarter -- running against older girls -- and I was proud of her as well.



The top three. Even though Johanna is on the highest pedestal, the second-place finisher is taller. Typically, Johanna became bosom friends with the other girls while on the podium, and gave me a full report afterwards.



Snacks while waiting for runners to appear so they can cheer some more.

     IIL may not prepare their competitors well, but with running, anyway, the school seems to know how to pick them. Johanna was one of four IIL students to make the podium; the 1996-1997 boys were second and third. Most amazing of all was the sole IIL girl in the 1996-1997 race. Because fewer students participate at that age and the race is longer, the boys and girls ran together. Nancy from IIL was the first girl, which was impressive enough, but she was also fourth overall. That's no small feat against high-school boys.

     While I enjoy being part of a community that isn't obsessed with children's sports, the day made me realize that I also miss the fun of being a sports parent. As the only IIL parent in attendance, I pitied the moms and dads who had been forced to spend such a lovely day inside their dry offices and homes while I hung out on the sidelines with the cheering, muddy kids.