EF Academy Intercampus Olympics: Torbay against New York in the Big Apple
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Students from Torbay traveled across the ‘pond’ to visit the New York school to take part in our annual Intercampus Sports competition, or EF Academy Olympics ‘which this year involved Torbay against New York.
This is the second intercampus sports competition that we have held with last year’s hosting Oxfords students here in Torbay and we plan to make it bigger and better next year. This trip has been a very long time in the planning and has not been without difficulties including embassy visits in London and a lot of time filling in online forms but thanks to the time and effort of both staff and students we were ready to go. All the planning did was build up the anticipation!
Everyone met at school after falling into taxis at 3 am in the morning with our bags ready to make the journey to London and the airport. Heathrow can be an experience in its self as the size can be overwhelming but after a bit of a wait we boarded our flight. We had an amazing welcome from Emily and some of the students from New York who helped with our bags and onto the transfer to the school. After settling in we had our opening ceremony and welcome dinner which was really nice including a very inspirational speech by New York’s Head Master Brian Mahoney. Obviously the students from the UK were a little exhausted but before bed we had a bit of time to get to know and mingle with the New York guys.
The next day it was time to get down to business and start the competition. The point system worked by awarding 3 points for a match or game win so at the end of each event the scores changed which caused a great deal of excitement. We met in the main gymnasium for some warm ups and then started out first competition which was team physical team challenges. It was close, but New York managed to win this first event which put them three points up. After lunch we had the cross country run which is an event Torbay have done well in back in the UK having been selected to run in the Independent Schools Association national finals so we had high hopes. Our amazing runner Diego didn’t disappoint either and won it for Torbay making it neck and neck at the end of day one.
To inspire us we went to watch Westchester Knicks play basketball which was a great experience and felt very ‘American’. This was a great end to the first day and with the scores equal it was all to play for on day two. Day two was all about a clash of cultures, starting with football and then basketball with the end result being perhaps a little predictable. Torbay won the football 6 goals to 2 while New York won the basketball 62 to 18. This of course meant that again at the end of day two it was all level and still all to play for.
Day three was going to be the decider one way or another. And despite a great performance from Alex Poki Peng who won the badminton for Torbay New York managed to win the volley ball and therefore the tournament. Torbay put in a great performance and it was so close throughout the event that it’s a credit to both schools and all the students involved. What’s more important is the great bond that students forged and the extent that this event has made the EF Academy world a little smaller by bringing the schools together.
If the Torbay students felt a little sad about the defeat it didn’t last long because the next day was all about the big apple. We had a great day in New York city taking in all the essential sights starting with a ferry trip around the statue of Liberty with amazing views across the city. This was followed by a tour and views from the ‘Rock’ or Rockefeller building which was amazing. We then had free time in Times Square and dinner in the hard rock café. What an amazing way to finish off a fantastic trip.