By Vikrant Sabharwal
On the evening of Tuesday June 21st, BISB held its first ever sports banquet. They look to make this an annual affair in the future.
The event began with a buffet as families came in; people got to eat dinner and talk to others. Parents of students were also in attendance for the event, so it was a particularly great opportunity for parents to catch up with each other and see the sports talent at BISB. Mr. Daniel Dean, BISB’s athletic director kicked off the ceremony with some opening remarks. The main slate of the event consisted of celebrating BISB’s sports teams and handing out different awards for each team.
They began this by featuring the teams from soccer, their fall sport, then presented the basketball teams, their winter sport, and finally the volleyball teams, their spring sport. The middle school teams would come up on stage first, before the high school teams. There were three major awards given out for each team: Most Valuable Player (MVP), Most Improved Player (MIP), and the Coach’s Award. Additionally, there was also one comedy award handed out for each team, based on a specific joke or characteristic that came from the team.
Awards:
Soccer
Varsity Boys:
Most Valuable Player: Pablo Andres
Most Improved Player: Vedaansh Sharma
Coach’s Award: Gregorio Porzio Valdés
Varsity Girls
Most Valuable Player: Amelia Frankel
Most Improved Player: Lilly Waters
Coach’s Award: Erin Pomfret
Basketball
Varsity Boys
Most Valuable Player: Vikrant Sabharwal
Most Improved Player: Aria Khatib-Shahidi
Coach’s Award: Gregorio Porzio Valdés
Varsity Girls
Most Valuable Player: Sofia
Most Improved Player: Tamara Fesitova
Coach’s Award: Adriana Jiménez de Abadal
Varisty basketball team after a win against Dexter.
Volleyball
Varsity Boys
Most Valuable Player: Michael Sherris
Most Improved Player: Oisín Shine
Coach’s Award: Diego Duarte
Varsity Girls
Most Valuable Player: Rori
Most Improved Player: Adrianna Jiménez de Abadal
Coach’s Award: Tamara Fesitova
After giving out the awards for each team, BISB recognized athletes who played all three sports this year, naming them 3 Pin Athletes. They were awarded with a special pin. BISB also handed out the Athlete of the Year award for one middle schooler and one high schooler. Eighth grader Carla Lochen won it for the middle school while senior Michael Sherris won it for the high school.
Finally, Mr. Thornhill ended the event with a speech. In the speech, he expressed gratitude for the students participating in the sports and gratitude to the teachers for voluntarily spending their time to coach the teams, since teachers do not get paid extra for coaching. He also discussed the importance of playing sports for students and the impact it has on education.
Overall, the sports banquet was a great experience for all the athletes, parents, and coaches involved. Mr. Dean and the rest of the Athletics/Physical Education Department believe that is an event that can help advance the sports culture at BISB and unite different members of the school community. In the future, the sports banquet will likely become an integral annual event at BISB.
We thank Mr. Daniel Dean and Ms. Gabriella Hernandez for organizing the event!