Sports Day

Sports Day is a big event for most schools in Sierra Leone.  Primary, junior and senior secondary schools, and colleges usually dedicate one or several days (and hence cancel classes) in the spring to athletic events of all kinds.  Ann and I have witnessed a few of these activities as they have occurred at sports fields all over town.  One of the more popular fields is at the Government Secondary School just across the street from Eastern Polytechnic.

Sierra Leoneans love parades.  Here are some primary students in their school uniforms marching down Combema Street to the Government Secondary School track for Sports Day.  Usually the students of a school divide into four "houses" of different colors and each house marches behind its banner on event day.  Parents and relatives are bringing up the rear.  Sometimes a small band accompanies the procession.   This parade was small compared to some that we have seen.  When one multi-school Sports Day let out in the evening, the crowd filled Combema Street entirely for 30 minutes, bringing traffic to a standstill.

The younger students participate in events like ball toss, and three-legged, sack, and wheel-barrow races.   The junior and senior secondary Sports Days include most of the regular track & field events plus some more entertaining ones like "Musical Chairs." "Fill the Basket" is a race where runners sprint to pick up eggs spaced 10 yards apart and return them individually to a basket (this one is reminiscent of a popular tennis drill).  "Needle and Thread" is a two-person shuttle relay in which one person carries a thread to a partner 50-yards away who holds a needle to be threaded.  Once the needle is threaded the partner races back to the starting point.  A popular girls' race is one in which a bottle must be kept balanced on the participant's head as she runs 50 yards. 

Last Saturday Ann and I spent the afternoon watching Eastern Polytechnic's Sports Day.  The athletes from our college competed in traditional track and field events and one not so traditional one.  We found seating  in the "big wigs" tent with the principal, registrar and other lecturers.  The shade was much appreciated for the four hours that we managed to stay.  We watched 20 out of the 32 scheduled events.

This runner seemed to dominate all of the women's middle distance running events.  She had a runner's build, unlike a lot of her competition. The track is made of dirt and gravel.  The oval had a slight uphill tilt at the start of the race which the athletes were compensated for on the downhill back stretch, Most of the runners wore running shoes, but some went barefoot (ouch) and others ran in stocking feet. Unfortunately, this particular day was the first day of Ramadan, so the Muslims fast from sun up to sun down.  This includes not drinking water.  Some Muslim athletes decided to delay their start of Ramadan, others chose not to participate.

Here is a photo taken during a strategically run 1500 meter race. The men were cautious to not over-extend themselves until the bell lap. This probably was a good strategy because it was a hot day.  A first aid team waited at the finish line to help cool off over-heated runners by vigorously waving a towel in front of their faces. Many times a stretcher was brought out.  Maybe this was mostly for show, since only one athlete was taken off the field lying down.

The four "houses" of Eastern Polytechnic were competing for trophies and individual prizes.  The most coveted trophy went to the overall winner, Green House.  I coincidentally was wearing a green shirt so it looked like I was supporting the winning team. Individuals could purchase a house T-shirt or go for the more expensive polo shirt (30,000 Leones - $4.00). The individual prizes were wrapped so we could not see what they were, but were probably books - a very welcome award in SL.  These prizes were awarded throughout the competition by the principal, his wife, the vice-principal, and the registrar who all sat at the table of distinction.  They were served a meal and drinks for their six-hour service.  Ann and I were offered some cookies and water.  We also had our names read over the PA system as distinguished attendees.

The climax of the competition was the "Tug of Peace."  I seem to recall that this was an Olympic event back in the day, only it was called something else not so politically correct in Sierra Leone now.  I think it a nice gesture for a country that has been wracked by a ten-year civil war. Eight members to a team struggled to pull the other team over the line.  The longest battle took about four minutes to determine the winner.

Ann and I left before the entire competition was over.  There seemed to be an endless number of invitational races that were unscheduled and lots of down time between events.  Maybe it is a rule that Sports Day can't end until the sun sets. All in all, Sports Day was a pleasant Saturday afternoon diversion for us.  It was nice to see collegiate athletics put into proper perspective.  One day out of the entire school year seems to be about right for this academically and financially struggling institution.