Then the field events and races began. As the announcer was at the top of the stands and their wasn't any communication with the race officials and timers, other than the white or red flags that they held in the air, it was slightly disorganized and did not flow like the track meets at home. However, I used the breaks between racing events to my advantage and went to see my other learners jump or throw.
School standings were announced mid-way through the day, and Steenkamp was in 6th--right in the middle. There were races that we did amazing on, and others that we didn't do so well on. One of the races that was interesting to watch was the long distance races. Being that most of these learners train on their netball courts, which is what Steenkamp does, they really only run in 80-100 meter straightaways for practice. Other than that, they just run around the courts to train, which they still have no way of determining the distance. That being said, the 1200 meter and 1500 meter runs start off with the kids full on sprinting. After the first 150 meters or so, they pace slows down immensely. The pace is kicked back into spring mode again once they are in front of the crowd on the straightaway.
Karel, one of my 6A learners, ran in the 800 meter and 1500 meter races. He was in the first van load of learners so he helped us set everything up in the morning. As we were doing so, we started chatting and he asked me what one of my rings said: Nothing is Impossible. He then asked if he could borrow my ring for the day and wear it for luck. Of course I let him, and the rest of the day if he wasn't racing or waiting to race he was at my side. He was my 'tour guide' for the day and made sure he pointed out each and every Steenkamp learner he could. I loved it.
Being that we were in the hot sun all day traveling around and cheering on Steenkamp, it gave us the opportunity to also chat with some of our staff from the school. It was great spending the day with them and just chatting about school and life. However, the sun definitely got to us, and despite reapplying sunscreen, we all left a little redder than when we had arrived.
All in all it was an amazing day. At several points I teared up as I watched my learners race down the track, throw javolin, or clear a high jump. The smiles on their faces as they finished and their huge hugs after their races melted my heart. Several of the learners would run and get us before their race or event, and many of them would race into our arms immediately after. A few of our learners also fell in the competition. We cheered them on, and all of our Steenkamp learners got back up and finished the race. :) I am so proud of each and everyone one of them and am so glad I could be their to cheer them all on.
Janelle giving our learners a little pep talk before the 1200 meter
Steenkamp Athletes!
Me and some of my learners
Karel reppinng the PLU sticker
We love our learners, and they loved our sign. :)
Me and Karel
Independence Stadium
Our grade 7 Cheerleaders
Thanks to the lovely "1 GB max" rule that is on google, I am no longer able to upload pics to my blog. I found this out after the pictures above finished uploading and the others I wanted to wouldn't. That being said, I am starting to upload my pictures onto a photobucket account so that you can still view them.
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