When it comes to sport at school, it’s not just about sport for sports-sake at MPS. What that means is that we’re not just about sport and alternatively not just about education. Our approach at MPS is to raise well-balanced young people as we believe playing sport together with our unique academic methodology is a key component of raising and releasing #Changemakers who will become the balanced, resilient leaders of the future. It is a well-known fact that sport not only helps to create healthy, fit learners but also well-rounded individuals by playing a vital role by promoting the development of important life skills such as teamwork, communication, perseverance and leadership.
Taking part in sport at school provides a platform for children to learn and practice social skills especially when it comes to team sports such as netball, cricket, rugby and hockey as well as to individual sporting disciplines which are also recognised at MPS. All sporting disciplines require dedication, discipline, teamwork and effective communication to achieve a common goal and in doing so, children learn commitment, how to co-operate, to have respect others and develop healthy relationships with their peers.
“Something which we strive for at MPS is fostering perseverance, discipline and the importance of commitment and hard work in order to achieve a set goal,” says Mr Louwrens Erasmus, sports co-ordinator at MPS, “and sport helps us greatly in instilling not only these but also our school values in our learners.”
“Achieving results in sport involves having to attend practices and matches and this teaches children commitment together with learning how to overcome disappointment, obstacles and persisting when facing challenges,” says Mr Erasmus.
Overall, taking part in sport teaches our learners resilience which is essential to enjoying success in all spheres of life – academic, personal, career, studies, career – throughout life in general.
“The school as a whole also becomes more successful thanks to a shared sense of ‘community’ amongst learners as they strive to achieve common, shared goals and then celebrate shared successes in sport,” adds Mr Erasmus.
School sports also gives learners the opportunity to hone their leadership skills when opportunities arise for team captains to lead their team through matches and sports derbies. These experiences in turn develop additional skills such as dedication, delegation, communication and how to inspire others.
It goes without saying that school sports promote healthy habits and lifestyle choices among children and regular exercise prevents obesity and other health related problems such as diabetes and heart disease.
Last, but not least, playing sport has an undeniable, positive impact on a learner’s emotional wellbeing and making them emotionally stronger and fitter’. Physical activities naturally reduce stress, boost and refresh learners’ minds and create a sense of fulfilment. Being encouraged by coaches, teammates and parents when they participate in sport is a form of ‘positive mentoring’ that allows learners to develop a positive mindset. Learning through sport also involves opportunities to learn to accept defeat, respect decisions made by referees and authority figures and even accepting and dealing with individual failures.
“In our experience, learners who participate in sport at MPS perform better academically thanks to improved concentration levels, reduced stress and better self-esteem and self-confidence.”
Recently our Primary School learners attended the Christian Private School Malmesbury (CPM) annual sports day where they enjoyed taking part in netball and rugby matches competing against teams from five other schools.
“Our under 9 and under 11 rugby teams each played three matches and achieved some good results which they are very proud of,” says Mr Erasmus.
“Our netball teams made us proud on the day, playing 2 matches each and also achieving wonderful results.”
MPS High School recently took the initiative and had the honour of hosting a small 7’s rugby tournament which saw each participating team playing 2 matches. MPS is proud of our high school rugby team which was victorious in both their matches.
These are just the latest highlights, and we are extremely proud of our various sports teams from all the disciplines on offer at MPS, which include rugby, netball, hockey, tennis, athletics, swimming and archery. At MPS we also support and recognise learners participating in individual sport disciplines, outside of the normal standard school sports, and have a number of present and past Provincial, National and even a few World Champions!
“At MPS we are always pushing to further sports at school, both individual and team sports, and consistently try to encourage and inspire each learner to participate and compete to the best of their ability.”
MPS is looking forward to some exciting sporting events in the near future including a string of Primary School Sports Days which will see MPS and various schools competing including Malmesbury Christian Private School (CPM), Vyeboom Christian Private School, Simond Private School, Darling College and Laerskool Slot van die Paarl as well as the eagerly anticipated annual MPS vs CPM Derby Day which takes place in September!
On the MPS High School side of things learners are preparing for taking part in several very competitive netball matches and 7s rugby tournaments with the highlight of the calendar being a MPS 1st Team Rugby VS MPS Old Boys match!
While we’re not a traditional ‘sports school’ nor are we a purely academic school, at MPS we’re proud to be a bit of both – a well-rounded school producing learners who can enjoy success in future thanks to their time spent at MPS where they were raised to be #Changemakers.
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