By Gabriel Di Mauro, Secondary Principal, Interim ex-officio Head of School
Each year, school leaders from across Europe gather for an annual meeting of the SCIS - Sports Council of International Schools. During these meetings Heads of School work together to review key policies and practices to support exciting athletic opportunities for student-athletes.
Joining from around Europe this year were SCIS member schools American School of Warsaw (Poland), American International School of Budapest (Hungary), American International School of Bucharest (Romania), International School of Basel (Switzerland), and the International School of Prague (Czech Republic), as well as our Inter-Community School Zurich.
ICS has played a historic and essential role in forming and maintaining this sports council as it is known today. As international schools, we are representatives of hundreds of nationalities from all around the world, and with that comes a certain responsibility to provide our students with a healthy competitive sports experience. We must not forget that one of the most powerful bonding experiences, which connects beyond borders and languages, is sports.
The benefits of participating in this council go far beyond the quality events we foster for our student athletes. The annual meeting provides Heads of School with invaluable opportunities to exchange ideas and resources on best practices in leadership, address common problems of practice, explore strategic direction, and discuss aspects of student life.
Throughout our time together, we also had the pleasure of cheering on our respective teams from the sidelines during tournament play! There and then embodying what SCIS and sports is about - celebrating athletic achievement and school spirit. Both of our ICS Middle School Girls and Boys teams put forth a valiant effort; the boys even made it to the final! Both teams made us proud.
ICS is looking forward to next year’s tournaments and SCIS meetings with a gratefulness for strong partnership and shared commitment to student success.