Junior School Athletic Assembly

At Tuesday’s JS Athletic Assembly, our emcees were Grade 6 students Mina and Massimo, who were joined by CDS Athletic Director, Mr. Andersen, to help share the accomplishments and highlights from the season.
Mr. Andersen shared that CDS athletics are about learning to win, learning to lose, competing with your friends, and just participating; all of these things are important.
 
He went on to share that athletics is really about building a community. Over this term alone, the Junior School teams have participated in more than 50 volleyball, basketball and hockey games. “It is at these games and tournaments where we witness our parents, grandparents, siblings, friends and staff cheering our teams from the sidelines.”
 
Ms. Cawfield, Coach of the U12 Boys’ Basketball team that received a CISAA "Champions of Character" banner for their spectacular season, which included many examples of sportsmanship and went 6-0 on their final tournament after a 13-1 season, then introduced the keynote speaker.
 
Shayan is a Grade 6 student who has played rep hockey and rep baseball, along with Academy soccer. The obvious choice would have been for Shayan to play school hockey during the winter term. But instead, he decided to go outside of his comfort zone and try something new and unfamiliar. The following is what he shared and learned from his experience playing U12 Basketball.

Shayan is a Grade 6 student who has played rep hockey and rep baseball, along with Academy soccer. The obvious choice would have been for Shayan to play school hockey during the winter term. But instead, he decided to go outside of his comfort zone and try something new and unfamiliar. The following is what he shared and learned from his experience playing U12 Basketball.
 
“The thing is that although I wasn’t an “experienced” basketball player, I knew it was something I wanted to try and was interested in. I would think about how much I enjoyed playing during recess last year with my friends. I knew that I may not be a skilled basketball player, but I was willing to learn and I wanted to take the leap and try something new.
 
“I was a little intimidated at first because I only knew a couple rules. For instance, did you know that in basketball, you can only take 2 steps with the ball before it becomes something called a ‘travel’? My teammates and my Dad were so helpful in teaching me the rules over the first few weeks of practice. My teammates still help me to this day, including at our successful final tournament last week.
 
“There are a lot of parts of basketball that are similar to the sports of hockey, baseball and soccer. For example, playing good defense, passing to your teammates, getting open and calling for the ball or the puck… all of these “tangible” athletic skills are transferable between sports. Once you have learned how to do them in one sport, it makes it easier to do them again in a completely new sport.
 
“There are also many “intangible” skills that are important in basketball too, just like in all other sports. Intangible means skills that you can’t necessarily see or touch.
 
“These include things like sportsmanship - having respect for each of your teammates, coaches, and the referees. Teamwork - recognizing that every team member has an important role to play to a team’s success. Not every team member may be the one who scores the baskets - but the players passing the ball, the players blocking the shots, or the players guarding their check, have just as important a role to play in any team’s success. This is what makes a team a team. 

“We learned this first-hand during this season of basketball. Some of us, like myself, had little to no experience playing on an actual basketball team. But, by the end of the season, we could lean on each other’s strengths to help achieve a greater goal together as a group. I feel we were successful not only with our games won, but with how well we played as a team. In my opinion, we probably won the games we did because we stuck together and trusted one another. We could eventually all call ourselves basketball players, and most importantly, a basketball team.

“I am really looking forward to joining the basketball team again next year!” - Shayan Guerra-Jain 

Mr. Andersen concluded the Assembly with a slide about what we can do even if we believe we have Zero talent. These are 10 things we can all try to incorporate into our daily lives no matter what we do – sports, school, relationships … they apply to everything.
 
Congratulations to our Junior School athletes! We cannot wait to see all of you and your friends out on the fields again this spring!
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Land Acknowledgment

CDS wishes to recognize and acknowledge the land on which the school operates. For thousands of years, these have been the traditional lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. We also recognize the traditional territory of the Huron-Wendat, Anishinaabe and the Haudenosaunee peoples who also shared this land.  CDS respects the relationship with these lands and recognizes that our connection can be strengthened by our continued relationship with all First Nations, by acknowledging our shared responsibility to respect and care for these lands and waters for future generations.

School Information

13415 Dufferin Street King, Ontario L7B 1K5 
(905) 833-1220 

communications@cds.on.ca
admissions@cds.on.ca

Founded in 1972, The Country Day School is a co-educational private school offering programs in JK-12 and located on 100 acres north of Toronto in King.