The Spirit of Sport at Wellington College Tianjin

October is always a busy month in the Wellington College Tianjin sporting calendar. Before the cold snap, pupils across the college have  ample opportunity to participate in sport and improve their skills and performance in athletics, volleyball and badminton, to name but a few of the competitions. Alongside the obvious health and physiological benefits that sport provides, it can have a hugely positive impact on both social and mental wellbeing too. Anyone who has ever played for a sports team will know what it means to train alongside teammates, honing your physical and communicative skills, collaborating to solve problems and overcome obstacles, as well as the positive effects of team camaraderie. These benefits are certainly not limited to team sports only; elite individual athletes are well attuned to long periods of extreme concentration and determination, often learning a great deal about resilience and sacrifice very early in life – if you want to know more, just ask some of the elite sportsmen and women who study here at the College! In PE and Sport, we must find a balance between providing pupils with the opportunity to participate and have fun, whilst still giving them the experience of a competitive and challenging environment. For me, interhouse sport provides pupils with this exact opportunity.