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College Basketball Team reign in Spain on and off the Court

Delight in Learning

The Senior St Aloysius’ College Basketball Team represented the College superbly well on and off the court during their recent trip to our partner Jesuit School in Spain, Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepión, and the team captain, Nicholas Kelly, has penned a wonderful reflection which you can read below.

St Aloysius’ College Basketball Trip to Gijon: A Reflection by Nicholas Kelly 

“During the February break, myself and 11 others from the College Basketball First Team flew out to Gijón, Asturias in northern Spain. We were to partake in basketball fixtures against other schools from the region, most notably our partner Jesuit school in the area, Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepión, who were celebrating their school’s 125th Anniversary with a week of Cultural Events, including a talk that we attended on Monday evening given by our own College's Governor, Prof. Sir Harry Burns.

Each of us were paired up with a student from the Inmaculada basketball team, and were able to engage with them through our basketball matches and social events. One such event was an ‘Espicha’, a traditional Spanish tapas meal, attended by German language students who were also visiting the school. This was a great opportunity for us to experience a bit of Spanish culture and get to know our Spanish partners better.

We were given guided tours and had time to explore Gijón and Oviedo allowing us to see some lesser known European cities and experience the significant social differences between them. We attended a meeting at the town hall in Gijon, representing the College in the city’s governmental building and learning about how the region is governed.

On the basketball court we got off to a disappointing start to the trip, being defeated by Inmaculada on the first night after a long and eventful day. However over the course of the week we bounced back and beat this same side twice. We were also successful in our matches against Saint Ignacion in Oviedo and IES Numero Uno in Gijón. However, on the last night we were challenged in a match by a team of former Inmaculada students, ages ranging from 18-24, now playing for the school’s club side. The team fought and played hard, but we were narrowly beaten in the end, 49-41.

All in all, the trip was a huge success, sampling the Spanish food and culture, making great friends and winning four of our six fixtures. Personally, I feel not only has our ability and cohesiveness as a basketball team improved, but also our friendships away from the basketball court. I had a fantastic time on the trip and I would like to thank the boys, Coach Kieran Lynch and Mr Giroux for making the trip so worthwhile and memorable. We are all looking forward to the return visit by the Inmaculada boys in June!”