| Khairil Hassan |
JERUDONG International School (JIS) hosted its 19th Football Funday on October 7.
This year, with 132 teams, saw the largest number of teams participating in the most anticipated community sports event of the academic year.
This year’s Football Funday was further enlivened by the presence of Yang Teramat Mulia Pengiran Muda ‘Abdul Muntaqim ibni Duli Yang Teramat Mulia Paduka Seri Pengiran Muda Mahkota Pengiran Muda Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah and Yang Teramat Mulia Pengiran Anak Muneerah Madhul Bolkiah binti Duli Yang Teramat Mulia Paduka Seri Pengiran Muda Mahkota Pengiran Muda Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah.
Also participating in the Under-13 category of the event was Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Anak ‘Abdul Haseeb bin Pengiran Maharaja Setia Laila Diraja Sahibul Irshad Pengiran Anak Haji Abdul Rahim.
JIS was especially delighted to welcome local schools and football academies who were playing at Football Funday for the first time.
Alongside a number of teams from JIS, 10 local schools joined in the five-a-side football game on 19 pitches, in seven age groups from U8 years up to U19 years.
Other participating schools included International School Brunei (ISB), Hornbill School, Panaga School, Seri Mulia Sarjana School (SMSS), DES School, Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan Science College (Maktab Sains), Brunei Darussalam Schools Sports Council (MSSSBD), Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah School, St Margaret’s School Seria and St Andrew’s School. Teams from Projek Ikan Pusu of the National Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (NFABD) also attended.
Every competitor received a certificate of participation.
The top three teams in each category received medals.
The winners in Boys Under-8, Under-9 and Under-11 were Panaga Dragons, Team Panaga and Panaga Raiders.
Teams from Projek Ikan Pusu won the Under-13 and Under-15 categories, while JIS Teams, JIS Red and Timor Leste were champions in the Under-10 and Under-19 categories.
Principal of JIS Barnaby Sandow said, “It was wonderful to see all three sports fields at Jerudong International School full of hundreds of young people enjoying every moment of playing football with their teams. There are plenty of sports opportunities at JIS and the most important thing is to simply enjoy the act of taking part in sport.”