The Asia International Schools Athletics Association (AISAA) is finishing its second season. Each school within the league competes in a round-robin style tournament, earning points before each activity’s championship event. The school with the most points by season’s end earns the coveted Championships Cup.
Mr. James Hanham, MUIDS’ director of Physical Education, was kind enough to share how AISAA has grown over the last two years, how well MUIDS is competing within it, and what the future holds for the league as a whole:
“A.I.S.A.A. has experienced solid growth during the past year, especially at MUIDS. Last year about a third of our students competed in an AISAA event: we came in second after competing against five other international schools: Berkeley, Concordian, Ekamai, KIS, and Wells.”
“This year, more students are participating in the league and more activities are available for students to participate in. Our students have worked hard, competed well, and achieved solid results. “
Below are a few highlights from the season.
Football
“Our boys Football teams continue to compete, especially our Junior Varsity team; they only gave up one goal during the entire season and finished second overall in the tournament.”
“We’ve also added girls’ teams this year. They have the highest participation level of all the league’s sports, especially since the girls are now playing in MUIDS’ charity football event. The J.V. girls, many of whom just started playing football, have already managed to win a few games. “
Track and Field
“This year we hosted the AISAA track and field event at Mahidol Field. Nearly two hundred students from all A.I.S.A.A. schools attended. Our students competed in traditional track and field events such as the 100 and 500-meter dash, shotput, high jump, long jump, discus, and several others, finishing in second place.“
Badminton
“Our students won every single match. Our coaches certainly helped our students, but the team benefited from already excellent players.”
Volleyball
“Our varsity teams improved throughout the year, but so did other schools’. The competition was even tougher with Wells International School in the league: they routinely win championships throughout Thailand and Southeast Asia. Our J.V. teams did win their opening matches though and are still competing. “
Watch the video below and see the M.U.I.D.S. varsity girls in action.
Basketball
“This is a competitive sport within A.I.S.A.A. We have some catching up to do, especially since we are a high school and only have three years to teach our students the game; other A.I.S.A.A. schools have twelve. Nonetheless, our students competed well, especially our girls J.V. team who finished third in their tournament. “
In the video below the J.V. girls play against Berkeley International School.
Orchestra
“This is a non-competitive event; it gives students an opportunity to develop their skills as musicians while performing with students from other A.I.S.A.A. schools. Six of our students rehearsed with one of our school’s music teacher, Mr. Cameron Rush, before attending the event. Mr. Rush then led students in a rendition of “A Rockin’ Halloween”, performed at Concordian International School.”
So You Think You Can Dance
“Our students have done particularly well in this event. They work with one of the school’s counselors, Mr. Chanon Viriyasatien, who helped them develop their dance routines. Two groups of students competed in the AISAA tournament. One group, DT2, competed well while the other, the Fantastic Four, won first prize. “
Battle of the Bands
“This event is always a lot of fun. Every year we hold a school-wide concert to select our best band. The band we sent to the A.I.S.A.A. tournament this year, Whip Whong, won first place.”
This season MUIDS is competing for second place and will not win the AISAA Championship Cup, but that is not what is most important to Mr. Hanham: “Our main goal with A.I.S.A.A. is to increase participation so that students can find an activity they’re passionate about pursuing. In any activity, it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert. We want our students to get started. “
Schools interested in joining the league can contact Mr. James Hanham at MUIDS, or submit a contact request through A.I.S.A.A.’s website. A full list of the league’s events is available there.