Athletics Programme

The Athletics programme has a recreation based philosophy through the whole school and particularly in ES. The Athletics programme place greater emphasis on representative teams in MS & US.

ISP is a member of the Sports Council of International Schools (SCIS) providing robust competition with five other schools in central and western Europe. As a condition of membership, each school is required to provide team housing (homestays) for end of season competition for Middle and Upper School athletes.

A requirement for a student to participate on an ISP representative athletics team is for their family to house visiting students. Each family should be prepared to house at least 2 athletes from a visiting team at least one time during the season. Students are always allocated in pairs as part of child safeguarding. 

Family hosting is an essential part of the Activities and Athletics experience and a great way for your child to make friends with fellow students from other international schools. ISP students have the same reciprocal care afforded to them when travelling to other schools for SCIS events. Full information on this requirement can be found HERE.

*Note* 

ISP families that do not have children taking part in a given athletic season are strongly encouraged to support the homestay model, particularly when we host large scale events. 

* JV teams are principally intended for grades 9-10 with Varsity teams principally intended for grades 11-12. It is possible for a 9th or 10th grader to play in a Varsity team, but it is not possible for a 12th grader to play on a JV team. 11th graders may play on JV but must be selected for and train with the JV team for the full season in order to make the JV roster for end of season championships. 

Parent concerns

It is recognised that from time to time differences will arise between parents and a coach in how the coach chooses, manages, and/or handles their team. When differences arise, the following guidelines shall be used to resolve differences. 

1. Parents/guardians shall communicate with a coach first before taking a concern to the Director of Activities and Athletics. Parents/guardians should recognise that immediately after a practice or a game is NOT the best time to contact a coach unless the matter is urgent. 

2. Request a meeting with the coach to discuss the concern keeping in mind the ISP behavioural expectations of respect, seeking to understand, and problem solving. 

3. Should the concern not be resolved, then a meeting of parents, coach, Director of Activities and Athletics can be requested. The Director of Activities and Athletics will act as a mediator and work with the parties for a satisfactory solution.