The Origin of Sports Day
The Origin of Sports Day
The first ever Woodcrest Christian Day School Sports Day was held in 1968! It’s been an annual tradition ever since! Generations of students have participated and remember the competitive games that challenged their skills during Sports Day. Read on to find out how and why this tradition got started!
In the early days of Woodcrest Christian Day School, P.E. and other outdoor activities were fairly docile. Staff in the early 1960s were all women and the majority were in the 60-70 year age range! In 1967, Lynn Lamy became the school’s first administrator (he was 34 at the time) and quickly began to hire younger staff as the school grew in size.
New 5th grade teacher Randy Thompson was fresh out of Cal Baptist and eager to get involved. It was his idea to create an entire day for games and competition that would challenge the students physically and minister wholesome growth. Thus, Sports Day was born.
Since 1968, students in 3rd-6th grade look forward every year to testing their skills in events such as Distance Throw, Shuttle Run, Target Throw, Dribble & Shoot, Base Run, and Soccer Maze which was added recently.
The biggest change over the years has been the afternoon awards assembly where student achievements are recognized with ribbons for races, fitness awards, announcement of the Ping Pong Champion, Sportsmanship award, and the big highlight, the Sweepstakes Award.
Above all, Sports Day still fulfills its original mission…to build school spirit, to give athletic students a chance to shine, to challenge them physically, to build character, and to have a really fun time!
