Sports at UWCT | International school in Thailand

SPORTS

At UWC Thailand International School we highly value the role of physical activity; it is an integral part of campus life. Together with our next door neighbour and close partner Thanyapura, our students have access to state-of-the-art facilities for Football, Track & Field, Swimming, Fitness, Triathlon, Muay Thai, and Tennis. Meanwhile our campus location—surrounded by national parks, lush green mountains and beautiful beaches—allows us to take advantage of the great outdoors with activities and sports like kayaking, mountain biking, hiking/orienteering and sailing.

Philosophy

At UWC Thailand International School, our sports programme focuses around a ‘Sport For All’ model that enables students to learn and develop their skills in a recreational or competitive environment. Our community prides itself on diversity, and through sport we are able to bring our community of learners together. Sports plays an essential role in the UWCT educational model as it enables our students to find new—or expand on existing— passions. We believe that through sport, we can fulfil our schools mission, while providing a pathway for sporting development that caters to a variety of interests and levels of performance. Being part of a sports team enables our students to develop confidence, resilience, organisation, and commitment. Above all, it exposes them to teamwork and challenges, which ultimately requires them to take responsibility for themselves as well as their team.

Sports Programme Outline

The sports programme at UWC Thailand is based on both a year-round and seasonal model. We provide sporting opportunities for students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 of all abilities.

Some sports are purely recreational and others focus on preparation for competition. No selection process takes place except for entering our competitive swimming teams.

Through the school’s Extra Curricular Activities (ECAs), students are able to train within the high performance swimming programme offered by Thanyapura.

Our Gymnastics programme is offered by Gymnastics Club Phuket and runs six days a week, from 2:40-5:30pm for students from Preschool to Grade 12.

Goals Per Age Division

The Under 7 & Under 9 age group focuses on fun, inclusion, and skill development.
The Under 11 age groups focus on fun, inclusion, skill development, and an introduction in playing pre-competitive games.
Under 13 & Under 15 age groups focus on skill development, team discipline, and competition.
The Over 15 age groups focus on team discipline and competitive performance.

UWCT MANTAS – Football Programme

Football as a team sport is one of the biggest year-round programmes offered at UWC Thailand International School. We run a school football programme, not a football academy, although we work closely together with Phuket Soccer Schools (PSS) to allow students to extend their training to three times a week and join football camps during holiday time. Our programme fits within the UWC Thailand philosophy of allowing students to try new activities within our three-season structure. Therefore, our Primary School students are free to join one out of the two sessions per week. Our Secondary School (High School) students are expected to fully commit to both sessions per week to be eligible to play and represent the school. Football is in-season during the first and third season and off-season in season two. Our programme, regardless of age and gender, focusses on:

Effort, commitment and behaviour (personal & team conduct)
Skill development
Tactical awareness
Team discipline
Performance
Fun

We run two weekly sessions for Under 7 (mixed), Under 9 (mixed), Under 11 boys and Under 11 girls, Under 13 boys, Under 13/15/19 girls and Over 15 boys. Primary School runs 50-minute sessions and Secondary School runs 80-minute sessions. Coaching is provided by both UWCT staff and qualified external coaches.

From Under 9 onwards, all teams take part in friendly/training as well as competitive games.

UWCT MANTAS – Swimming Programme

Swimming is both a team and individual sport and, in addition to football, is one of our biggest year-round programmes. In combination with Physical Education classes and our partner Thanyapura, we run a programme that caters for all abilities, ages, and competitive performance levels. We are equally proud to have high performance athletes in school who compete at a national level, and new swimmers who take part in our learn-to-swim programme through Physical Education. After school, we run our own three-level MANTA swim team programme, which is explained further below. The UWCT Mantas Swim team is a year-round programme and swimmers must commit to a full year of training and competing, with variations between each level.

The Three Levels of the UWCT MANTAS swim team:

Level A – The UWCT (PS) development swim team (FREE). Training days for Level A are on Wednesday 2:40-4pm.

Level B – The UWCT Primary and Secondary School Swim Team (FREE). Training days for level B are Monday and Wednesday, 2:40-4pm for Primary School (PS) and 3:40-6pm for Secondary School (SS).

Level C – The Gold squad (runs through Thanyapura, including but not limited to only UWCT students) (PAID). Training days for Level C are each day at various times.

Learn-to-Swim Programme:

We offer swimming in our Physical Education curriculum. For additional lean-to-swim instruction, Thanyapura offers paid after-school classes for swimmers ranging from beginners to competitive swimmers.

Physical Education

Underpinning the development of skills, concepts and values is the Physical Education programme that provides the foundation for sport throughout the school. The first after-school sporting experience for many students begins with gymnastics and swimming, which are available throughout the year from Primary School onwards, based on the important role they play in the development of the child.

Phuket International School Athletic Conference (PISAC)

UWC Thailand International School is a founding member of the local international schools athletic conference in Phuket called PISAC. Together with four other schools on the island, we host end-of-season tournaments for both Primary and Secondary School each year. Since 2018-2019, we also provide a Saturday Football development league, which largely happens at UWC Thailand and Thanyapura.

Primary School Sports: Year Overview

Season 1: In-season sports: Swimming, Football, Cross-Country
Season 2: In-season sports: Swimming, Track & Field, Basketball
Off-season sports: Football, Netball
Season 3: In-season sports: Swimming, Football, Cross-Country
Off-season sports: Basketball

Secondary School Sports: Year Overview

Season 1: In-season sports: Swimming, Football, Cross Country, Volleyball
Season 2: In-season sports: Swimming, Track & Field, Basketball
Off-season sports: Football, Netball
Season 3: In-season sports: Swimming, Football
Off-season sports: Volleyball, Track & Field

World Academy of Sport

UWC Thailand International School is a member of the World Academy of Sport, which allows students to combine high performance sport at an IB school by spreading their Grade 11 and 12 IB exam years over a period of three years rather than two. Several of our FINA swimmers, who train at Thanyapura, have chosen this route.

Clubs and Recreational Sports

Either seasonally or year-round, UWCT offers clubs that focus on physical activity, and health and wellness in a welcoming, non-competitive environment. These include football, multi-sport, yoga, frisbee, badminton, rock climbing, golf, dance, LUIB, sailing, hiking, strength and conditioning, and running among others.