Eurosport 2022

By: Anjali Arumuganambi S6ENA

Eurosport is a biennial interschool sports tournament that welcomes athletes from across all the European schools to come together and compete in a variety of sports. This year, the event was hosted in the European School of Mol, welcoming over 600 athletes from 17 European schools, in a rather proud demonstration of solidarity following the pandemic and the one-year postponement. The athletes competed against each other in tournaments of basketball, football, aquathlon and badminton, all of them bringing to the field a determined fight and an unyielding eagerness to win.

And thanks to our wonderful PC team, we have a lot of videos and pictures to commemorate the event, and serve as a memorial of the amazing event.

Real Talk though:

Eurosport was truly something of an experience for everyone involved, including the coaches, the i-mols, and most especially, the athletes. Throughout the tournament, for every second of every match, each person had a reason to be there, a reason they didn’t want to lose, and they give everything of themselves to the fight. Everyone had hours of training behind them, pushing to better themselves, leading up to this moment on the field, and they gave their all to win. Those four days were really quite a soup of emotions. After a devastating loss, there were moments where the disappointment and devastation were so great it felt like the world weighed on our shoulder. However, there were also moments, when you’re  seconds away from that last point, and you know you’ve won, together, you’ve won, you’ve made it.

And these emotions, they were raw, and human, and real

The athletes that classified on the podium were Brussels I, Alicante and Luxembourg II, the winners,  and well deserving of the spot! And we, the other schools, we’re back on their feet, to give it our all, again, in two years time.

A brilliant part of this experience was also the opportunity to meet so many new people. New bonds, new connections were made and we got to share our stories and receive plenty in return. Everything from the stay, from sleeping on couches in other’s houses, to the bus rides, a bus of students that barely know each other singing their hearts out together. If nothing else, it is a memory not to be forgotten.

I suspect this sentiment is shared quite unanimously among everyone.

Footnote: Allegedly due to budgetary issues, it is not possible to repeat Eurosport every year

It was an experience for truly everyone involved, including the athletes, the coaches and the spectators. Concerning credit much overdue, thanks must be duly offered to the administration team and the PR, that worked so hard during their free time (sometimes late into the night) to organize this magical event. And of course, the I-mols that took care of everyone and got you where you needed to be!

Some comments from the ESMOL athletes and I-mols:

On a former experience

Mathilde Sofia Nielsen:

Honestly I have been to Eurosport just once, which was three years ago. My first impression was just amazement and a surreal feeling (…). I think my initial expectations were surpassed looking at the level of players, they were all so good, and some schools really put the effort in (…). It was just an overall fun experience. What I looked most forward to this year is just having fun and talking to so many different people, and hopefully making new friends from other European schools.

What makes it truly special is just the feeling, and seeing all these different people from the other European schools. This year I am mostly participating because I wouldn’t mind at all to relive the experience.

On the experience
Maxime Mais:

I don’t care about the fact if we won yes or no??? (…). Knowing the fact, we gave it our all made me happy. However, what put a huge smile on my face was seeing how each and everyone  decided to listen to the tactics, play like a team and support one another. Seeing the emotion of the players on and off the football pitch from the moment that last whistle was blown was an amazing feeling and that for me was the cherry on top of this entire event.

Could you describe the experience of being an I-mol?

Maryssa Hamidouche:

Eurosport is special because we get to meet other people from other European school, and the fact that it feels a little  like the Olympics.

I was participating because I really like competing and sports

Being an i-mol was amazing!I helped and met new people and eventually became friends with them. I also learned how badminton and basketball worked because I did the scoring too.

Chris Fiamegkou:

Eurosport was a super fun and exciting experience for me. I met so many new people, some of which I even kept in contact with! I made a lot of new memories! I found it a very funny how every morning, all the coaches would go to the catering team for coffee, or how we had to keep refilling the water jugs. It was overall a very cool few days and I’d like to experience it again soon! 🙂

A comment to the team

Viha Varia:

Thank you everyone it was a pleasure being in a team with all of you. I truly had one of the most surreal experience playing and cheering for Mol. We gave our best and didn’t give up.

Hannah Wenzl :

Thanks for being the best team ever!!!! It truly was a memorable experience. Even though we didn’t win we never gave up because for us it was about more than just winning. It was about having fun, enjoying the whole event and meeting new people. The support and team spirit was insane.

Mario Milliard’tsoa:

The competition was great but also everything around it, like Sunparks and everything. I’m gutted that I won’t be participating in the next event, but I’m sure that the next generation will be fabulous! It was an immense pleasure to share this experience with this amazing team and also all the supporters of ESMol! Congrats to everybody 😉