With an end to all sports seasons, the Tiger Sports Council (TSC) hosted the sports banquet on May 23 to celebrate and acknowledge all of the talented student athletes and coaches. The event included videos featuring the varsity athletes of SIS and speeches given by graduating senior captains that aimed to remind everyone of the memories and experiences they attained this year.
“By hosting the sports banquet, me and the other organizers of the event not only hoped to create an opportunity for athletes to gather one last time, but also to allow the athletes to have fun watching the videos and speeches made by the captains of each team,” said Kristina Kim (10), member of TSC. “Of course, there can be improvements made to the event, but I feel like it was still very successful overall since many people who attended the event told me that they had a great time.”
The sports banquet first opened with a lip-dub video, in which athletes from different sports appeared to mouth the words of Bruno Mars’ “That’s What I Like.” In fact, while lip-synching to the lyrics, many athletes that were featured in the video also danced and grooved to the music with their teammates, displaying their spirit. Introducing the student athletes in a unique and amusing way, the video gained immense popularity not only from the athletes and coaches, but also from the rest of the audience.
“I think the best part about the Sports Banquet was the lip-dub video, as it was not only fun to watch but also an interesting way to present the student-athletes,” Clara Ryu (10) said. “All the athletes looked so happy in the video, and watching them groove to the music made a smile come on my face immediately. Overall, the video was a nice way to open up the whole event.”
In the second half of the banquet, videos focusing on each of the varsity sports teams were presented, with each video including photos and short clips of special, shared memorable experiences. For instance, the tennis team and volleyball team created a video containing a compilation of the noteworthy moments from the season, while other varsity teams such as the basketball team had each of the members express their thankfulness toward their senior captains. Following the videos, the captains of each team gave speeches not only to recall back to the best memories they shared with their team, but also to express their high hopes for the future varsity athletes in SIS.
“While listening to the speeches made by the captains of each sports team and watching all the videos, I noticed many people were getting emotional,” said Ivan Atanaskovic, advisor of TSC. “This made me notice that the sports banquet stands out especially since it gives athletes the time to not only reflect back to the positive moments during their season, but also truly see how meaningful the friendships and accomplishments made through sports could be. It is nice that at the end of the year, we can all sit down and spend some time together to celebrate the achievements of the athletes.”
Overall, the sports banquet was a time for athletes to gather with their team members for one last time before the end of the school year and before graduation. Specifically, the event not only gave an opportunity for all varsity athletes to gather in one place and celebrate the end to all sports seasons, but also gave them an opportunity to truly acknowledge the strong bonds they created with others by playing sports during their high school careers.