Naga naga naga; Oi oi oi! Dragon spirit is back in full swing as we finally welcome some normalcy in a post-pandemic, athletic environment. JIS participation in IASAS exchanges, also known as invitationals, has made a comeback this fall.
Unlike full-blown conferences, IASAS exchanges are a casual weekend of athleticism and healthy competition, hosting teams across Southeast Asia, including but not limited to the IASAS community. After four long years, we are finally ready and involved in these events, so, let’s understand the tradition, reasoning, and experience of IASAS invitationals.
High school athletics director Andrew Colston traced the origins of IASAS invitationals to the 1980s, noting the lack of “challenging local competition” available to international schools at the time. Accordingly, IASAS schools arranged for a mid-season exchange to help prepare for the difficulty level presented at the end-all-be-all IASAS conferences.
JIS consistently participated in invitationals up to 2019—however, COVID-19 restrictions made travel unavailable well into the 2022-2023 school year. Colston credits our reentry to the program “as a nice checkpoint for your team half-way through the season.” He also pointed out that the exchanges are an enriching and excellent excuse to engage with other schools beyond the IASAS community, our primary competition.
That being said, these exchanges, as coined by Colston, are “IASAS Lite.” He explained there would be no opening ceremony, no T-shirts…we just come and play.” Not to discredit the fun to be expected at these trips, but with more restricted travel and limited time away from school, these invitationals serve the purpose for which they were intended: arrive, play, go home.
And we did just that. On the weekend of September 22nd, our volleyball, cross country, and soccer teams traveled abroad for a quick invitational.
As noted by varsity soccer player Micaela Taylor noted that “even though we didn’t win, we did start to adapt to the level of competition, and I feel more ready for [the] IASAS [conference].” She further highlighted the relationships built between players from other schools and had an “overall amazing experience.”
This round of invitationals was fun—but more importantly, it served as a chance to play and prepare. So, channel up your Naga spirit and support our teams at all of the IASAS conferences to come. Go, Dragons!