Benjamin Kanthak from SBS German reports about the exiting basketball game and intercultural exchange at GISS. Listen to the full podcast here.
The air was electric in the gymnasium of the German International School Sydney. The reason was a basketball game between the school's own team “GISS Joeys” and the German visiting team from the “Berlin Cosmopolitan School”. The Berlin school is currently on tour in Australia with its basketball team led by coach Sven Wehrmeyer.
In the end, the result was not what the hosts had hoped for, but it was an all-round successful event at the German International School Sydney
in the Terry Hills district of Sydney. In front of many students from various years, the school's own team “GISS Joeys” had an exciting exchange with their guests from the” Berlin Cosmopolitan School”.
“There is probably nothing better than creating such an intercultural exchange than through sport. Of course, this also applies to art and music, but sport is perfect. ” Sven Wehrmeyer
In addition to the school basketball group, the members of the “GISS Joeys” are also busy training together in their free time. It is a successful program that is supervised by former student and player coach Raphael Koch. Even before the game last Friday, in the packed gymnasium of the school, you could tell that everyone involved was excited for a special afternoon.
Post-Game Interview mit "GISS Joeys" Kapitän Mungo. Credit: German International School Sydney
In the end, the guests deserved to win by 51:37 points. This did not detract from the atmosphere and everyone in the hall was clearly having a great time until the final whistle.
Die Partie wurde schnell zu einem spannenden Spiel und die Heimmannschaft legte gut los, mit etlichen guten Szenen und Koerben. Credit: German International School Sydney
15,000 kilometers of travel for basketball games in Australia. In addition to financial support, this of course also requires a great deal of commitment and energy from the organizers. Sven Wehrmeyer in particular. He is closely connected to the German basketball scene and has been supervising such international sports trips with boys' and girls' teams for several years. Wehmeyer knows only too well how positively these travel experiences and exchanges can shape students.