St George’s is gearing up to host one of the largest events in the schools’ recent history – the COBIS Secondary Games 2023, taking place from 24-26 March 2023. The opening ceremony will be held at the La Storta campus on the afternoon of Thursday 23 March.

The COBIS Games are the most prestigious international sporting competition contested by British international schools around the world. Alternating annually between Primary and Secondary tournaments, the upcoming Secondary Games sees participating schools enter a squad of up to 20 athletes, comprising boys and girls from Year 7 and Year 8.

This year, the teams will compete against one another in three sports: Swimming, Athletics and Football. The swimming tournament will be held at Olgiata Sports Club on Friday 24 March. The Athletics and Football tournaments, which the St George’s community can attend free of charge, are to be held on Saturday 25 March and Sunday 26 March respectively.

The COBIS Games were founded in 2012 at Prague British School. Other schools to host the event have included The British School in the Netherlands, The British School Al Khubairat, St Catherine’s British School, Dubai College, Haileybury Astana and Brighton College Bangkok.

This year’s games will see pupils from 11 participating schools battling it out in football and in the multiple different swimming and athletics events. We look forward to welcoming our competitor schools: British School of Bucharest (Romania), Campion School (Greece), Children’s International School (Nigeria), International Community School (Jordan), Meadow Hall (Nigeria), Rainbow International School (Uganda), St George’s International School (Luxembourg), St Catherine’s British School (Greece), The British School of Vilnius (Lithuania) and The Regent Secondary School (Nigeria).

Ian Douglas, Director of Sport and Co-curricular Activities, said: “The COBIS Games provide an outstanding platform for athletes to compete against their counterparts from British international schools around the world. Our squad have been working very hard – from trying out for the team and ultimately qualifying, to our many recent after-school sessions. All of the participants will enjoy healthy competition, make new friends and leave with incredible memories. We look forward to showing our visitors the very best of what St George’s and the city of Rome has to offer. Come along and support our Georgians.”

For further information, contact cobisgames2023@stgeorge.school.it.