In Nigeria, the Maryland Catholic Nursery and Primary School organised its 14th biennial inter-school sports competition on 28 February 2025.
The weather was fine and mild, allowing the children, staff and everyone else to participate actively. The school’s houses were classified into five categories according to their colour: PINK HOUSE (the school house), YELLOW HOUSE (Bishop Badejo’s house), WHITE HOUSE (the DHS house), GREEN HOUSE (the parents‘house) and BLUE HOUSE (Our Lady of Lourdes’ house). The annex school, Maryland Catholic Nursery and Primary School Elere-Pamo, also participated fully in the Match-Past and other events on the grounds. Five invited nursery and primary schools from the Ogbomoso region also took part in relay races between themselves.
The inter-house sports competition kicked off at 10.30am on the school grounds with an opening prayer led by the president of the school’s parent-teacher association, engineer Dr Emmanuel Sangotayo. Many people were present to witness and celebrate with the school: priests, the Daughters of the Holy Spirit of Ogbomoso, including one of the school’s former administrators, Sister Priscilla Madumere (DHS), numerous parents, guests from other regions of Ogbomoso, the alumni association, friends and supporters.
After the opening prayer, the three flags were presented: the Church flag was welcomed by the school chaplain, Reverend Father Ferdinand Olabode, the national flag by the students’ representative, Wisdom Asuquo, and the school flag by myself, the school administrator, Sister Patience Effiong (DHS). The national anthem and the school anthem were sung.
In my welcome speech I thanked God for this new opportunity to host the 2025 inter-school competition. I greeted Reverend Emmanuel Badejo, supporter of the school, and welcomed everyone present. I pointed out that Maryland Nursery and Primary School has been and will continue to be a citadel for the true development of the child, which depends not only on teaching but also on the formation of the child’s mind, character, and personality, including various skills and abilities rooted in his or her total being. I wish the children every success in their sporting activities.
The first competition was the match-past, where all the pupils, from their respective houses, met at a reasonable distance to salute the dignitaries. The match-past was very impressive, with each group having two flag bearers, a king and a queen, presented by the children themselves. In addition, one child was dressed in a religious habit to represent the DHS house, while a little boy was dressed in a bishop’s habit for the bishop’s house. Each house also had a commander who gave orders to the participants on how to greet academic and non-academic dignitaries and staff…
At the end of the Match-Past competition, the white house, i.e. that of the Daughters of the Holy Spirit, came out on top, eliciting resounding applause from everyone and shouts of joy from the house. Many other activities were then organised according to the age and level of the children. The nursery section took part in events such as filling the water bottle, filling the basket with balls, finding the lost coin and running a 50-metre race… – the primary section took part in events such as the sack race, the egg race, the cuddle race, the bicycle race, the 100-metre race and the 200-metre race. There were also other competitions such as the long jump and the high jump for boys and girls.
All the children were very enthusiastic as the events unfolded to see which house would come out on top, and parents cheered happily as they went along. It was also amazing to see parents taking part in a race called the ‘parents’ race ‘, as well as a teachers’ race and an alumni race. This added fun and beauty to the whole event.
Before the winners were announced, the Dean of the Ogbomoso deanery, Reverend Father Samson Ojo, gave a closing speech. He thanked God for the success of the day and thanked Reverend Emmanuel Badejo, the owner of the school and the administrator for everything that had been done to keep the school running, also appreciating the efforts of all the pupils, staff and parents. He encouraged everyone to be more zealous in their responsibilities to keep the light of Maryland School shining brightly. The school’s headmistress, Mrs Roseline Alabi, thanked everyone present for their support and contribution to the success of inter-school sport, and prayed to God to grant it more success in future events.
Finally, the overall results were announced by the master of ceremonies: the PINK house (school house) came first, the GREEN house (parents’ house) came second, and the BLUE house (Notre-Dame de Lourdes) came third. The houses received trophies according to their position. The winning groups gave resounding shouts of victory. A closing prayer was said, followed by the final blessing by the school chaplain, the Reverend Father Ferdinand Olabode. The 2025 inter-house sport at Maryland Nursery and Primary School ended in a very joyful atmosphere, to the glory of God.
By Sister Patience EFFIONG, Daughter of the Holy Spirit
