Sports, Activities & Events at Waterford
Waterford Kamhlaba sports philosophy puts emphasis on participation and not just competition; winning is a bonus. This approach has led to lots of students trying out different sports, learning and developing, to become part of the competitive teams that we have. The importance of sports and games at Waterford encompasses more than just the benefit of physical activity; increases in self-esteem and mental alertness make our activities necessary for every student. The school believes that physical activity is an integral part of a student’s life.
Anybody thinking of coming to WK will enjoy our modern sporting facilities and an opportunity to choose from an array of sports. Our Sports department includes soccer, athletics, volleyball, swimming, netball, tennis, hockey, chess, rugby, basketball, and badminton, which are facilitated by professional coaches who are employed by the school – it helps to structure the programme and cultivate and maintain the interest among our students. There are also plenty of opportunities to travel with our competitive sports teams. Our various sports teams will play in tournaments throughout South Africa, in Botswana and in Maputo, Mozambique. These trips help to expand the learning experiences for our athletes, but we do take pride in winning. Students can also participate in other activities like public speaking and debate, or physical activities like rock climbing, hiking, and canoeing.
We also host various sports tournaments and competitions at WK, during which we welcome schools from South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and eSwatini on to campus.
Within the school we have three sports houses: Guedes, Stern and Henderson, and these help create a vibrant atmosphere during inter house competitions in various sports and activities. House captains together with the sports coaches continue to drive the programme and strive for excellence. Students get assigned to a house upon arrival.
Facilities
Our sports programme is 7 days a week, with training happening in the afternoon (from 2:40 pm for juniors) or evening, depending on the sport. We have a hockey field, soccer field, tennis court, basketball court, swimming pool, netball courts, outdoor volleyball and an indoor multi-purpose hall, which help us when the weather is difficult outside. WK recently upgraded our school gym with new equipment, and more hours, allowing students and staff to use them at different times. The school also invested heavily in the development of our multi-purpose (MP) hall – added sitting space, a new roof, rock climbing wall, new lights and new offices for coaches and the sports and physical education department. The new space made the MP hall a more modern and competitive facility.
Students Clubs and Societies
Students at Waterford lead and participate in a number of societies and clubs, whose major focus is leadership and community involvement.
- Link Group – A student organisation with counterpart groups in every United World College around the world. It plans events and themed days at school and is a fully student-led link throughout the UWC organisation.
- Model United Nations – The Model United Nations is made of a number of students who devote their time to learn the functions of the United Nations and to fully understand their procedures. They then collaborate to compose resolutions suggesting the best ways to solve the world’s pressing issues.
- Leadership Development Forum – Waterford Kamhlaba encourages students to think about change and progress. Through the students vibrant cultural diversity, WK inspires students and gives them the hope to someday return to their home countries and challenge the status-quo. The Leadership Development Forum (LDF) embodies the spirit of change and innovation.
- Writing Club – The Writing Club is a platform where students converge their creative thinking and express their views and thoughts in written poetry, articles and other forms.
- Public Speaking – This group learns the skills of successful speaking in front of a group and they take part in both internal and external debating competitions.
- Young Heroes – Is a non-profit non-governemental organization that raises funds for orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC’s), to pay for their education, food and shelter, in eSwatini. They also raise money for HIV/AIDS infected children. The Young Heroes Franchise is located in Mbabane, but a small group of students at Waterford help raise money to give to the Franchise.
These activities, combined with community service and other events happen throughout the year and encompass the Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS) system at Waterford.
Events at Waterford
Waterford has a series of events, other than sports, that take place on annual basis and bring together the community, alumni, parents, students, staff and friends of Waterford. These include, but are not limited to:
- WK Day: is WK’s birthday.
- UWC Day: UWC Day is a celebration of the diversity of cultures and nationalities represented in the UWC colleges. During UWC day, students, staff, parents and the broader Waterford Kamhlaba family show a little bit of what their “home” is like to the rest of the school. It features a parade of nations where students represent their own countries in their traditional attires and greet the rest of the school in their home language. Student led food stalls present food from around the world.
- UWC Africa Week: UWC Africa Week is a platform to engage students with some of the core aspects of a UWC education: Global Citizenship and Peace. It is a further opportunity to discuss contemporary Africa and international issues that are relevant in our world today, to help promote a global ethos. During this week, there are many activities that take place on campus including panel forums, music concert and workshops.
- Careers Fair: The Annual Careers Fair is a student-led Career Support Initiative (CSI) event and it is a community service project, organized by IB2 students. The event brings together high school students from around eSwatini to get career information from a number of companies and organizations. It has grown in size over the years and now over 2000 high school students participate in the event, in which many companies come to exhibit.
- The 24 Hour Run: The 24 Hour Run is one of the school’s charity events which takes place every second year. Everyone including students, alumni, staff and parents are invited to take part in this event, as long as they join a team. Participants complete laps around the field within a space of 24 hours, and each lap is sponsored. They then collect money from sponsors who agreed to sponsor their participation or each lap they completed. The money raised from the event is used to fund the school’s various community service projects.
- Fête: This is a community service project through which the Waterford community, including students and staff raise funds that go towards supporting the Community Service programme at Waterford.
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Alumni