With the summer solstice sun shining at its highest and longest, what better way to worship its existence than by making the absolute most of it and competing in the second ever ‘Boarders’ Games’. It was almost as if this cyclical event in the astronomical calendar showered our Inky Pitch with energy and vitality as the boys enjoyed an electrically charged evening battle for points in an array of inflatable games.
The idea of the games evening came from the boys themselves as a way of celebrating the end of the school year and bringing the boarding houses together for some good old-fashioned fun.
And fun they had! Just over 220 boarders from our prep and upper boarding houses competed in their houses in games such as Bull Rodeo, Penalty Shoot Out, Whack a Mole and the Vortex Throw. Of course, no games competition would be the same without some of the more traditional events such as the three-legged race and good old egg and spoon race, with some very ‘creative’ techniques on display!
At half time, the boys enjoyed a delicious barbeque of burgers, hotdogs and chicken served with salad and Chef’s special coleslaw, cooked up by our catering team. They ate while chatting on the grass soaking up the last of the evening’s sun.
Feeling refreshed, it was back to battle out the final set of games to see which house would hold the Boarders Games cup at the end of the night. School Chaplain, Mr McCleery, was on the mic and did a splendid job compering and adding a unique comedic vibe to the whole event. Mr McCleery enthused, “It’s been an absolutely wonderful evening tonight. There are so many events with lots of boys taking part, lots of silliness and a great win in the end with just one point separating first and second place. The boys have worked hard all year; now it is their turn to rest, relax and come back again next year ready for another year of hard work, excitement and everything that makes Bedford great.”
After much fun was had and some superb skills on show (it was almost as if they had trained for this!), it was Pemberly House who pipped last year’s winners, Sandersons, to the post and were crowned victors of Boarders Games 2022 with a shiny trophy sporting ribbons in their house colours.
Mr Taylor, Housemaster of Pemberly, was thrilled his house won and told us, “We are very pleased to have won. We came second last year and were disappointed, but this year the house spirit was once again fantastic. All the boys got involved, all the way from the prep boys up to the upper. It was led brilliantly by the senior boys, in particular Harry Basciano, who organised a lot of the events, so overall I was very pleased for the boys.”
The event was once again a massive hit with boys and staff, and the Housemasters will definitely look to host the same again next year. James Marriott, Senior Boarding Housemaster, explained, “It was a great success and most importantly the boys had a lot of fun and came together as a community in National Boarding Week. A lot of the games came from the boys’ suggestions in our in-house council.”
This fun-filled evening is just one of the boy-led events that is happening across school to mark National Boarding Week.
What the boys had to say:
“It’s a nice social thing to do especially in the summer when the sun is out and seeing everyone out on the field.”
“I won the Rubik’s Cube game and basically won based on luck! I am really enjoying the games and hopefully our house will win in the end.”
“The evening has been really good. I competed in the football shoot-out but did not win, but it’s all about taking part and having fun.”
“I am feeling excited and elated that our house won. It’s been a great evening out. Mr Marriott organised a great event.”