WHPS Mini Comrades

2009

On a chilly Friday morning, a group of enthusiastic Grade 0 athletes gathered on the main oval of the big school to participate in a central rite of passage of all WHPS boys– the WHPS Mini Comrades.

For all young WHPSians the Mini Comrades is an important ritual that is eagerly prepared for and awaited. The Grade 0 teachers work hard with our young athletes, training them for weeks in preparation for this annual event. After the boys warm up, they bunch and jostle at the starting line, they look sharp – the whistle blows – they are off – 5 laps around the WHPS sport fields.

It is a mammoth task for these little legs, but with resolution and determination they apply their training and skills. The fields are surrounded by supportive brothers who have been released from their classes to cheer on their younger siblings, many of whom have already had firsthand experience of this WHPSian custom. Parents shout and clap as our little boys whiz, jog, walk and skip their way around the sports fields.

A cheer goes up as each little boy (and every little boy does) completes this ultra distance event. Our Mini Comrades Completers are awarded a bag of goodies, and the long coveted WHPS' Mini Comrades Medal. It is a day to be remembered.

Thanks goes to all the staff, the sponsors, the parents and siblings who helped make it so. And of course to all the Grade 0 boys who ran and laughed their way to become a graduate of the WHPS Mini Comrades.

"I tell our runners to divide the race into thirds. Run the first part with your head, the middle part with your personality, and the last part with your heart."

Mike Fanelli

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