On 3rd January 2018, the trumpets of AVM’s Annual Athletic Meet, the grand carnival of the academic year 2017-18, were blown.

It began with the opening ceremony in the afternoon. We started off with the escorting of our chief guests by the team of four house representatives with their house flags raised high in the sky, led by Sports Captain Shivangbhai Patel. It was followed by our AVM ritual of remembering God by doing the poojan of Thakorji. As the guests took their places on the dais, our Sports Captain gave the command for the walk past to the students of grades 7-12.

Thereafter, it was time for our younger brothers to showcase their performance for which they had worked hard for last 15 days. What a sight it was to see them performing the hoop and the ball drill with such great energy! The chief guests were highly amazed seeing the enthusiastic kids perform drills with a high degree of co-ordination. Now, it was time for the Marathi folk dance-Lezim activity. The rhythmic sound produced by the lezim was soothing to the ears. No doubt, the flexibility and agility of the students added a feather to the cap.

Following the lezim activity, our honourable principal sir, Dr. Vijay Patel gave a speech explaining real sportsmanship by giving instances of the world’s best sportspersons like Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps. As a tradition that the school follows every year, our school’s Sports Captain went through the oath taking ceremony which appealed to all to compete for the respect, dignity and honour of the sport.

Vijay Sir and the House Conveners then hoisted the School Flag and the respective house flags. Meanwhile, athletes of the previous year were ready for the lightening of the torch. After the torch relay of these athletes, the main torch was lit by Vijay Sir. “I hereby declare the 14th Annual Athletic Meet open” with these words, Vijay Sir declared the opening of the grand carnival.

Reported by: Khushal Mehta, Ojash Patel (Class 11 Science)