Monthly Archives: September 2022

OLSJ Sport’s Person of the Year

From his very first day at OLSJ, Gerard has shown his sporting excellence consistently and has been a shining star in PE over the last few years. Gerard combines a mixture of natural talent, enthusiasm, an eagerness to learn and improve as well as the dedication and motivation to apply his skills at every opportunity.

Gerard’s enthusiasm and passion for sport is truly inspiring. Whatever the sport, he will give his absolute best efforts, regardless if it is his first time trying a new sport. Gerard will always be seen with a smile on his face when taking part in sports, and also creating a positive atmosphere amongst his friends ensuring that they are all happy and enjoying the game too.
He is a fantastic teammate to have and a formidable opponent who is always difficult to beat.

Physically, Gerard is quick, strong, well composed, aware of his surroundings and has this sensational desire to never give up, no matter how difficult the challenge or how tired he may be. Because of these traits, this year has seen many successes for Gerard. He was our highest ranked runner in the Tower Hamlets cross country event, finishing 2nd and winning a silver medal. Gerard was also selected to represent OLSJ in a borough football tournament. Most recently, Gerard was a crucial part of the year 4 team that were crowned as champions in a sports festival. Everyone in year 4 played their part in the success, Gerard however, was a stand out performer on the day, not only impressing his team mates and OLSJ staff, but also the other schools and the event organisers.

Despite having incredible talent, that is often not enough to succeed. Talent alone can get you so far, but it is hard work and determination that will get you over the line and achieve greatness. Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. This saying perfectly sums up Gerard’s attitude to competition. No matter how talented his opponent is, Gerard will always work harder and apply his skills as best as possible, often resulting in success. 

Here at OLSJ, we are starting to see Gerard flourish as an athlete and sports person. His talent and hard work is being rewarded with success and I can only see more success in his future if he continues to work hard and enjoy sports just as much as he does currently.

Gerard’s name will now be remembered as the Sports Person of the Year for 2022 and also the first student ever to win this award who was not in year 6 and who knows, this time next year we could be looking at the first person to win the award 2 years in a row.

Well done for all you have achieved so far Gerard and remember that your future is yet to be written, so dream big, and achieve bigger. You have all the tools you need to be a success, just continue to work hard and apply your skills as best you can.