Good evening and welcome to sports awards dinner for 2020.

My name is Nicholas Dravitzki. I was given the honour to be sports captain this past year.

Tonight, I will be talking about the power that sport has and what makes sport so special here at St Thomas.

The year 2020 has truly been once in a lifetime. Different from all years that have gone before, and I am sure we will never see one quite the same.

Never before have we had to spend months away from school learning from home. Never before have we had to spends months in isolation with your family away from friends. And never before have we had to seriously consider the possibility of a year without school sport.

However, with a year that is so different I believe one thing has stayed the same. That is the ability that sport has to bring a community, a school and a brotherhood together.

As we arrived back at school after the first lockdown the other leaders and myself had a meeting with the senior leadership team. We were given the task of trying to build back the culture and school spirit that was dampened down by lockdown. I believe sport played a big role in achieving this and getting St Thomas back to such a unique environment which we all love it to be.

There is something quite special about putting on that crest and playing sport for school. Whether it is for the first team- or a year7/8 social basketball team-- sport has the ability to build connections and friendships on and off the field.

The sense of “family” in sport at St Thomas is enhanced by the fact that it is an environment that is welcoming for all students. What I mean by this is that at STC every student has the opportunity to be involved in sport- even if they don’t play it themselves.

The supporters crew has played a big role in this over the past few years. As I sadly come to the end of my time at St Thomas I know myself and other boys will cherish the memories of storming the field and chanting “ohh when the saints”.

This brotherhood and family bond felt right throughout sport here is something unique and worth holding on to. I am sure when I come back in a few years as a proud old boy I know it will only have risen to greater levels.

So what makes sport here at St Thomas different from other schools?

I believe one reason is in other schools' codes will often compete against each other and only want success for their certain sport. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth at St Thomas where boys from right across the college support and thrive in the success of others. Success for one student or team is really success for the whole school.

The same can also be said when the result doesn't go the way we want. There are always boys there to lift each other up and to tell them to keep their heads high.

Another reason why what we have here is unique is the involvement that the staff have in sport. Whether it is coaching or managing teams countless staff give up their free time just so that we can enjoy ourselves. Sport would not be the same without your commitment to the college so thank you to all of those teachers and other staff members very much.

A special thanks must go to Steve Hart. As so many things this year have been disrupted and changed you have constantly found ways around problems in order to give us a great school sport year. Whether it was letting a group of boys go to the game against Lincoln or organizing live streams so that we could watch from home. You have put yourself on the line multiple times this year just so that we could have a great final year and I will be forever grateful for that.

Of course, with this year having so many disruptions some teams have suffered. Sadly, there hasn’t been the chance to compete at national or South Island tournaments. Although this is very disappointing for these boys, we should look at the opportunities we have been given this year in a positive light and be thankful for those. We only need to look at Auckland as their season was cut short due to the second outbreak.

In conclusion, when asked by DK to write this speech I was originally lost for ideas. Then I started to think of all the lessons that being involved in sport at St Thomas has taught me. I would like to finish by passing on this advice to the younger boys. Firstly, enjoy and cherish every moment that is given to you. Whether it is playing or supporting the school make sure you enjoy the moments as they come. Don’t look too far back in the past or ahead into the future because your time at this school will go by in a second. As it only seemed yesterday that I first started playing sport for school. Secondly, take every opportunity that is given to you. The more you put into this school and sport- the more you will get out of it. Have a go at things. You are most likely to enjoy it and may even find you are good at it! And finally, you do not always have to be the best to enjoy sport. Yes, it is great to strive for success, but enjoyment should be the final goal. For example, someone like myself who has always been small on height and weight and referred to as "the pack n 'save Stick man” by Mr. Tennant. I have still thoroughly enjoyed sport and the friends I have made while playing.

Nick Dravitzki

Sports Captain 2020