MTBS
| MTBS | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Schools athletics |
| Date(s) | February |
| Location(s) | Bellville Velodrome (Pavilion) and Green Point Athletics Track (Athletics) |
| Country | South Africa |
| Years active | 23 |
| Previous event | 1 and 3 February 2017 |
| Next event | 2018 |
| Participants | 4,000 (athletes and students on pavilion) |
| Attendance | 12,000 (Spectators) |
MTBS is an annual interschools athletics competition (the largest in South Africa) held between four high schools located in Bellville, Western Cape. The competition is famous for the cheer-leading by participating schools. These schools are: D.F. Malan High School, Tygerberg, Bellville High School and Stellenberg. The name is a derived acronym from the names of the schools in that order.
MTBS 2017 took place on two separate days, at two separate venues.
The highlight of the event is a 7-minute cheer-leading performance by the pavilion of each school in the morning before the athletics commence. This performance consists of a medley of songs during which the students effectively create a "human LCD screen" on the pavilion. This is achieved by them opening and closing their school blazer at unique pre-determined moments, with each student effectively functioning as a pixel and thus allowing images and animations to be displayed. Other parts of the school uniform may also be used, but no other props (such as cards) are allowed. This performance is known as a "kreet", an Afrikaans word which roughly translates to "warcry". Each kreet adheres to a specific theme that has been chosen by that particular school.
This unique style of cheering attracts large crowds, and therefore the event carries big regional significance. The annual attendance is estimated at 12,000 spectators. The size of the event and the impressiveness of the schools' performances makes it popular to parents and people who do not have children in either of these schools alike. Each year MTBS enjoys strong coverage by South African newspapers Die Burger and Rapport. It has also been partly broadcast on national television channel SABC 2. Similar events exist: most notably in South Korea.
Different athletics items take place throughout the day; including short distance sprints, long distance running, shotput, javalin, long jump, discuss, high jump and relay races. 2 Athletes from each school take part in an event, adding up to 8 athletes in each event.
Points are rewarded as follows:
Awards for each age group are rewarded at the end of the day. Here are the recipients for 2017:
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