Page 7 - FIS World

Common Bonds
From basketball to books, FIS community members connect
Passions and interests abound within our community, and at FIS are channelled into some very active groups. The list below o ers a little taste of some of the many
groups that meet on the court, in the woods or at the pub over shared interests.
Hoops and Hops
I think it’s fair to start with the “oldest” group at FIS, the Monday Night Basketballers, which started in the late 90s and has included FIS parents, teachers, sta , recent graduates and even some active FIS varsity players. The classic pick-up game has no female players at present, but anyone from 16-60+ years is welcome. The group usually ends up at the Oberurseler Brauhaus for a post-game beverage, as does the co-ed softball group that meets in a similar fashion on the FIS eld Sundays from April-October.
The next group doesn’t play sports, but uses the Brauhaus as its standard venue. The FIShermen, a group of FIS fathers who gather for “monthly recess” (a term used by a founding member), is now in its fourth year. The group has approximately 25 “members” with at least ten showing up regularly, and their codex is “the more the merrier.”
The jury is still out on whether the badminton group (Mondays in the Stroth Center) falls within the category of Hoops and Hops since there is no conclusive evidence that they end up at the pub.
Start-Ups
With new families come new groups such as the FISW Reading Group, which began last spring, and the FISW Sibling Play Group, with six current toddler members; both groups meet monthly in Wiesbaden.
Walking And Talking
Within the featured groups here, one that wins the prize for the most cultural diversity is the Forest Walk Gang. Since its inception ve years ago, the group has welcomed mothers from around the world who have joined in for a bi-weekly 7-10 km walk in the woods behind the school. A prerequisite for the group is the willingness to discuss anything from cooking recipes to momentous life issues. And the only good excuse for leaving this group is another international move.
Not to be overlooked is the dual-purpose dog walking group made up of humans and canines that meets daily at the Primary School. The motto of this group is, “oh dear, a deer, but rather a bore than a boar.” Newcomers are welcome to the group, although it is a possibility that having a black dog is a prerequisite for membership as evidenced in the photo on the top right.
Two-Wheelers
Per pedes is not the preferred mode of locomotion for at least two known groups of bikers. Following the adage of ladies rst, mention must be made of the Cycle Chicks who pedal weekly around Bad Soden purely for pleasure – and sometimes to justify the calorie intake of a shared lunch. There are no gender restrictions for the weekend biking group led by two FIS fathers. And although their slogan is NLB (Nobody Left Behind), the bike rides go through the Taunus hills for 20-50 km so novices are best to come equipped with an e-bike for a start. Encouraging is their auspicious assurance that, “what happens in the Taunus, stays in the Taunus!”
If one of the groups above catches your fancy, drop me a line and I promise to put you in touch with the organizer.
I am keeping a running list of our shared interest societies, so let me know if we are missing your group at vera_thiers@ s.edu
Vera Thiers
Manager of Marketing and Public Relations
Clockwise: Canine members of the dog walking group, Monday Night Basketballers and the Forest Walk Gang
February 2017 FIS World 5