Dads and Daughters Team Up for Derby Day

On a bright Sunday afternoon leading up to Father’s Day, the Top Field at Shore Road became the arena for a spirited Dad and Daughter Derby. Families gathered in their House colours for an afternoon of friendly rivalry, rotational activities, and plenty of cheering from the sidelines.

The Derby was structured as a House competition, with teams rotating through a series of challenges designed to test agility, coordination, and teamwork. A fast-paced dodgeball-style game, ball-collecting relays, and a giant parachute were a part of the spectacle, as dads and daughters worked together beneath its colourful canopy.

As the afternoon progressed, anticipation built toward the penultimate event, the three-legged race. While some pairs persevered in perfect unison, others took a more creative approach, with a few dads scooping up their tiny daughters and sprinting across the finish line.

The Derby concluded with a rousing tug-of-war, split into Junior and Senior divisions. The daughters, too small to join the pull, lined the ropes instead, urging their dads on with cheers, jumps, and every ounce of encouragement they could muster. It was a fitting finale, bringing the houses together in a display of pure grit.

Adding to the atmosphere, the Parents & Friends (P&F) Committee manned the barbeque, ensuring no one went hungry as sausages sizzled throughout the afternoon. A photo booth, decked out in bright house colours, provided the perfect spot to capture memories of this special day. Thank you to the P&F, particularly Haley Tamblyn, were the brains and operations behind the event. 

The bond between fathers and daughters is unique, intangible, yet unmistakable in the smiles shared across the field that August afternoon. Events such as the Derby draw out the fun in both generations, brought together over competition and finished off with a Sunday snag. Quite idyllic.