The idea of representing your school at sport instead of a club is a rather alien concept here in Denmark, but all that might be about to change … for students of international establishments at any rate.

On Friday September 27, Skt Josef’s International school in Roskilde welcomed around 250 pupils aged between five and 17 years old from international schools all over Denmark to compete against each other.

Among the participating schools were Copenhagen International School, Rygaard’s International School, Nordsjællands Grundskole og Gymnasium, Skipper Clement International School from Aalborg, Odense International School, Bjørn’s International School and Esbjerg International School.

For many – several international schools have long-standing sports fixtures with one another as well as experience playing schools located in other countries – it was their first taste of saying the school motto in gusto and wearing the school’s colours with pride.

Roskilde Harbour was the backdrop for the events, which included a cross-country run that took the competitors along the waterfront and past the Viking Ship Museum.

Among the attendees was Joy Mogensen, the mayor of Roskilde, who was there to welcome the international schools to her town.

The gathering was the first of many planned by the Danish International Schools’ Network to establish and strengthen communication and co-operation between the schools through sport and other initiatives.