7^th FCC The Hague Family Fun & Sports Day A Success!

By Agnes van de Beek-Pavia
The Hague-The Netherlands
June 11, 2017



First held in 2011, Family Fun & Sports Day is one of the most anticipated events of the Filipino Catholic Community in The Hague. The warm sunny weather last Sunday, 11^th June, brought the community to its yearly fun-filled event at Zuiderpark in The Hague.

The blue cloudless sky in combination with open grassy areas, tall shady trees, and fresh summer wind provided FCC The Hague the perfect venue for this year’s family fun day.  The warm-up activities opened this year’s event and made every participant- young and old- actively engaged to test their speed, endurance and mental focus.

Brilliant colors spread out into the spacious city park as the participants in different colored shirts formed themselves in one big circle for the warm-up and stretching activity. A wave of laughter filled the air in the park as the series of warm-up games brought everyone to laugh, giggle and be silly.

Shortly after the opening activity, the community gathered for the quick, informal yet delightful lunch. This long-standing potluck tradition, a gathering where each guest contributes a different and unique dish of food, remains to be the heart of every Filipino gathering. Food really connects people together. It was a very pleasant sight simply watching everyone enjoyed his meal while socially connecting to old friends and new acquaintances.

This year’s sports event was filled with traditional field games mixed up with team-building activities, race and obstacle relays. Four highly-spirited teams contended this year in physically demanding and challenging games. Aside from simply bringing the community together, the event was significantly organized to provide an avenue to foster closer ties and promote greater community spirit.  The teams’ communication, leadership and teamwork skills were challenged with the “Loopbroek”, Human Centipede, Hula Hoop and “Bandbumper” race. 

Along with the time-pressured games such as Mine Field and Cross the Road; the teams wrestled to pit their wits against one another over the energy and tension-filled team games which included chasing the dragon’s Tail and pyramid building. The classic fun and wacky games, including the old time favorite – tug of war, guaranteed to get the crowd giggling while the obstacle race absolutely turned the crowd crazy as the players struggled to keep their energy and stamina. As the teams engaged in final challenging rounds; loud cheers echoed through the park. What an amusing sound hearing the children cheered and the excited crowd screamed from excitement at the height of every deciding game. There was a complete exhibit of rejoicing and community content.

This year’s family and sports day ended with the Red team bringing home the bacon. Yellow, Green and Blue ranked 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively. Each participating team composed of children and adults went home contented receiving useful and practical items as prizes. Kids enjoyed a variety of mouth-wateringly savory ice cream during the break sponsored by Toko 4 All.  What was remarkable during this year’s event was the use of t-shirts with the official FCC The Hague logo. Adding a selection of vibrant colors for the team shirts simply highlighted the community emblem.

Starting with the blue skies in the early morning and ending in the evening with the sun still shining, everyone enjoyed this wonderful and fun-filled Family Day.