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The 1st OGS Inaugural Swim Meet was held on Sunday June 16 at the College Campus. It was a huge success, with a greater turn-out than even at the table tennis tournament held a day earlier.

Participants included two of the youngest OG swimmers from the Class of 2019. OGs who have represented the province of Sindh, as well as Pakistan, also participated in the tournament.

The final events that took place were as follows:

Men’s Races

– 25M Freestyle Winner – Aamir Motiwala 12.12s (Frere); Runner-up – Shahmir Chauhan 12.54s (Streeton)

– 25M Breaststroke Winner – Aamir Motiwala 15.68s (Frere); Runner-up – Shahmir Chauhan 17.40s (Streeton)

– 25M x 4 Relay Winner – 1 min 1 sec (Streeton); Runner-up – 1 min 7 sec (Frere)

– 25M x 4 Medley Winner – 1 min 10 sec (Streeton); Runner-up – 1 min 16 sec (Napier)

Women’s Races

– 25M Freestyle Winner – Saneen Shishmahal 17:03s (Streeton); Runner-up – Ayesha Shoaib 19:49s

– 25M Breaststroke Winner – Saneen Shishmahal 23.65s (Streeton); Runner-up – Ayesha Shoaib 24.85s

– 25M Backstroke Winner – Saneen Shishmahal 23.81s (Streeton); Runner-up – Ayesha Shoaib 25.52s

– 25M x 4 Relay Winner – Streeton; Runner-up – Frere

– 25M x 4 Medley Winner – Streeton; Runner-up – Frere

The grand finale was a water polo match. The match was enjoyed by all the participants, as well as their families and friends who had come to support them.

The spirit and energy shown by all the participants at the event was very encouraging. We will be making the swimming meet a regular event in the OG Calendar, with the aim of working towards a swimming gala for OGS, KGS and families!

The winners of the meet were once again Streeton! Streeton was on a roll and have amassed a handsome lead in the race for the OGS Cockhouse. The runner-up house was Frere.

Happy to report on a day of engaging table tennis.

The tournament followed a round-robin format. It escalated into fiercely fought semi-finals and finals which were dominated by Streeton, the OGS 2019 Table Tennis Champions!

The winners were:

Men’s Singles

Winner: Yousuf H. Khan (Streeton)

Runner Up: Hassan Mirza (Streeton)

Men’s Doubles

Winner: Yousuf and Hassan (Streeton)

Runner Up: Ayaz and Zulfi (Streeton)

The runners up house was Frere!!

Thanks to KGS for supporting this event and making excellent arrangements.

#teamogs #ogs2019 #oldgrammarianssociety #connectingthroughsport

This year’s event was made particularly spectacular owing to the setting of the tournament at the Saddar Campus under lights. Being back at school is always special and the spirit of the event was enhanced by the place.

Video (Part 1/3)

This is the first part of a 3 part mini series of presentations on the event focusing on ‘The Place’.

https://www.facebook.com/maroof.mehboob/videos/10157234516193210/

Thanks to everyone who participated, supported and made the event ‘our own’.  Special Thanks to Mrs. ShaikhAli (Head Mistress KGS Middle Section) and her team for enabling us and to Sir Bernard (Sports Master) for setting up the lights. Also the KGS grounds and security staff for their unrelenting support and spirit.

Video (Part 2/3)

All about ‘The People’ – https://www.facebook.com/maroof.mehboob/videos/10157240640963210/

Scorecards:

The Annual OGS Interhouse Football tournament, held under lights on April 13 this year, was a grand success!!

The indomitable Papworth were the defending champions led by Mohammad Usman Saad, who was also the leading goal scorer with nine goals. The runners-up were Napier, who were comfortable in their victory against Streeton and Frere. Napier also picked up two individual awards for Best Goal, going to Asad Rashid and Best Goalie, going to Maroof A. Mehboob.

The festive event, packed with music and food stalls, saw the OGs coming out to support their various houses.

Match results:

This year’s tournament was also historic as it saw the first ever OGS Women’s game played against strong favourites, Karachi United. The KU ladies won 3-0 to the spirited yet inexperienced OGS team and we wish the ladies the very best in future outings. Some of the players were Manahil Jeoffrey, Haaniya Rana & Mishaal Afzal.

Pictures:

Women’s Teams:

Men’s Teams:

Special thanks to Karachi United for supporting the OGS by providing the ground, lights etc. free of cost and Ali Ata, Taha Alizai and Khowaja Obaid Ilyas for their invaluable support.

The event would not have been run smoothly without the help of our key volunteers, Naveed Shamsi, Khurram and Wasif, and the wonderful photography by Musti Mohsin.

Old Grammarians live and work in all corners of the world, and many old Grammarians continue to have close friendships with each other wherever they may be. To strengthen connections among the far flung OGS community, we plan to establish OGS chapters in cities where there is a critical mass of old Grammarians.

We are happy to share the news of the setting up of the first five chapters. Chapter Presidents and their teams are listed here:

Old Grammarian (OG) communities are requested to support the respective chapter teams in conducting the following activities:

• Create a list of OG residing in their area.
• Invite local OG to one event within six months of forming the Chapter.
• Keep OGS central informed about what the Chapter is doing.

The primary aim of establishing OGS chapters is for OGs to have a platform to connect with each other. Other aims / objectives are:

• Networking amongst Karachi Grammar School (KGS) alumni.
• Support to KGS.
• Student support via scholarships, internships and jobs.
• Fundraising for the OGS.
• Alumni database creation for their region and sharing it with the Central Office in Pakistan.
• Recruit KGS graduates to become members of the OGS network.
• Where possible incorporate the Chapter, register it as a charitable institution and thereby get tax breaks on the donations.

For additional information please visit – OGS.COM.PK

The OGS held a session with the second year A level students on March 26, at the College Section.

The graduating class was briefed with a history of the OGS and introduced to the vision, mission, structure and recent activities of the Old Grammarians’ Society.

The presentation mentioned the establishment of the alumni body in 1984 as a forum for former KGS students and how it has extended its activities. This includes providing essential financial assistance to needy but meritorious students (not necessarily related to KGS), enabling them to continue their education at major Pakistani educational institutions. OGS has to date supported over 1000 students and sponsored two TCF schools in Karachi.

In 2015-6, a review of the OGS mandate was conducted by the membership and the following vision and mission were decided upon:

VISION: “To provide a platform for the alumni of the Karachi Grammar School to strengthen alumni bonds of fellowship, professional association and networking that assists Old Grammarians in demonstrating leadership in all walks of life, and enables us to discharge our responsibilities to society in a voluntary and exemplary manner.”

MISSION / OBJECTIVE: To be an effective alumni platform for former Grammarians to network with each other.

We will work towards:

1. Strengthening the KGS alumni network.
2. Implementing a small number of high-impact initiatives to help current KGS students and the school.
3. Supporting the wider society in Pakistan.

The Class of 2019 was then given an overview of the organizational structure, election schedule and subcommittees of the Society.

This was followed up by presenting information on events held and resources available for the OGS membership community.

The presentation was closed on a high note with a Q&A session – and how students can sign up online – and become part of the OGS family.

With the advent of 2019, OGS marks its 35^th year in existence. The OGS remains committed to its primary objective of being an effective alumni platform for former Grammarians to network with each other.

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held on Jan 31, 2019 at the College Section. The ‘2018 Year in Review’ report was presented, followed by an announcement of the 2019 Executive Committee (EC).

The new EC met in February and formed the following subcommittees to oversee various functions and initiatives.

By: Fiza Ahmed Baweja

The annual career fair is the main vehicle whereby multiple careers are represented and students have an opportunity to hear from an array of professionals. Following the mentorship event held earlier in the year, the career fair was held at the KGS College Section (for all O and A Level students) on Saturday, October 20, 2018 in collaboration with the Old Grammarians’ Society. There was also an informative and educational talk on college admissions, degrees to pursue and possible career paths by  guest speaker, Salman Ahmad, who is Managing Director Pakistan & Senior Partner of Mckinsey & Company.

The career fair is a powerful way to help students become career ready. There were twelve career panels this year, each panel represented by two professionals at different stages in their career, with a total of twenty-four professionals invited to guide the students. There were two 40-minute sessions with panels running concurrently, giving students enough time to hear about the professionals’ experiences as well as ask questions to satiate their curiosity. The careers represented this year were Accounting/Finance, Architecture, Biological Sciences and Medicine, Consultancy/Business Management, Engineering, Entrepreneurship, Journalism, Law, Hi-Tech, Film Making and Performing Arts, Academia/Research, and Marketing/Media.

Students are overwhelmed with their future goals at a very young age, when they are required to choose the degrees they wish to pursue leading to a career path. They are conflicted with various advices from family and friends, so it is refreshing for them to get an outside perspective from leading professionals in their fields. Students asked the panelists various questions such as, “ What are the advantages and disadvantages of being in this specific career?”, “What are the work hours?”, “How to get an internship to get a flavor of the career and add to the resume?”, “How would you define success in this career?”

The student feedback forms proved that it was a meaningful and engaging event for students. It left them with a sense of direction and purpose. As seen in the graphs below, majority of the students found the event “very useful.” Just as the previous event, students ranked the quality of panelists and format of the discussion, having panelists respond to questions categories above 4.5 on a scale from 1 to 5 (with 5 being the highest).

The Career Fair presents students with the opportunity to broaden their knowledge regarding professional opportunities in the market and to build relationships with prospective employers. Students are able to have multiple conversations, network, inquire more about their field of interest, explore different careers, and use this opportunity to ask questions. We hope that the KGS-OGS liaison continues to connect students with committed alumni who are excelling in their professions, and willing to share their experiences and wisdom with the youth that will be our future workforce.

Winner>Papworth

Runner up>Frere