David beats Goliath in the tug-of-war battle of the century. Photo: Marguerite McKinnon.
If this wasn’t recorded on camera, you might not believe it.
Children as young as five pitted against high school students, some three times their age, in a game of strength, and they won.
Mater Dei Primary School students are together being celebrated as an unexpected powerhouse following a game of tug-of-war held at their recent cross-country sports day. The day was made extra special for them, thanks to some Year 11 students from Mater Dei Catholic College who had come across from their campus next door to help out.
The towering Year 11 Sport Lifestyle Recreation (SLR) students looked imposing, but their hearts were in the right place, and they happily agreed to a little-kids-versus-big-kids tug-of-war.
When the big boys put their backs into it, everyone expected a one-sided walkover.
Then the primary students did the unthinkable.
Working together, they were an unmatched force that dragged the boys across the line, before they all fell down.
“I can’t believe what I just saw!” said a volunteer parent. “The little kids won!”
It wasn’t over, as the high school boys asked for a rematch, to which the young students readily agreed. From their perspective, it was a dream having the big high school students play this fun game with them.
Even when the boys enlisted more muscle, the primary students once again did a ‘David-vs-Goliath,’ and won.
It’s not the size of the opponent that matters, it’s the ferocity. Photo: Marguerite McKinnon.
Ten-year-old Mater Dei Catholic Primary School student Angelia Smith was on the winning side.
“Even though we were the little ones, we still went, and we still got it,” Angelia said.
Both primary and high school students have been praised – the younger students for showing that small can be mighty, and equally, the high school students, for being fine role models who generously gave their time to help the primary school, and for being so gracious in defeat.
It was also a classic example of physics – notably Newton’s third law of motion: for every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction – and how the younger and weaker students were able to create a stronger net force against the bigger boys because they worked together.
“It was a great opportunity for our students to interact with the primary school students and develop their coaching and management skills,” said Mater Dei Catholic College Sports Coordinator Nathan Irvine.
“After we beat them in the rematch too, they all came up and said, ‘Well done’, which was good,” Angelia said.
“It was a really fun day.”
