Seasons & Sports
The GISST year is organized in three seasons: Fall, Winter and Spring. Sports rotate throughout the school year, with each and every of these seasons being so-called “regular” one for the particular sport.
Fall Season
- Regular season: Badminton, Cross Country, Football, Varsity Volleyball
- Prep-season: Basketball, U14 Volleyball
Winter Season
- Regular season: Basketball, Table Tennis, U14 Volleyball
- Prep-season: Varsity Volleyball
Spring Season
- Regular season: Table Tennis, Track and Field, U14 Volleyball
- Prep-season: Badminton, Football, Varsity Volleyball
The Swimming program is an exception which runs in two terms (Sept-Jan / Feb-June), with Term 1 being the regular season, and Term 2 being the prep-season.
Age Categories
The organized tournaments under the auspices of the GISST council are as follows:
UNDER 14
U14 is for students in Grades 6 – 8 who are under the age of 14 on September 1 of that school year.
VARSITY
Varsity is for students in Grades 9 – 12 who are 14 years old or above on September 1 of the school year, and are a full-time student at the school.
A student born on September 1 and turning 14 can choose U14 or Varsity.
In addition to U14 and Varsity age categories, we also offer Swimming for Primary students in Grades 3 – 5. This, so-called Interschool, Swimming program is for advanced swimmers only. The FIS does not offer any swimming courses for beginners.
Training
During the regular season, there are two training sessions per week, and the students are expected to attend both trainings. Therefore, you are kindly asked to register online for both days. Please note that there is no reduction in registration fee in case you child can only participate in the training once per week. The prep-season trainings (off the regular season) generally take place only once per week. Swimming is, once again, an exception with training offered once per week throughout the entire school year.
Trial Period
Upon registration, and to allow students to try a particular sport before fully committing to it, we allow for a two-week trial period without any charge. If you would like to cancel your child’s participation within the trial period, please send an email to .
Late cancellations will not be accepted, i.e. you will still be charged the full registration fee.
Competition / Tournament Organization
The GISST aims to provide students from German international schools with opportunities for participation in quality sporting activities on a competitive basis.
As a part of the regular season, our teams will have an opportunity to join Friendly events in preparation for the final GISST tournaments. These Friendly events usually take place on Saturday from 10:00 to 16:00, both home and away.
The final GISST tournaments are being hosted by various GISST member schools and are, in general, two-days tournaments.
Selection
From all students who attend training, we select a team to represent the FIS at the final tournament. The final selection is usually made about 2 weeks prior to the GISST tournament.
In some cases, and only if absolutely necessary, a pre-selection is being made after the trial period (so-called “try-outs”) and two different level-based training groups are arranged.
Try-Outs 2024
Due to great demand, we will conduct Try-Outs for the Varsity Girls Volleyball this school year, after which 28 girls will be selected for FIS 1 (14) and FIS 2 (14) teams.
The Try-Out training sessions will take place from September 2 till September 11, always Monday and Wednesday from 16:00-17:30.
Accommodation at GISST Tournaments
All GISST Tournaments that include overnight stays will be hostel/hotel based.
The accommodation for all participating student athletes and coaches will be arranged prior each particular event by the FIS in cooperation with a host school. Whilst the FIS will provide transportation and cover the tournament fees, families of students selected will need to cover accommodation costs themselves. These costs include hostel/hotel accommodation, meals, as well as a bus shuttle from the hostel/hotel to the venue during the tournament.
The accommodation costs are 140 Euro per person for all 2-day tournaments and 70 Euro per person for the tournaments that include a 1-night stay. This is something that will be billed to you via an invoice and to be paid via a bank transfer once received.
There will be no additional costs for participating in Friendly fixtures.
Registration
It is a “must” to register your child for participating in the GISST Sports Program. Admission to any training group will only be possible for those students registered beforehand.
The registration will open three times during the school year, always just prior the upcoming GISST season.
The online registration for the upcoming Fall Season is open from Monday, August 26 at 17:00 until Friday, September 13 at 9:00. To register your child to participate in the GISST Sports Program, please go to the FIS Parent Portal and click on the “Booking Activities” icon. You can sign up your child for any sport offered to their grade level this Fall Season.
Availability of spots in any particular sport cannot be guaranteed – the registration takes place according to the principle of “first come, first serve”. To avoid disappointment, please complete the registration as soon as possible.
Registration Fee
There is a registration fee that all GISST participants must pay.
The registration fee for the regular season (training 2x/week) is 150 Euro and for any prep-season (one training per week) the cost is 50 Euro. This applies to all sports that are offered in the 3-season format.
The swimming program is, however, arranged differently – in only two terms (Sept-Jan / Feb-June). Although the swimming training is offered only once per week, due to the duration of each particular season, the registration cost for this sport is 150 Euro per person and term.
Prices will be shown on Parent Portal when completing the registration via “Booking Activities”.
This registration fee is applicable to all participating students regardless if they are selected to represent the school at Friendly and/or national-wide GISST tournaments.
You will receive an invoice at the end of the trial period for each sport category that you signed up for.
No fee will be charged in case the participation is canceled within the trial period.
If participation is not canceled during the trial period of the first two training weeks, you will be charged the full registration fee.
GISST Fall Season 2024
For most sports, the Fall Season 2024 officially starts in the week of September 16th. Please see below for particular starting days for each of Fall season sports:
- U14 and Varsity Cross Country – 3 September
- U14 Boys Football –16 September (with “kick-off” as of September 2nd)
- U14 Girls Football – 16 September (with “kick-off” as of September 2nd)
- Varsity Boys Football – 16 September (with “kick-off” as of September 2nd)
- Varsity Girls Football – 17 September (with “kick-off” as of September 3rd)
- Varsity Girls Volleyball – 16 September (with Try-Outs September 2-11th)
- Varsity Boys Volleyball –17 September
- U14 and Varsity Swimming (advanced level) – 16 September
- U14 and Varsity Badminton – 17 September
- Grade 3-5 Swimming (advanced level) – 20 September
- Junior GISST Club – 16 September
- Prep-season U14 and Varsity Basketball – 18 September
- Prep-season U14 Volleyball – 20 September
The GISST Training Schedule for the upcoming Fall Season is available online and can be found here.
NEW – Junior GISST Club
It is with great pleasure that we announce the kick-off of our new, non-competitive sports program for students in Grades 3 to 5 – the Junior GISST Club. You can find more information here.
Further Information
If you would like any further information or if you have any questions about the GISST program, please get in touch via email at .
