I will add to this blog post later on with more details of our preperation and the trip.
Update:
This year’s ISSEA, which was in Lusaka, Zambia, was the most successful ISSEA for the Boys Football team in the history of the ISSEA tournament. Our team was the first ISK ISSEA Boys Football team to win this tournament. It was a great experience and it was great to finally win it after personally having already played in it for three years. Winning ISSEA in my fourth year was incredible and it was even more special because it happened in my senior year and I had the honor of being the captain of this winning team. The team played excellent at the tournament and the determination shown throughout our football season was evident again in this tournament. We took 10 players from our Varsity Boys Football team and played against the 6 other teams in the 6-a-side, 3-day, tournament. A 10-player girls team also accompanied us to compete in the same tournament.
Similarly to how we started our friendlies in our league season, we lost our first match 3-0 against the reigning champions Uganda. It was a big shock as we came to the tournament prepared to win it so we knew we had to start playing our good football. We quickly made up for our loss and won the next three games, even though we never reached our full potential. The next day we met the other strong title contenders ICS from Ethiopia and it promised to be a tough game as they had won all their other games. We played a good game but were unable to score so we lost the game 2-0. We went on to win our last game. These results put us in third place behind Uganda and Ethiopia in second and first place respectively. This meant that we faced Uganda in the semi-final in a repeat of the semi-final of the ISSEA 2010 where we narrowly lost to Uganda on penalties to then go on to become third in the tournament.
We were determined to not let the same thing happen again so we came out and played one of our best games of the season. We ended up beating them 3-2 to move on to the final against Ethiopia. The final was set to be a very good game between the two best teams of the tournament. Our team was very focused and this greatly helped us throughout the tournament and it is this quality and the exceptional team spirit of the team that helped us win the final. We went down one goal in the first half but then, like frequently before, came back and scored two goals in the second half to win it. It was a great feeling when the referee blew the final whistle. I could not believe that I had finally won an ISSEA and that we had done it in my last year. It was even more special because I was the captain of the team that had finally done what no other ISK boys’ football team had done before. I am very proud of the team, especially the younger defenders who made our team so solid. It was a great experience again and I am so grateful of the privilege that I have had to experience this amazing tournament for four years. My determination and desire to continuously improve and develop my football and sportsman skills was rewarded since along with the first place medal, I got an All-Tournament Player medal for the third time in a row. I am very proud of these medals as they reflect the effort that I have put into the football teams over the past years.
This tournament has greatly improved and developed my skills as a footballer, as a leader, and as a sportsman. The atmosphere at these tournaments is amazing as we get to see new countries, meet new people, play competitive football, and live with a new host family. These tournaments have definitely confirmed that I am a true sportsman and that I love playing sports a lot. I therefore hope to continue playing sports, especially football, throughout my life as it teaches one many things about real life situations such as the significance of teamwork.
No comments:
Post a Comment