Between 21-24^th November last term, Wellington’s 7-a-side girls football team participated in the annual BISP (British International School Phuket) football tournament, the largest such tournament in Asia which welcomes more than 145 teams from 41 different international schools in 10 different countries.  Not only were the 11 girls from years 9-11 who formed the mixed seniors squad the first girls team from Wellington to compete in this tournament, they achieved another College first by bringing back a trophy. Two of the team members – Sophie and Stefania (both year 9) recount their experiences of the tournament. Stefania: The BIS Phuket tournament was something that I think all of us look back on with a lot of pride and contentment for a number of different reasons. We worked incredibly hard during the training which began back in August, we bonded as a team before and during the tournament and we played our hardest, allowing us to place 3^rd in the tournament cup after some seriously tense penalties. Sophie: We managed to win or tie every game in the lead up to the semi-finals, which we sadly lost on penalties to Singapore’s United World College. I think that moment was when we really needed all of our team spirit to come together and get ready for the final match to decide 3^rd/4^th place. Stefania: Definitely! It was absolutely the right time to ‘get our game faces back on’. Of course, we were helped in this by our amazing coach, Mr Northedge, who was incredibly supportive and motivational throughout the tournament and in our training beforehand. He kept us focused between games too, so we quickly fell into a pattern of using the time between each match to stretch, stay limber, rehydrate and watch the opposition play in order to inform our tactics for the next game. Sophie: I think his motivational speeches before many of our matches also helped a lot, they really got us in the right mindset to play our best. The animal-based ones have stuck in my mind for sure! Given the level of competition we were facing, every advantage helped and I think that the combination of hard training and having the right attitude really paid off. I’d have to say that as the team’s goalkeeper, for me the most tense moment was the sudden death penalties to decide the final match. I conceded the first two penalties, then saved the third, then when it came down to sudden death I managed to make the final save and we all just went crazy, including Mr Northedge! I think we were all determined not to lose again on penalties. Stefania: It felt amazing to win and take home a trophy. We know that it’s not all about winning but as the first girls team to go to Phuket, we felt determined from the outset to make our mark on the tournament, so we couldn’t be happier to have come away in the top three. Sophie: It was also a great bonding experience for all of us. When we started training in August, most of us didn’t know each other particularly well. Then we got into the training routine and by early November we won a friendly against Dulwich, so we felt that we were in a really good place as a team. Stefania: I think the fundraising activities we did also really helped to bring us together. We ended up doing about 10 bake sales as well as selling flags, raising well over the 25,000 RMB we needed. It was completely a team effort: some people baked, some helped on the selling side of things, some raised awareness, there was a job for everyone and everyone got involved. Sophie: It was a fantastic experience overall and I’m really looking forward to seeing what we can achieve as a team during the next football season if we bring the same attitude and team spirit. My personal highlight from the tournament was the final sudden death penalty shootout – the training definitely paid off! It was great to see how much we’ve progressed as a team as well as individually. Stefania: I’m really happy with how much I’ve improved since August, as I’ve only played football for two years and have focused mostly on playing defence, but in preparation for this tournament Mr Northedge suggested that I work on playing as a centre midfielder, which I’ve found to be a very challenging and tactical role. I’ve learned that it’s important to not be afraid to commit to the ball; I did pick up a couple of bruises along the way but that’s part of the game! It was a great tournament for all of us and we can’t wait for the next one.   More relevant articles:

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