After months of training, hours of blood, sweat and tears (okay maybe that’s a little bit dramatic), and getting absolutely baked in the 34 degree sun (I had a horrific t-shirt tan on my arm by the end of the season), we finally got to ✨SAISA, season 2✨. First of all, this was an amazing experience for me because I was able to play on home ground, here at OSC. This was our first time playing in front of the crowd, and their first time seeing us play (because they never came to watch our other after school games anyway 😀) and it was a mixture of nervousness (imagine absolutely embarrassing myself in front of everyone and tripping over and falling flat on my face, thankfully did NOT happen 🙂  and excitement (BRINGING HOME THE GOLD (did not happen either…))

SAISA football was really special for me, because the year before I trained with the team for the whole season but I wasn’t able to travel with them to Oman, Jordan for the competition. Seeing them come 4th last year (out of 10 teams) made me really proud, but I couldn’t help but feeling sad that I wasn’t there as well. So this year, it was being hosted here at OSC. And I finally got the chance to play with the team at SAISA. Our hopes were high, and we were ready for revenge, and, well… it didn’t really go quite as planned.

Day 1

So, on the first day, I actually almost missed the opening ceremony, I got there around 2

minutes before it started. I was staying with my friend, and she lives all the way out in Colombo. I live only 5 minutes away from school, so I might have misjudged how much time it would take me  to get ready in time for school. The traffic was absolutely HORRIBLE, and I really sympathize for everyone that has to take the 45 minute trip to and back from school. Funnily enough, apparently the traffic was worse than usual, as several other people on the team were frantically trying to get to school despite the traffic stoppage. The football group chat was filled with panicked girls trying to figure out how to speed up the traffic that had us in stationary in the same spot for 20 minutes (I was genuinely about to get out of the car and walk to school myself)  I literally joined our team at the opening ceremony right as they were entering the gym.

OSC is one of the few schools in the SAISA community that can host and get all the schools to come, so it was really nice to finally have all 10 teams in one SAISA after a while.  It was so fun to run in with the whole school cheering, especially since we had the home advantage. Then there was some really beautiful Kandyan dancing and the little kids from Oriental dance in Primary did a performance. Then the captains of each team, (shoutout Nay and Stephie!) went to light the oil lamp as per Sri Lankan tradition. During the whole opening ceremony, I could tell our whole team was nervous (including me), but I could tell we were all excited at the same time, as we were playing the opening game, in front of the whole school.

 

When the time came to start our first game of SAISA, I was so ready to finally be able to play football with my amazing team. As the starting six, all of us huddled in and gave our pep talks, ready to absolutely blow everyone’s minds. And we definitely did, as we won 7-0 against ISOI (International School of Islamabad), where I scored 2 goals and assisted 1. It was a great start for our team and helped erase any nerves we had about playing in front of the whole school. It was definitely a new feeling to have so many people cheering us on, because as much as it made me nervous (i definitely had a few mistakes here and there) I feel like it motivated us to make our home crowd proud of us.

Our second game was against AISD (American International School of Dhaka). We knew that this game would be harder than the first, as overall the AISD girls teams are around the same skill level as us. Not to mention, they were definitely ready for revenge as we beat them (as mentioned in my Volleyball CAS blog, which you can read here) in the Semi-finals for Volleyball!! We were leading by 3:1 in the first half, and I think we definitely slacked off a little bit, as the game finished with 4:3. Nevertheless, it was still a win, and we were tied for 1st of our group with TAISM (The American International School of Muscat). We jumped in the pool to cool off (our second game was at 12:00, the hottest part of the day) and spent some time bonding with the team.

Day 2

By Day 2, all of us were already exhausted and our muscles

were aching, but we were ready to win some more games. Especially against TAISM. Now let me explain about  our rivalry with TAISM. Honestly, everyone in SAISA had a rivalry with TAISM, as they always dominated in sports, and were most of the time cocky and egotistical, and they didn’t have the best sportsmanship. But I have to say, their girls football team was really good. They had two amazing players on the national team, that could rocket the ball past the goalie with amazing speed and game. But we had our own amazing weapon: Nayara, our amazing striker/middle. Our game started at 12.30, and before the game started we were already sweating buckets, and putting ice down our backs so we didn’t faint from strokes or something. All the other teams who weren’t playing were watching us too, figuring if we were good enough to beat TAISM. The thing was, we weren’t playing to win the game. Honestly, a tie with them would have been great, because they actually hadn’t lost a girls football match in 2 years of SAISA’s.

It was magic. Something switched on in our team, our chemistry was amazing. We were passing accurately, intercepting balls from the other team, and keeping our spirits up with the home crowd. Our defenders, Stephie, Darya, Julia, and Kallie, were a wall, and never let any of the good strikers on their team get past our defence. Not to mention, even if they did Sofia, our amazing goalie, would have stopped any balls from hitting the back of the net. Sofia truly was the woman of the match, she made some AMAZING saves by reacting so quickly that she was basically a blur in the goalie box. Our rapid and very smart strikers, Isa and Astrid were always ready for the ball to strike it into the net. Our amazing playmakers and leaders of the pitch, Nayara, and Leah, always seeing the opening spots on the field and passing the ball in all the right places. And of course, our other wings, Lucia, Feline and Lily, always ready on the sides of the field and ready to cross it into the box.

By this time, TAISM were getting really stressed. They couldn’t get any plays past our defence, and their striker kept kicking the ball straight at Sofia. That’s when we took our chance: I had the ball, we were playing a counter attack, and I was running up the right wing with. That’s when I saw the opportunity: Nayara was completely free in the middle, right in front of the box. She had sneakily run up behind the defender, and I sent the ball across the field, and BAM. Nay volleyed the ball straight into the corner of the net, an absolutely sensational goal that had our team, the other SAISA teams, and the home crowd all screaming our ears out. I still remember that moment, Nay coming up to hug me as we all ran up and hugged the team. And you might think we were overreacting, but we were the first team to score against them in the whole tournament, and this was a huge accomplishment. We knew that after we scored the first goal, they would fall apart.

And they did. Their team was in shatters. They were not used to their opposition having the upper hand so early in the game. They were screaming at each other, getting frustrated with everyone in the team. Even one of the really good strikers had to get taken off because they were swearing at everyone else. And finally the half-time whistle blew, and we were ecstatic. We came back to our tent with cheers and screams from everyone, so excited that finally, someone was teaching TAISM a lesson… this didn’t last very long. We started our second half, but some mistakes had their team evening out the score to 1:1. But we were not giving up. It was the most intense game of football I’ve ever played in my life. We were fighting as hard as we could, but in the very last minute, the striker (it was a beautiful shot actually) shot a goal, ending the game at 2:1.

That was the first time in the competition I cried (yes, “first”, there were multiple sessions afterward) Our whole team was devastated, after coming so close to beating them. Granted, we were still second in our group, and would still be going to quarter-finals, but we were hoping for something better. Our coaches and parents comforted us, because even though we did lose, it was the best football we had played all season. We were still crying when we walked into the gym, where we were greeted with applause. Every. Single. Team. Anyone who wasn’t TAISM was clapping for us. Even though we didn’t beat them, we were the only ones who got close enough to do so. That was my favorite part in, possibly, my whole sports life. It wasn’t a 7:0 win, and I didn’t score any goals, but you could feel the appreciation, the awe, the support coming from everyone else. I had never felt as proud of my team as I did in that moment.

Obviously after that rollercoaster of our game, we still had our second game of the day, whether we were still a little physically (and mentally) stable or not. We played against KAS (Karachi American School) and only won 3:0. They weren’t the best of teams, and compared to our amazing performance against TAISM, we played much, much worse against them. Anyways, this still put us through to the quarter finals, and we were going to play ACS the next day.

Day 3

In every single SAISA Competition, day 3 is always the worst. I wake up and my muscles are aching, and I’m barely able to make it out of bed. Not to mention, my voice was basically gone after screaming so much and it hurt to talk (obviously, you haven’t had fun at SAISA you haven’t lost your voice) But, today was our quarter-finals. I was DEFINITELY pumped up for this game. It was our first group game, which meant if we lost, we were out, and would have to battle for 5/6 or 7/8 place (I would not have forgiven myself if we lost the game) ACS (American Community School Amman) was quite a good team, and we were pretty much evenly matched in skill. So, we forgot about our pain muscles (and our game against TAISM) and we won with a comfortable 4:0, determined to make up from yesterday’s games.

And suddenly, it was time for semi-finals. We were playing against ASB,

runners up from last year’s SAISA. They were definitely a good team, but I believed if we played like we did against TAISM, we would be able to meet them again for revenge in the finals. Spoiler alert: did not happen. I’m not sure what happened, but once we started making mistakes on the pitch, we didn’t stop. The game ended with a 2:0 loss, and we were all devastated (this was the second time that I cried 🙂 We definitely did not play our best, and I was especially disappointed in myself because there were a lot of missed balls and opportunities to score, which I didn’t take. After our whole team had a good cry, we had a team talk, and we got ready for our very last SAISA game, the last time we would play football as a team this year.

Our third and fourth place game was against, none other, than AISD. You might be thinking: “Wow, they already beat them once, they’ll beat them again, right?” well. No. This was definitely the hardest pill to swallow in the whole competition. Let me tell you: Losing 3rd place (and yes I know 4th place overall out of 10 teams is not that bad) is the worst feeling you could ever have. Not to mention that it would have been nice to end the season with a win, even 5/6th place. Unfortunately, 4th place was the best we could do this time around.

This SAISA has been an emotional one for me. I am so proud of our team for pulling through and persevering during hard times, and always being there for each other. I learned that a lot of times, there are things you can’t control, and its not about the winning in the end but (yes this sounds very cliche) its more about the friends I made along the way. I reconnected with several of my SAISA friends, as well as meeting new ones which shared the same passion that I had for Football. This experience is one that I think everyone should have in their lifetime, and the reason why team sports are so special to me. It taught me that trust in others is key, and you can’t always rely on yourself. At the same time though, its important to own up to your mistakes and know when you have to get off the pitch, especially when you are making mistakes that effect the whole team. All in all, we didn’t get the gold, but the whole experience was definitely worth it. I will miss this team with all my heart, and I hope someday in the future I will be able to play one last football match with them again.