On Saturday, January 22nd (The weekend before Mocks!) I had my first opportunity to play in a proper sports match, since my last SAISA tournament in Muscat, Oman in April 2020! Unsurprisingly, since this was my first official soccer match since then, I was very nervous. In 2019 and 2020, my school (OSC), also had the opportunity to play in this exhibition match. However, since then, almost everyone on the team had left, so this year we gathered some really talented younger players and some new people who joined recently to form our team.

Our OSC team for this exhibition match had all been training at TAFA as a part of the Senior Girls age group last term, so we all had some experience practicing together, but had never played a match with each other yet. In the end, we had gathered a very small team of 6 players. We also ended up “borrowing” three players from the opposing team, to make an even 9-aside match.

The game we played was only 30 minutes long, but it was an extremely fun and refreshing experience. I started out playing as our team goalie for the first half. This was a little nerve-wracking for me, as I had only ever played goalie one time before, in a fun, practice match in a very different scenario. However, after our team warmed up together, my brother Ethan gave me a crash course on goalkeeping, and I felt a little more confident (along with my nerves). After kick-off, the OSC team was dominating the possession of the ball, and even though our team had never played together officially before, we had a couple of good attacking chances. However, the Gateway team’s defence held out, and they also had a couple of good scoring chances. Our central defence was really strong and had good connections to both of the wing players. We held off their attacks for some time, and I did some goal-keeping saves as well as the defensive saves. However, just before halftime, a Gateway player took a strong bottom-corner shot that we couldn’t defend. I attempted a diving save, (bruising my ribs in the process), and just missed the ball.

In the second half, our team swapped up roles, putting in a new (talented) goalkeeper, and I played in a center-midfield position. At this point, we were all exhausted from the midday heat and not being at the peak of our fitness. Some girls even threw up during the previous half due to the heat. However, we started off the second half strongly, and we played lots of attacking shots. At this point, I was also really tired from the heat, and I had to run off the field as I felt I needed to throw up. After I did, I ran back on the field to continue playing and received a beautiful cross from the right midfield player, and scored an equalizer! However, later on in the match, Gateway scored again, and we ended up losing 2-1. We were so happy and grateful to have the opportunity to play, and we worked really well as a team. Over the course of the game, we had three different goalkeepers, and almost everyone switched positions, showing the versatility of our team. The defence was super strong, and it hindered Gateway’s attacks.

LO5 Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively Students are able to identify, demonstrate and critically discuss the benefits and challenges of collaboration gained through CAS experiences.

There were many benefits of working collaboratively with our team during this match. Everyone was so well-rounded, and we all took on multiple positions over the course of the match. Everyone had so many different skills and talents, so we all added our own strengths to the team to create the best outcome. Unfortunately, we did not have a full team of our own (as not everyone could come), so our collaboration did not extend to a full team.

It was challenging to collaborate with the players we “borrowed” from the other team, as we had never played with them, or even met them before, and we had very different playing styles. However, it was a fun challenge to learn to communicate and work together with them. We found it challenging to communicate and put trust in players we had never met yet at first, but over the course of the game, we put more trust in them and began to work better as a team.

LO1 Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth Students are able to see themselves as individuals with various abilities and skills, of which some are more developed than others.

I had many strengths and areas for growth that were clear to me while playing this game.I was very strong in my mid-field position, helping to create opportunities for my teammates and having opportunities to shoot. I also took a couple of shots on goal, missed one and scored one. Myshooting skills are definitely an area of improvement for me, as I usually play the role of central defence. This meant that my aim and power in my shots really need working on. I also need lots of improvements in my goalkeeping skills. I need to learn how to judge the ball and stand in the position that is the most protective of the goal when getting ready for a save. I also need to learn how to dive safely, so I do not end up injuring myself attempting to dive again (by landing on my stomach). My fitness was definitely another area of improvement for me, as I got so tired during my 15 minutes of playing outfield that I vomited! I need to get more fit and adapt to the heat of the midday sun for these types of matches. A strength of mine is my ability to move the ball around the field and to help create scoring opportunities. I also am more skilled in defending.

LO2 Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process A new challenge may be an unfamiliar experience or an extension of an existing one. The newly acquired or developed skills may be shown through experiences that the student has not previously undertaken or through increased expertise in an established area.

Playing as the team goalkeeper in the first half was definitely a challenge that I undertook, as I had no experience doing that before this match. I developed new skills, learning how to read players when they are about to shoot, and I adapted myself to adjust my body position to defend the goal to try to save as many shots as possible. These new skills I developed increased my “expertise” in goalkeeping, and they helped me before a better, more well-rounded player (although the skills still need much improvement).

LO4 Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences Students demonstrate regular involvement and active engagement in CAS.

Even though I cannot train weekly with this team (due to my TAFA coaching commitments clashing), I have been committed and persevered in my playing of soccer for many years of my life. This is the third annual exhibition match I have played in, and I consistently train in soccer weekly with TAFA. I also have played on the school team as many years as I could have (due to covid), and I committed to playing in this exhibition match even though it was the weekend before my mock exams.