After four months of hard work and training, SAISA finally came around. SAISA is the South Asian International Schools Association which hosts different kinds of events, including sports, arts, academic, etc. This year, SAISA Girls’ Football was held in The American School of Muscat, Oman. I have participated in SAISA for the last 4 years and, sadly, this will be my last.
As we said goodbye to our home pitch and traveled to Muscat, the pressure was on. We had a day to rest before the competition started, where we had time to mentally prepare ourselves for the tournament we had been working so hard for. Our determination and thirst for victory override the anxiousness we felt when seeing our playing fields. We were ready to win, and that’s all our minds were for the rest of the tournament.
The thrill of SAISA begins at the opening ceremony, which is a SAISA tradition. When we read the SAISA oath, we are welcomed as foreign teams and athletes to the school and are given an inspirational speech by a member of the host school. Although there were many things going on around us, we kept a steady and focused mindset in order to play at our best in every game. Like every SAISA Football, we began the tournament with 3 pool games against the teams: TAISM (The American School of Muscat), KAS (Karachi American School), and ACS (American Community School).
Our first was TAISM, the home team, which put an extreme amount of pressure on us not only for the packed stands cheerleading the opposing team but it made a statement on how we would deal with the lack of support (which we were not used to back home). We were the first game of the tournament, and we gave it our all. The team was strong, supportive and determined, but most of all: eager to win. The taste of victory was too tempting to just not do everything in our power to win. It was a hard battle, but in the last few minutes of the game, TAISM scored leaving us defeated. We were hurt but not shattered, for we knew this only meant we had barely lost to the reigning champions of SAISA Girls’ Football.
Our second game was against KAS, our exhaustion from the game against TAISM left us struggling but not defeated. We were victorious and ended the game with a score of 5-0. The game was remarkable and quite uplifting from the match against TAISM, but we were most impressed by the strength of our defense and not conceiving any goals. We left day 1 exhausted and satisfied but not fulfilled, for we knew that our next game would either make or break our place in the tournament.
We returned to TAISM for day 2 of the tournament, where we prepared for our games against ACS and ASB. ACS was our first game of the day, and our last pool game. We knew this was a game we had to win to place second in our pool and so we played as we did against TAISM. The game ended with a score of 3-0, which once again shows the strength of our defense. This victory took us to the quarterfinals, where we played ASB (American School of Bombay) to place us in the semifinals. We knew from here on out, every game was a make or break in the tournament for us. We promised as a team to fight each game like it’s the final until we win this SAISA (which we did).
I focused on keeping a strong mentality and moving past minor mistakes during the game, to prevent me from losing the winner’s mindset. For this game, I did most of the assists rather than score myself, as we played with two attackers. The game ended with a score of 3-0, and we had won our ticket to the semifinals. We were thrilled and amazed by how far we had come in this tournament and were ready to keep our winning streak going till the end of the tournament, which puts an end to day 2.
As we returned for the last day of the competition, we were excited but hurt by how fast the tournament had gone by. With the anxiousness of our final two games controlling our focus, we were able to maintain a steady and strong mentality throughout the course of the day. And finally, it was time to play AISD (American School of Dhaka). Dhaka is known for their mighty attackers and insightful wings, which were our main concerns for the match. We focused on keeping a good amount of space between us and communicating effectively, as it was the key to our success. We gave this game the same amount of energy and power as we did for TAISM, we paid close attention to the movements made by the opposition and avoided interception at all costs. Finally, we saw the opportunity to take a score and with no time to lose, we shot at the goal and scored.
We had made it to the finals of SAISA, the finals. Overwhelmed was an underestimated for what I was feeling, but we were ready to face TAISM once again. Except, the results were going to be different this time. We paid close attention to everything we did wrong in the first game and figured out every strategy we could use to improve our plays. We started the game off stronger than ever, even scoring the goal of the game. But, after an intense 90 minutes, the final score was 2-2 by the end of the second half of the game. We went into overtime, which brought back deja vu from last season where we played for 3rd place against Lincoln School. The memory of losing the game by a penalty reminded us of the importance of not letting that happen, and so we did everything in our power to score. We took every shot we could and defended every attack that came our way. Until the last few minutes of the game, where TAISM surpassed our left-back and shot into the top-corner of our goal. And as the whistle blew off calling the end of the game and the TAISM supporters raced to congratulate the winning time, our spirits were shattered and our hearts were broken.
But nonetheless, we were more than just pleased by how far we had come in this tournament. From barely coming 6th place to playing in the finals against the reigning champions, I was impressed with the growth of my team. Second place was an accomplishment we were far from achieving for a long time. And, as I close this chapter of sports in my life, there is only one thing I have to say: the spirits, determination, supportiveness, strategy, talent, technique, and motivation this team has is beyond measurable, and if not for that shared desire and thirst to win we would have not come this far in SAISA as we did. Thank you, Coach Turner and Coach Fleming for everything you have taught and helped us with, and most importantly, thank you to my team for giving me the best last SAISA I could have asked for.
Cover photo credits: TAISM Photographers