Our young footballers in Years 8, 9, 10 and 12 had to digest the frustrating and bitter pill of coming only third in the Youth Football Tournament for International Schools. After getting through the first phase by winning all their Group games with 18 goals for and only 1 against. In the semi-finals, they were overcome by Kensington´s pressure. You can´t always win, but what our students also learnt was that surrendering is never an option.
A total of 9 International Schools (British Council School, Kensington, King´s College, Hasting, Holy Mary, ISM, St. Anne´s, Montessori and Runnymede) fought it out in a exciting tournament. In the end, Kensington were the Champions, beating King´s College in the final, on penalties.
The British Council School took two teams to the Tournament. One of them didn´t get through the Group stage, but the other one really stood out, providing a real spectacle of goals and excellent play, showing off their great strikers. But luck was not on their side in the semi-final game against Kensington. Conceding a goal in the first few minutes, demoralised them, and in the end, they had to swallow a bad result, losing 4-0.
But giving up is not an option and our players knew that they must grow in adversity. Resilience is one of the Values which the School holds most proudly. Our students spirits were once again raised for the 3rd and 4th place, play-off game. Good technique, teamwork and a fair bit of emotion were back in evidence on the pitch, as the British Council School team beat ISM School 5-0.
Learning both how to win and how to lose, not throwing in the towel, celebrating victories proudly but modestly, and recognizing that we can always improve, all of these lessons learnt, from a youth football tournament... Congratulations to all the teams involved!!!