A Day In The Life of a YCIS Soccer Team Member

Written by Hoong Kit Chay (Year 5A Student)

article-3-1%ef%bc%9a-picture1Today was a very memorable day, because I scored an amazing goal for my team during the International Schools Soccer League. This is how my whole day started…

At six o’clock on a Saturday morning, I was woken up by my “walking alarm clock” – my dad. I got out of my bed as quiet as a mouse, so that I would not disturb my sister, who was sleeping soundly on another bed just a few inches away from mine. Then I tip-toed to my closet and took out my YCIS soccer attire and walked quietly into the bathroom where I brushed my teeth and rinsed my face to freshen up. After I changed into my attire, I ate my breakfast, which was prepared by mom.

When we reached the soccer field, I could not see any other YCIS soccer team members. I assumed I was too early. While waiting for my teammates to arrive, I took a ball and went on a pitch to practice my shooting. After a few minutes, many YCIS students and their parents arrived,  including my teammates and our coach, Mr. Lee. Before we started our first match for the day, our coach asked us to warm up by forming a circle on the field to play the “monkey” game. This exercise allowed us to have better control of the ball when we pass to each other during the game.

article-3-1%ef%bc%9apicture-2As soon as we had warmed up, we heard our school name being announced to proceed to pitch number 4 for our first match. Before the match, we did our school’s team cheer which sounded like this ‘What are we gonna do? FIGHT! What are we gonna do? FIGHT! What are we gonna do? FIGHT! YCIS Elite! With the sound of the kick-off horn, the first match started. The first match went fairly well even though we did not win. We worked very well as a team, passing the ball to each other and supporting each other all the time. The second match went just as good as the first one, but the highlight of the day was the third match.

article-3-1%ef%bc%9a-picture3Our third match was against our second strongest opponent, Wellington College. Frankly speaking, I was very nervous at the start of the match, because I have seen how well they played previously. Last year, they had beaten us by a big margin. This time round, my teammates Tim, Miguel, Fraser and I scored a goal each. The most memorable goal was when Fraser crossed the ball from the by-line perfectly to me. I leaped and extended my right foot and my shin struck the ball into the top-left corner of the goal. Fraser scored the second goal with an accurate pass from Miguel. Upon receiving the pass from Miguel, he attempted a slide tackle on the opponent’s goalkeeper who was charging at him. After he slid onto the ground, he repeatedly kicked the ball with his foot even though he was lying on the ground and ended up with a “nutmeg” (ball through the legs) into the goal. We had a sweet victory! My team had never, ever won against the second strongest team until now. Everyone in the team was praised by our coaches Mr. Lee and Mr. Lennart for playing in our assigned positions and passing at the perfect time. There was good team work.  Miraculously, we managed to win the match by a score of 4-3, in what I thought was a fabulous turnaround since we were beaten by others most of the time.

One important lesson that I learnt that day was that without teamwork, we wouldn’t have come this far. This was my favourite day in the YCIS soccer team.