SAISA Boys Football Tournament: Kathmandu

For this years SAISA Boys Football Tournament, our team traveled to Kathmandu, Nepal. We had the privilege of spending the day traveling around Kathmandu and seeing amazing temples and getting to know the culture better.

We landed in Kathmandu in the afternoon and shortly after we arrived at our hotel we went and visited the main square and shopping area in Kathmandu called Tamel. This was a place filled with culture and history. We visited a lot of temples and learned about how Kathmandu came to be and about the history of Nepal. After we were done sight seeing, our guide took our team to a famous pizza place that is one of the 'places to be' while in Kathmandu. It was an amazing experience.
The next day we went to the famous Monkey Temple. To get there we had to climb a couple hundred steps to reach the top. But every step was worth it because the view was tremendous. We could see the whole city of Kathmandu. This was a very cultural rich experience for our team as a whole. After we completed that tour, we went on to practice football at an indoor pitch. This was a well needed practice because we had to become acclimated with the environment. After we were done with practice we traveled the the Lincoln School in Nepal (LS) where we then went and met our hosts and accompany them back to their homes.

The next day was the first day of the SAISA Tournament. Our first match was against Lahore American School and we drew 1-1 with them. Our next match was against the host school, LS. This was a very intense match because they were not only the home team BUT the defending champions. Their whole team was their watching our match and they really wanted the win. We were tied all the way up until the last 10 minutes because that is when we scored our first goal against them. Three minutes later we scored another goal to lead us to a 2-0 victory against the defending champions. This summed up our first day in the tournament.

The next day we had our last pool play match and it was against the American International School of Chennai. This was probably one of our easiest matches and we won with a 3-1 victory. Due to this win and us being undefeated in our pool, we were seeded first and that meant that we got to play the last seeded team of the other pool. For our quarter final match we faced Karachi American School. We started of poorly but then pulled it together and had a 2-0 victory over them. We made it to the semis! This concluded our second day of the tournament.

For our third and final day of the tournament, we had to face the LS for the semi final match. Since we beat them the first time, they were really determined to beat us and take revenge. We obtained 2 goals very early in the first half and then just played defense for the rest of the match and secured a 2-0 win and that put us through to the finals!! For our final match we faced the American school in Bombay (ASB). This was a very tough match for us because they were a great team and we just were not playing our best game. They had a corner kick early in the first half and one of our own players ended up kicking the ball into our goal. This gave ASB a 1-0 lead. We kept trying to equalize but we were not able to manage that for the rest of the first half. So at half time we were down 1-0. We started the second half off strong and then equalized! We were all so happy and excited and we kept playing our best game. We made it to overtime and still no one managed to score a goal. So finally we went into penalty shootouts. This was a very intense moment for our team. We scored our first penalty and so did they. We missed our next penalty and ASB scored theirs. We scored our next one and they missed theirs. This put us at a 2-2 tie with two people left. Everyone scored their next penalties and we went into the next set of penalty takers or the sudden death phase. ASB missed their penalty and it was up to us to score and if we did, we won the tournament. And sure enough we did! So we won SAISA!! At this moment all of us went and ran all around the field screaming, cheering and celebrating our victory! Our team made history for our school because we were the first ever boys team to win any SAISA championship ever! It was such a good feeling.

My last ever high school football season resulted in us winning the tournament. I am so proud of my whole team and we could not have done it without each and every one of us. I am so proud to have played in a Gecko shirt for my last football season in high school! GO GECKOS!

Sri Pada

IThis past weekend, my family and I traveled to the central province in Sri Lanka to climb Adam's Peak.

Adam's Peak is believed to be where Buddha put his footprint and where he step foot on Sri Lanka. Adam's Peak is a very important experience for all Buddhists throughout the country and it was a price late to climb. 

My family and I woke up at around 1am so that we could arrive at the base of the mountain at a decent time. Our whole reason for going there so early was so that we could see the sunrise. We started our hike around 2:15am. It started out as a relatively easy climb until about halfway. Then it got difficult. But it was all worth it when we got to the top. 

We arrived at the top around 5:10. So we were hiking for about 3 hours. At the top, there was a temple, and it was truly amazing. There were a couple hundred people at the top praying to Buddha and waiting for the sun to rise. Everyone was all gathered around and facing the east so we can see the sunrise. And at around 5:45am it happened. The moment everyone was waiting for. It was truly amazing. 

Climbing Sri Pada was an amazing experience and I am glad that I got to climb it! It was really nice to get more involved with the Sri Lankan culture. 

This photo was taken at the top of the mountain at the start of the sunrise.

A little later when the sun was coming up.

This photo was taken at the top of the mountain while the clouds were rolling in and the sun was coming up.

The reservoir and the sunrise.

A panoramic view of the valley and sunrise.

Adam's Peak on our way back down the mountain.

This was the view of Adam's Peak from the bottom of the trail.

Football

This past week during practice we have been practicing this new defensive covering technique. I have been talking with my other captain and we have been Planning and Initiating the types of plays to be used during our matches so that we are well prepared for our final season SAISA Tournament. 

This year we have a really strong team. Everyone on our starting squad has been playing football for a long time and we have been playing together for a while so we understand each other and our playing techniques. All of us have a really good feeling about placing in our final tournament. 

Every week on Friday we have practice games. We play these games so that we get maximum practice and opportunities to play against people other than us. So far we have played three matches and won all three. We have scored 15 goals in these three matches: Nikita- 5, Devin-4, Me-3, John-2 and Christian-1. This just shows how strong our forwards and midfielders are. We have only conceded 6 goals to the opposition. This ratio shows us that our defense is also very strong. HOWEVER, there are still things that we need to work on such as our covering and man marking. We need to Develop these Skills so that when it comes time to perform at SAISA, we will be the most prepared and best team out there. 

SOS Service Meet: Swimming

The children from the SOS Children's orphanage are still coming to our school every Thursday. Us service members are still engaging with the Issue of Global Importance of the orphans around the world. Our goals are still the same, we are creating elder sibling bonds with the children so that they feel like they have a family outside of the orphanage.

Every week we complete activities with the kids to help them better develop their English. This helps me to Develop New Skills because I am not a Sinhalese speaker so it is hard for me to communicate with these kids. But I am managing and it is really fun! After we are finished with our English learning activities, we go to the Swimming Pool to swim because this is the kids favorite activity. When we get in the water, we teach them how to swim and then we play various games.
Seeing the smile and entertaining them is one of the best things to experience. We as a service group are making the kids lives a happier place and providing a 'family' outside of their orphanage and this truly is a blessing. I love these kids and I am glad that I am a part of this service group.

Photo Credit: Alo Lenk

Local Volleyball Tournament: Event Crew

This past weekend our school hosted a mini volleyball tournament with 3 other local schools. For this two day event we had an event crew of 4 people. My job was to make sure that the judges were all set up with their screenshots and everything. To do this, I had to work collaboratively with others because I had to go to each of the teams and make sure that I have their rosters so that I can fill in the the score sheets. I also had to work with my team because each of us had a different responsibility to ensure that the event went smoothly. Throughout the day I was taking initiative by always doing my job and even other people's when they were not. On the second day of the tournament, I was all alone due to the fact that everyone else had other commitments. So i undertook this new challenge but I also showed perseverance by not giving up when a problem arose.
This was a good experience because it taught me how to manage an event all by myself but it also taught me the importance of team work and having a team.

Ravin and I during the volleyball tournament!

Weekly Football

We have still been playing football every week (perseverance) and each time I seem to improve my skills and gain new ones. I have been improving on my dribbling and shooting skills so that by the time our actual season comes along I will be the best that I can be. 

Each week we arrange the teams differently so that we all get to experience new teams and players. This helps us all to learn how to work collaboratively with others. With each new team, there is a designated captain and this captain is in charge of organizing the team and designating people specific positions. (planning and initiating). 

Kai and I congratulating each other for our good performance.

Going up for a header that i scored!

Slowing down the game and waiting for the right opportunity to attack.

SOS Meeting 4

This past Thursday our SOS group met with kids from the orphanage again! Our first activity that we did was to help them learn English. I asked my two new buddies, Ishara and Maric, basic questions in English and had them write down their responses in English so that they can learn it faster. Through this process I also got to know them better and I also developed my communication skills since they do not speak that good of English and I do not speak that good of Sinhalese. 

We planned on going swimming but sadly it was storming outside so instead we all went to the computer lab and let the kids play on the computers. They all rushed in their and asked us to out on their favorite gaming website. And for the rest of our session they played various games on the computer. 

Playing with these kids is a really fun experience and it also helps me engage with an issue of global importance.. This one being the the issue of many parents leaving their kids to become orphans. 

I can't wait to hang out with these kids again!