The SUSA cup was once again organised by our school as it is every year. I had a long return back to the sport as I had discontinued it due to covid pandemic. It was the 1st tournament I was playing in after a long time. We had our hopes high, with at least finishing at a good spot as we were representing our school. We had two teams in the U-17, A and B. I was playing with the B team. We finished 2nd runner-ups, losing in the semi-finals. It was a decent position we finished on however we wanted to reach the finals. However, team A reached and won the finals which was a proud moment for the whole team. Mistakes were made, identified and are now being worked upon. We learned from our failures, we learned that not giving 100% in sessions won’t magically make us end up in the finals.

LO1 – Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth
I found errors in my game, I didn’t properly communicate with my teammates and coach during the game. I had a tendency to not release the ball quickly, which hampered the flow of the game. These were the areas where I had to put in more effort to prevent mistakes. The strengths I was able to find the right passes and having a good mentality before a tough game, which allowed me and my teammates to give our bests.

LO2 – Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills
The biggest challenge for me was my endurance. I was playing a tournament after a long time meaning that my endurance levels were low. I was working out every day, however, my reaching the level of endurance I had there was not possible just by working out, but to play the sport consistently. During the game, I had to adapt and switch with the substitutes because of my low endurance and my tendency to get tired quickly.

LO4 – Show perseverance and commitment in CAS experience.
We fought till the last minute to stay in the tournament and reach the finals. We created a strong mentality before the semi-finals as we were up against a tough team, but we showed determination to not give up at the first whistle. The result of the game just taught us we had to be more committed and dedicated in the training sessions to do better next time.

LO5 – Demonstrate skills and benefits of working collaboratively
Football is a team sport, all 11 players have to work together to win the game. Our team reached the semi-finals was solely because of the players and our coach. Coming up with a game plan before the game is the key to defeating the other team, manipulating their weaknesses and defending their strengths was the way we followed.

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