Saisa Goals

This year we have one of the strongest teams in recent OSC history. Since it is my last year at OSC i have a great desire to lead my team to victory. I have recently had to take on a new role, that of a goalkeeper. I am improving as I go along but there are still many new things to learn such as diving in a 1 on 1 situation, getting my goal kicks on target and staying focused for the whole duration of the game. I have worked on my ball throwing skills and can throw the ball half way along the field. I have had 3 games as goalkeeper but have conceded a goal or more in each of those games. As captain of my team and as goalkeeper, my biggest aim is to not concede goals a lead my team to victory. The goals i have set for this Saisa tournament are:

• keep at least 1 clean sheet
• maintain a good level of team spirit within the team
• Help in on-field communication (be as vocal as i can)
• Help calm down matters on the field if they get out off hand
• Help motivate the rest of the team to perform well
• Finish in the top 4 > possibly reach the final > Bring home the trophy :)
• If the above for some in-explicate doesn't work, at least win the sportsmanship award

Next week we are off to Dhaka. I am greatly looking forward to the tournament as it will hopefully not only  prove to be a fantastic sporting occasion but also a great opportunity to have fun with friends.

November-December

The Battle of the Bands

Our concert date is now coming coming ever closer. We have decided on the best 6 bands that will come and perform at the concert. Our main job is now to do the advertising for this concert, as the more people that come, the more money we will collect to help with the operations of these kids. I volunteered to make the poster as it gave me a chance to merge creativity with service. Advertising makes all the difference and i set about making the most awesome poster we could make. Bharat found the perfect picture to keep as the background of the poster and i set about displaying the relevant information on it. Once we printed it out, it looked really nice, so hopefully many people will show up to help with our cause.

We also needed to design the tickets for both the entrance and the raffle. I have designed a sample for both which could possibly be printed.

Raffle Ticket

Concert ticket

Football

We played our first practice match of the SAISA season. We played the boys football team from CIS. Being our first match of the season we were still very unorganized and raw in terms of our teamwork and communication. We played out a 2:2 draw and won on penalties. I scored the second equalizing goal and scored in the penalty shootout. It was a good match for me as I managed to organize and lead the team from behind as we fought out an equalizer each time we conceded.

Scoring the 2:2

Scoring in the penalty shootout



Our final Saisa team is to be chosen soon. The principles of selection are commitement, team work and discipline. We have practices 4 times a week on Tuesday, Wednesday (6 am!), Friday and Saturday morning. During all these training, we as the seniors of the team try to maintain a spirit of teamwork and lead the new players who are going on saisa for the first time or are playing football at saisa level for the first time.

We have some bad news for the team. Due to the SAT's being on the same weekend as SAISA, 2 players including our only Goalkeeper cannot travel!! Since we have nobody who can play goalkeeper, i have decided to inherit the #1 jersey. It is a new skill for me and i hope that i will not let my team down. It also gives me a chance to organize and lead my team from the very back as i will now have a full overview of what is happening in the match.

We played a couple of matches this month including another game against CIS, Gateway, Royal Institute and Elizabeth Moir school. We beat royal Institute 4:1, Gateway 3:1, lost 3:2 to Elizabeth Moir and beat CIS on penalities after a 1:1 score during the game. I managed to keep decently in all the matches and even helped win the penalty shootout against CIS by making 2 saves. In the match against Elizabeth Moir i was especially able to show my leadership skills as it was a very rough game and tempers flew high which i managed to calm :)

October-November

Having finished my extended essay is a great relief for me as now I can concentrate on other things. The first weekend (7^th-9^th October) was the Saisa girls’ volleyball tournament. Obviously we brought the house down as we supported our team through loud vocal support; however I also helped in the organization of the event. The Friday of the 7^th was the Social. My friend Bharat and I helped set up the auditorium for the night. We had to arrange the table tennis tables and make sure that the sound system was working. We were also responsible for the music and the general supervision of the night’s proceedings.

Making sure the music kept flowing :)

On the match day’s I also helped by being the ball boy in different games.

U.N Day

U.N day means two things: 1) a chance to represent your country 2) food :) This U.N day the school held interactive activities with the students to discuss some of the common themes that come up during U.N discussions and resolutions. I was asked by Ms. Snyder to help supervise the students and demonstrate my leadership skills. During the discussions i took part in the debates regarding the question of child marriage. This was a good chance for me to interact with an issue of global importance knowing that i had to take into account the ethical implications of the standpoint i was taking. The session ran quite smoothly and i didn't need to assert myself at all. Afterwards i tried food from nearly every part of the globe: That is why we should all live together peacefully :)

Germany, France, Finland and Ethiopia

Community Service

As I mentioned earlier, my service group had been planning the charity fundraiser called “the battle of the bands”. The purpose of this event is to help fund the operations of those infants with the cleft lip and palate disease. I mentioned earlier that i had visited some of these children in hospital and really seeing their suffering first hand helped re-affirm my motivation to do something about this global issue. We planned our concert for the 26th of November and organized an audition for the 21st of October. Planning such an event requires great organization and commitment. We set about creating a Facebook page inviting bands to come, some of us contacted people we knew from other schools to come perform. There were also logistical issues such as the amount of tickets to be printed, the posters, the prize for the winners and the food etc. On the 21st of October 8 bands showed up from different local schools. We checked them for their quality and also had a chance to pick out some faults and issues that would arise for us on the concert dates in terms of logistics in the auditorium.

Football 

The new season had begun! A new team and a new motivation to finally become the first OSC football team to win the SAISA tournament. We are still figuring out the general shape and direction of where the team is headed in terms of our style of play but i hope to build on my skill and demonstrate my leadership skills as captain througout the season.

Warmup