APAC Soccer, Girls Score in Seoul

The APAC girls’ soccer tournament was hosted in Seoul, Korea at Seoul Foreign School (SFS) from the 18^th of April to the 22nd of April, 2018. The tournament lasted 3 days and involved 6 varsity soccer teams competing against each other in a round robin style of play. The teams included American International School of Guangzhou (AISG), Concordia International School of Shanghai (CISS), Hong Kong International School (HKIS), United Nations International School (UNIS), Taejeon Christian International School (TCIS), and the hosting school, Seoul Foreign School. Each team played two games per day, with the last day being an exception due to the 3rd and 4th place match and the finals between the 1st and 2nd place team.

The AISG girls team arrived in Korea in the afternoon and hopped on the bus to the SFS campus, but not before a brief yet needed stop at Dunkin’ Donuts. The SFS campus was beautiful, and the hosts and staff were extremely welcoming and eager to provide any help to all of the competing teams. Our ladies woke up early for the next three days and played their hearts out for a total of 6 games; by the end, AISG tallied one win against TCIS, two ties against UNIS and SFS, and two losses against HKIS and CISS. The girls made it into the 3^rd and 4^th place game, but lost to SFS after a good fight. Although AISG came back home without a medal, the team was inundated with intense feelings of pride and encouragement.

“I really enjoyed the general atmosphere of the event, everything from the coach’s meals to the coordination of the event was well done, SFS did a great job hosting,” said girls soccer coach Kevin Tyner, “I was told how demanding APAC would be, but with the scheduling, I didn’t have much time to explore Korea. The girls did better than we expected and showed a lot of progress since the last tournament during Tricities.”

For the most part, each game was played equally competitively by both teams, with an exception to the second game on the first day of competition against CISS. The CISS girl’s started kickoff in the first half and at halftime, the score was 2-2. However, the CISS girls then decided to start kickoff of the second half, even amongst the confusion and objection of our team and Coach Tyner. The referee did not acknowledge the protests made by our team and the CISS girls started to play and scored within 30 seconds. AISG was in complete confusion and this feeling continued when the referee decided to count the goal. The game ended with a score of 4-2 and a large amount of annoyance from our team.  In addition, CISS was awarded sportsmanship award during the award ceremony, but that has been acknowledged by the school as a mistake.

“I think our entire team could feel the disrespect coming from the other team and it really affected how we viewed them and their sportsmanship, it makes playing a lot less fun when the other team has different morals than we do,” said sophomore Rachel Moon.

“The Concordia game made me extremely upset, that goal should not have been counted, and it was,” said Amanda DaCosta. “it was a mistake by the referee and I’m not sure how that point was not deducted, Concordia knew what they were doing.”

“The referee did not take account of who started the first half, and this mistake should have been discussed more as both teams knew what happened,” said Tyner. “It is not possible to take back a goal once the decision has been made, but Concordia should have played fair and let us score a goal freely, it definitely shows poor sportsmanship.”

After each day of games, the girls returned home with their host families. The majority of the team had the opportunity to eat outside of the house and explore the heart of Korea. The experience allowed a complete change in perspective and showed the magnitude of differences between Guangzhou and Korea.

“I always enjoy hosting APAC people because they know almost nothing about Korea and Korean traditions, foods, and activities, which are all regular parts of my day to day life. I love hearing about what they like and dislike and most importantly, I love getting the opportunity to meet new people and develop real friendships,” said Lauren Yu, student, and host at SFS.

This tournament was impactful to our girls because of the intense sentimental emotions surrounding our only senior, Nina Sepahi, and her last games as captain and on the team. Throughout the entire tournament, Nina demonstrated dedication and passion through support and constructive criticism.

“Nina was a great leader for the season, she knew what was going on during practices and on the field. She gave advice to players on our team, so we can improve, and she cares about everyone as a team,” said Regina Kim.