The Training will Pay Off

Since mid-November, the AISG boys have been doing endurance, strength, and speed workouts to prepare for the upcoming football season. The boys will be put to the test at their first tournament on March 10th.

The 18 players that will be going to Beijing to fight for the championship trophy have been selected. These boys have already played their first game, a thrilling 8-0 win against a local Chinese academy. The opponents put on a great fight even though they were a couple years younger.

Here is a quote from the captain of the team, Thomas Sepahi, a 12th-grade student who has been on the team since his freshman year. Thomas Sepahi presents his expectations for the season:

What goals (individual or for the team) have you set for the coming season?

“My individual goals for the season is to be a good leader and to try and get the best out of my teammates this year as I am captain of the team. I hope that this year we will be able to place in the top half of APAC which will be a significant achievement since it’s a super APAC”.

 Do you think that the team is better or worse than last year?

“Its hard to say at this point, but as I said everyone seems to be willing to work a lot harder this year than before and if that continues there is no doubt in my mind that we will be better.”

What are the strengths/weaknesses that you can already see in the team this year?

“The strengths are definitely the mindset and work ethic of the team. The only weakness I can see so far is that we are not as tall as other teams which could be a disadvantage.”

The boys team have their second game on Tuesday, March 7th. They will go head to head against the International School of Dongguan on a 7 a side pitch. The following Friday the team will travel to Beijing and compete against 3 other schools to make AISG history. The tournament that the boys will participate in is known as Tri-Cities. The Wester Academy of Beijing (WAB), International School of Beijing (ISB) and Shanghai American School of Pudong (SASPD) will be there to challenge AISG for the first place trophy.