Fulfilment on a Football Pitch

Benjamin Finlay

ACSC was probably the most enjoyable week I have ever experienced in school. But it was more than just seven days. It was a full season, being ten long weeks of preparing the entire team for this all-important tournament.

ACSC is a sports conference focusing on football, volleyball, and basketball. Seven or eight different schools compete, representing various countries around Asia. This particular year, the men's varsity football tournament was hosted by Morrison Christian Academy in Taichung, Taiwan. Unfortunately, only eighteen athletes of our twenty-two roster were able to travel to Taiwan, and it didn't quite feel the same without those additional four players. The community of a team lacked a little bit, and some people I bonded with weren't there with me in Taiwan — it was quite disappointing, to say the least.

In the past, our football team has not placed very well. The best we ever placed was second to last, and the other schools always look at us as the easy team to get free points off of. But not this year.

Our first match was against Faith Academy, and we had a disappointing match against them last year; we were up 2-0, and in the last minute, they scored twice to end the match 2-2. Thirsty for revenge this year, we dominated the entire match and came out with a 2-1 victory. This was the first step on our way to glory.

The second day, we played Grace. Grace is usually the best team at ACSC but often end up in 2^nd. They were 1-0 up against us, close to winning their first match in this year’s tournament after a poor run of form. In literally the last second of the match, though, Ruben Nyul (10) headed home from a corner to equalize the game.

“This is it,” Ruben said to me. “We can actually do it.” I told him that I knew that this was it. For the past few weeks I knew that this was our best chance at ACSC, and it was finally happening.

Later that day, we had a less intense match against St. Paul where we won 1-0. But we all knew how hard the next day would be. We were to play Morrison, the hosts, and ICS Hong Kong, the favorites to win the competition.

Morrison was a tough match, but in the second half, I was brought down in the box by their keeper and converted the penalty to win 1-0. It was great feeling to dominate our opponents and steal a win in front of the home crowd. Yet we knew our next match was going to be really difficult.

Unfortunately, I injured my left leg against Morrison, and I wasn't able to play against ICS. In the team huddle before the match, I cried at the fact I wouldn't be able to contribute much to the team; I wouldn’t be able to play, but I could shout tactical phrases and encouragements. I told the team, “Make me proud. Play your hearts out and make me proud.”

And my goodness, did they make me proud. We dominated the whole first half, and we were sure it would go our way in the second. But against the run of play, ICS scored and just about crushed our hopes. But like the Grace match, we played how we normally played and worked as hard as we could until the final whistle.

After quite a play in the box, the ball was scrambled over the line and took the score to one all. Game on. Moments later, after more drama, we scored another to take the lead. Ignoring my injury, I leapt off the bench and sprinted to Woo Young Chung (12), the goal scorer. A lot of us players gathered there for a minute on the pitch, embracing in pure ecstasy. The match ended a few moments later, and once again, I ran onto the pitch to hug my teammates.

It was such a good feeling. I sprinted to Ruben and hugged him, and we both started crying. Though we still had a match to go, we knew the real struggle was over, and we had conquered it. We knew that we were going to win.

The final day, we cruised to 4-0 victory against YISS, which guaranteed us our 1^st place spot. As soon as the final whistle blew, we all ran to the live-stream camera and applauded, thanking our fans back home in Malaysia and other countries who watched our matches and sent us encouraging messages. All of us on the team appreciated the support of the fans, and if you are reading this, thank you so much for your support that week. Your support did not go unnoticed.

As I said, it was probably the most enjoyable week I have ever experienced in school. It was so fulfilling to stand on stage with my teammates, bearing medals and holding the trophy. To everyone on the team, the champions of ACSC, I am SO PROUD of you all.