Carrying on the Legacy

By Romeo Kontsas

Darnell Dwumfour (12) and I were the last ones left from the team that won ACSC in 2022, so we felt immense pressure to bring home a third successive medal.

This year, we had a young team, so as captains, Darnell and I had to prepare them for the immense competition that was upcoming. ACSC soccer was hosted by Morrison Academy, which meant that we got to travel to Taichung, Taiwan. As we started our travel, the team was full of excitement and nervousness. 

Our first game was against Grace, and the team's nervousness showed. We came out with no intensity, and Grace capitalized on that. We lost the game 4-1, and we knew that something needed to change. Thankfully, our opportunity for improvement was later that same day. We were playing the hosts, Morrison. We knew that if we wanted to place first or second in our group, the next two games were a must-win, so the pressure was on. In our pre-game huddle, I motivated the team and demanded that we come out with intensity, and that is exactly what we did. We scored 3 quick goals, and Morrison did not know what hit them. The game ended 7-0, and morale was high again as a result of our dominant win. 

On the second day, we only had one game, and it was against SPH. We knew we had to carry on the intensity into this game because they were a tougher opponent than Morrison. This time, we did not need to motivate the boys because we could see the determination in their eyes. They knew it was game time. We followed in the footsteps of our game against Morrison and controlled the game, eventually beating them 4-2. This victory meant that we faced Faith in the quarterfinals the next day, so with morale at an all-time high, we headed back to the hotel and rested for the big game the next day. 

We breezed past Faith 5-0, and now we were in the top four for which the game would be played that afternoon. However, our opponent for the semi-final was ICS-Bangkok. They did not concede a single goal in the last ACSC, and they were motivated to beat us because we beat them in 2022 to win the championship. We went into the game with a compact defensive strategy, and it worked astonishingly well. We were defending beautifully, but they got lucky and scored two undeserving goals, and we were not able to come back. This meant that we faced YISS in the bronze medal match the next day.  

YISS was a fast and physical opponent, so we knew we had to be at our very best if we wanted to bring home silverware. At the start of the game, we lacked intensity and went down 1-0 within the first 10 minutes. The game was scrappy, but we started noticing that the YISS players were running on fumes. They seemed to be struggling to keep up with us, and as we headed into halftime, this gave us a boost. 

Mr. Van, our head coach, asked us, “How much do you want it? Boys, they are tired. You have to outwork them.” With this in mind, we ran onto the field full of determination. When we came out with intensity in the second half, it was obvious that they were struggling. Seeing their weakness gave us an even bigger motivation boost, and we managed to tie the game 1-1. Soon after, we scored a second one, which gave us the lead and made our dedicated parents who were present scream at the top of their lungs; it even made Mr. Van feel the urge to chest bump our entire bench. During the final minutes of the game, we scored a third, which put the nail in the coffin, and when the referee blew the whistle, our team started jumping for joy. We had done it. We fought hard and proved that we wanted it more and, more importantly, that we deserved it. Later that evening, we got to feast on some tortillas and then we headed for the award ceremony. 

As Morrison’s athletic director announced that we got third place, we went up and received our medals and trophy. We took our pictures and smiled happily, knowing that we left it all on the pitch and that we got to take something home. 

After that, it was time for the athletic director to announce the All-Team Tournament players from each team. The best player(s) from each team are decided by the coach. First, he called my name, and I was happy to receive the award, but then it got even better when he said, “Darnell Dwumfour.” I was ecstatic that Darnell and I had done it. We had got silverware three years in a row, and now, in our senior year, we got this award together, it was something truly special, and I think it was safe to say that we had successfully carried on the legacy.