October News

The late afternoon of Tuesday 11th October was just another mild spring day in Cape Town. As a whistle blew one last time on a sports field in Maitland one group of soccer players cheered and hugged each other in victory whilst the others, exhausted and disappointed, heads bowed, had to stomach the bitter taste of defeat..............and that was us!

Unfortunately we had just lost 3-0 in the Amandla Knock Out Competition Final to the B.E.S.T Centre, a team who we had previously beaten. It was just one of those days when nothing went “our way”- we forgot our game plan which we had rehearsed and used in other games to good effect and we had been unfortunate to have several key refereeing decisions go against us. Not a good way to end the season for the School of Hope Under 19 Soccer team.
However, with the following day I was able to see the positive side of our season – we had been beaten finalists in the Knock Out Trophy but Winners of the Amandla Under 19 League Competition so we have a trophy, winners medals and runners up medals to put on display in our reception after the Awards Ceremony at Athlone Stadium!
I think we also achieved in some other ways this season. We brought a “feel good” positive vibe to the whole school as we won games and lots of people were interested to come along and support or check out our league position the following day. By the end of the season our squad was up to 18 players!
We also decided as a squad to make “team” the key focus by voting for attendance at training and effort to be the criteria for team selection and making sure all substitutes got to play for some of the game. Finally, it was great to see leadership emerge as players took turns to lead training and take on other responsibility.
Roll on next season...................c’mon you School of Hope!!!

Written by: Andy Lee, Soccer Coach 2011

(Andy Lee (UK) is volunteering for a year at the School of Hope. Andy has brought a wealth of experience and a dollop of joy to our school. As the soccer coach he has balanced discipline and encouragement, work and play, positivity and reality. His approach made us winners – even if we were beaten in the final knock-out round. With ego slightly bruised but characters intact, the team has basked in their new-found glory from bottom of the pile to top of the league! Thank you, Andy, for your dedication and care. Each footballer felt it, every learner was inspired by it, and as for the staff, you made our job so much easier!)