The significance of Exchange in a season so short and so focused on a single tournament cannot be understated. More than the results, the main takeaway of the tournament is the lessons learned and the preparations that need to be completed in the IASAS-centric season.
Improvements need to be made, and our Varsity Football Coaches are taking note.
“We now know the mountain we have to climb to compete with the top IASAS teams” admits Adam Kirk, Varsity Girls’ Football head coach. He concedes that “not winning a game all weekend is not ideal,” but there are plenty of positives to be taken from the performance.
Varsity Boys’ Coach David Speirs has a similar assessment to his counterpart, Coach Kirk. “This year will be tough,” he admits, after experiencing a win, a loss, and a draw from their three exchange matches. “We still have things to work on from an attacking perspective. We create loads of chances, [but we are] just not clinical enough.”
Both coaches will be looking to change tactically before the crucial tournament. Mr. Speirs claimed that opposition teams “will ‘park the bus’ against us,” meaning that their intention will be to defend in large numbers and hit ISB on the counter-attack.
The condition of the Girls’ team requires a different tactical approach, as Coach Kirk intends to use “Olivia Scott in a ‘sweeper’ role,” an additional defender that sits behind the standard defensive line and deals with passes in behind. According to Coach Kirk, this should aid the team to “counter the pace of the opposition forwards.” This position has become obsolete in modern football, with many coaches sacrificing the position in exchange for a “defensive midfielder” to guard the area in front of the defensive line. The integration of this tactical shift will make the Girls’ team a very exciting watch over the coming weeks.
“After the results from exchange, my teammates and I have discovered what level of skill we should expect at IASAS,” stated Varsity Girls’ Co-Captain Alyssa Alexander. “Along with that we now have a better idea of
what we need to work on in the following weeks leading up to IASAS. Though the results may not have been stellar and what we anticipated, it was definitely a learning curve.”
Varsity Boys’ Captain Ruben Rodrigues is slightly more optimistic than his counterpart, claiming that “results played an insignificant role in this tournament, as we were simply focusing on our team development and attempting to try new things. If we keep training the way we do and remain passionate about the football, we will be more than ready for IASAS.”
Gian Chansrichawla
