On the 5th of November, ISB’s Junior Varsity Girls and Boys Volleyball and Football teams competed for first place in the BISAC tournament. The BISAC tournament for volleyball was held at ISB and the football tournament was at Bangkok Pattana School (BPS). The teams tried their hardest but not all of them were able to place where they wanted to.

The Boys Volleyball team came 2nd place in BISAC last weekend. “[The] team has been very successful this season and [had] great team spirit. They played as a team throughout all drills and games.We started our seasons with a few players that had played before.” said Mr. Piakpia, the JV boys volleyball coach. “Many of our players just started their volleyball this season, but they improved their skills technically and mentally. We set goals and we worked hard and focused on the them. We could see the improvements and achievements over the season. It’s the best season for me so far.”

“We played our hearts out till the game was over. It was an emotional BISAC all the time, [all of the] blood and sweat we put into our practices [really] showed [during the tournament]. All the teams improved so much and they had such good team spirit.” explained Connor McGregor (9), who was proud to have been the captain this year.

The co-captain, Michael Perkins (9) also had something to say about the way the team performed, “I think we performed well at BISAC, we are a completely different team from when we first started. BISAC was a very fun and competitive experience that pushed our team throughout the entire tournament. [The teams] were all very competitive, almost every match was close and for the most part every opponent was well behaved and acted well.” Good job JV boys!

The girls volleyball team came 2nd place in BISAC this year. Tosia Lekawska (12), who has been on the JV Volleyball team for the past 3 years and had captained the team this year said “I am really happy with our second place finish, although I was slightly disappointed after the finals because we were so close to winning. We lost the third set 17-15 and the whole game was so close, it was really crazy and stressful.” Tosia replied when asked how she think the tournament went.

“During the semifinals when we played a team that we had never beat before we made sure to be loud and supportive of each other.” Tosia told Panther Nation about how the team reacted to the games and how they played. “Despite trying to stay positive, as a team we had a tendency to let mistakes get to us so when we lost a point we would continue to lose points for some time before getting it back. Then again, when we got a point we would be on a roll and continue to get more points. So I guess we could have been more mentally prepared.”

“The team performed very well and only missed out on the championship by two points. The atmosphere was good and the teams we played competitive, however sometimes the better team does not win. Nevertheless the girls kept smiling and giving their best.” said Mr. and Mrs. Romary, the coaches for JV girls volleyball. “I think we did well however I think we could have [improved in some ways]. Lots of stupid small mistakes were made.”

“Sometimes [the tournament was] lively and energetic, but other times it [was] stressful and our team felt a little dead inside from the nervousness.” Mr. and Mrs. Romary commented of the way the girls were feeling during some of the games. Mio Baek (12) who had also been on the JV Volleyball team for the past 3 years wanted to add her perspective to the topic. “I [feel] like we should have focused more on resting and mentally calming ourselves[during the] break[s]. Our coach decided to make us practice every chance we got which not only made us tired but it also stressed us out.”

The JV boys football team came 7th place in the BISAC tournament last weekend, but after this loss they managed to show their team spirit by cheering on the girls until the end! The boys repeated cheers numerous times and complimented the girls on their playing. Coach Jaspers said, “The team played very well in the tournament, except 1 game. We were 1 goal away from the semi-finals but ended up playing for 7th place.Too bad that this one game had such an impact on our final result. The rainy season made it very difficult to prepare properly for the tournament. The sportsmanship was outstanding during the tournament and a lot of players know each other from different academies.”

Imad Bakkali (9) had something to say about this BISAC. “Although it was a disappointment for the team to lose their first game, we still kept our heads up and we were able to win [the] next two games [we played]. [I think] we could have worked harder by pushing ourselves and whenever someone [made] a mistake, [we helped them by] encouraging them to try harder and not [make] the same mistake the next time.” Imad said, proud that his team overcame these challenges during the games. “All the teams had players with great talent and passion for football, some teams were better than the other and all of them were trying their best to win gold. Everyone was really excited for this tournament, we [started] cheering for the girls after we finished all our games, bringing joy and happiness to everyone around us.”

The JV girls football team came out on top by winning all games. The first game came to a score of 1-0 against Shrewsbury, then the game against TCIS game to a final score of 5-0 to ISB. In the semi-finals the ISB girls faced NIST and won 3-1, and in nail biting semi-final the ISB girls came out on top with the score of 2-1. One of the captains, Beatrice Warrilow (8), spoke to Panther Nation about the tournament. “Everyone on the team was elated with such great results, like many of the girls on the team I felt that our performance level as a team had improved so much, compared to when we had first started the season. Even our JV Boys joined in cheering us on in the semi finals and finals, even though they could have left.”

Coach Davy also had something to say about the performance of the girls this year. “Our team performance at BISAC was outstanding. Everyone contributed in their own way and worked incredibly hard each game. It was great to score 11 goals and only concede 3 while winning all of our games, this showed a real focus on both attacking and defending.” Coach Davy was ecstatic while watching the girls play. “It was also great the support we received from the boys JV Team , they showed great character after what was to them a disappointing finish to jump straight over to our games and support in good voice. I know that meant a lot to our girls. There were times when we needed a little more composure in front of goal, either shooting or clearing the ball. Games were very tight with not a lot difference in ability and skill between teams. A great deal of our success was down to mindset and attitude. The girls were very positive throughout and showed good discipline.”

As you can see, all of these athletes tried their very best to come home with a win. Not all of them succeeded but they managed to land some great places! These athletes deserve these great results after they have trained to much over the weeks. Congratulations to the amazing girls and boys JV Volleyball and Football athletes that participated in the events this year and good luck to those of you who will be trying out for other sports.

Megan Black