Historic silver medal for the Girls’ Football Team.
The U18 Girls’ Football Team secured their highest ever finish with second place at the International Schools Athletic Association (ISAA) tournament that was organised by the BSP in Saint-Germain-en-Laye last week. With five teams competing for the second division championship, the BSP kicked off their tournament with an emphatic 7-0 win against Cairo American College. This victory was then followed up by a 4-0 win over Marymount International School, Rome. Having secured two victories it was important that the team gained a result in their final match of day 1 against The American Community School, Hillingdon from the UK. Having been relegated from the first division last year, Hillingdon were expected to be a strong opponent, which was the case. However, the BSP team showed great determination and resolve and the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
This meant that our team were top of the table going into the second and final day of play, with only one more pool match to play, against The American International School of Israel. As well as the BSP, AISI had been the other quality team on day 1, and they proved to be a little too strong for the BSP, running out eventual winners 3-0. However, the performances from day 1 meant that we finished second after all the pool games and were to face the team from Israel again in the final. The BSP team played superbly and held AISI with some great defending and close attacking chances. However, as the second half drew on, the quality of the AISI side edged them in front and they came out eventual 2-0 winners. Rather than feeling disappointment, the BSP girls were aware of how well they had played, and that they had secured the highest ever ISAA finish by a BSP girls’ football team, and there were huge smiles from players, staff and spectators as they lifted the well-deserved second place trophy.
As well as gaining silver medals, four of the girls also received All-Tournament medals, which recognise the top players from each team. Those who gained these medals were goal machine A in Year 13, defensive maestros P in Year 12 and M in Year 10, and midfield battler E in Year 9.
Huge congratulations to the girls’ team on their historic performance.
