After an intense battle at the Korean International Schools Activities Conference (KISAC) tournament, the middle school futsal teams ventured to Pohang for the Southern Korean Athletic Conference (SKAC) finals on November 14th. Boys’ varsity, junior varsity, and girls’ varsity all secured the second spot, whilst girls’ B1 and B2 navigated through emotional peaks and valleys. 

Both girls’ B teams faced challenges and confusion during the tourney. While B2 initially celebrated a triumph and B1 showcased tremendous effort, the second squad abruptly halted its journey to the finals due to an unfortunate incident. A mix-up in the schedules disrupted the players’ momentum. 

Esther Kang, 6th grade striker from B2 said, “The B1 team were playing our schedules and our team played the B1 schedule. The people that waited for our team to arrive got the points, and we got zero points. Though we couldn’t make it to the finals, we showed improvement through the games. We played really well.” Despite their earnest appeal to the judges, they sadly concluded the tournament with a sense of regret. 

Girls’ varsity clinched second place followed by their impressive performance at the KISAC meet. Up to the semifinals, and unscathed in the round-robin matches against BFS, HIS, and ISB, the crew secured an important win. 

After their successive run they faced defeat in the final matchup against ISB. Mr. Faille, girls’ coach, said, “We got to play the finals so that’s a very good accomplishment. Actually, we won in the first round against the team that we lost sadly in the finals. But still, we did a great job, and we had great communication on the field.”

Despite the loss at the end, players still beamed with pride about their achievements. Yul Sakong, 7th grade novice defender, said, “I was really proud of myself for being on the varsity team even though it was my first year in the season. The games went well and we tried our best on the field. We aimed for first place but lost in the finals to ISB. I’m looking forward to next year’s futsal season.” 

Boys’ varsity players aimed high with dreams of a three-peat but narrowly lost to HIS in the finals by a single-point margin of 5-4. After a hard-fought victory against ISB in the semis, intensity filled the air through every moment of the prolonged 40-minute finals. As each team traded goals back and forth, the competition remained fiercely contested. 

Ace winger Jacob McAteer in eighth grade said, “The games went well. We tried our best, maybe even better than last year but the differences in the squad were some challenges. We gave all we got.” McAteer hoped to be the first-ever team to achieve a three-peat for DIS – to win the SKAC trophy for three consecutive years from 6th through 8th grade. But he crosses his fingers that future players will carry on the legacy his team built. 

Mr. Gall, boys’ coach, said, “They won the first two games quite comfortably. The game with HIS was fairly even. The goals were constantly traded and there wasn’t really much in that game. We expected to meet them in the finals, and we did. It was the same thing again. I just asked them to play the way they did during practice. It was an intense game.” Coach Gall appreciates the hard work the crew put into each bout. 

Both of the boys JV squads saw success. Despite the pressure to wind up on top, B1 earned second in the round-robin and B2 landed in the finals against AIS and achieved second place as well. Pyo Hong, top goal striker, said, “The team passed a lot and had great talking with each other. But, I think we could have done better in defense. The games went well, though.” Despite formidable challenges against veterans, Hong managed to score a precious goal for his team. 

The results of the finals propelled athletes to develop their futsal skills and aim for the future of SKAC sports. As season one concluded, middle school volleyball marked a fresh beginning. Through a new tryout process, athletes aspire to secure additional trophies for the Jets this spring.

Gallery • 12 Photos

Sunny Oh

Captain Alex Seo in eighth grade kicks to give a cross-pass. He sends it directly to the strikers in attack transition.