The boys’ and girls’ soccer teams gathered at the Joo-young Park Soccer Stadium for a triangular match against the Gyeongnam International Foreign School (GIFS) on Nov 8. 

The new addition of the friendly match to the middle school futsal program aimed to enhance the athletes’ understanding of the game. “Playing on the full-size field is absolutely key for how they’re going to be organized and then their fitness too, and just to have a better understanding before they go to the tournament,” said Coach Gall. 

Although A team goalkeeper Honglim Jin missed the scrimmage and the GIFS squad consisted of high school players, the Jets held their ground. Fighting through setbacks, both varsity and junior varsity (JV) secured a win against GIFS.

Later on, in the varsity versus JV game, the absence of goalkeeper Jin changed their starting lineup. “That day our A team goalkeeper Hong-Lim wasn’t able to attend. So Aiden played in goal, when we did A team versus B team, Aiden played one half and Steven Jang played another half,” said Coach Gall. 

Nevertheless, both teams pushed through, and the day wrapped up with a varsity win as players echoed the benefits of the friendly matches. “For me, it’s my first ever time to have a friendly match with another school, so I think it would be better to have more practice like this,” said varsity captain Tony Kim.

In contrast to the boys’ successful results, the girls faced physical and stamina challenges on the pitch. Some JV players stepped in because multiple star players on the team fell sick. “It was actually hard for us running across the whole [field], because in soccer, you have to play both defense and offense,” said midfielder Tracy Kim. Even with roadblocks, varsity earned the win and JV ended up in a tie. 

Nevertheless, the opportunity allowed the girls to finally square off on the full-sized field. “They were just playing 100% in. They didn’t think about it like a practice or anything. They just thought about it as a real game. And I love to see that,” said Mr. Faille. Varsity took the match, but both squads gained valuable experience.

The intense games fired up the middle school soccer teams and got them game-ready for the SKAIS tournament on Nov. 22. With “Since the Korean International School Activities Conference (KISAC) was our first time playing in the bigger field, we didn’t have much energy to express our skills. After going to a bigger field and playing, it helped us grow our confidence with the bigger field,” said captain Elly Song.

Gallery • 14 Photos

Noah Lee

Arthur Silva (77) dazzles fellow DIS opponents with his touch-and-go. The ball remains perfectly under control as Arthur dribbles past him and advances towards the goal.