With 27 seventh grade boys trying out for soccer this year, there were two teams formed. Thirteen of the boys formed the orange team. Every Tuesday they practiced as a team and tried to improve their skills. The team started strong with a record of 4-0-1.
The Orange team stepped on the soccer pitch for their first ASL game, against Hillingdon on September 22. After an amazing 2-1 win, the football team celebrated their first win.
Winning doesn’t come with luck. It come with skill and hard work. The team has many strengths. “The team’s biggest strength is moving the ball to players that are open,” said Finn Cobham, a player on the team.
Mr. Colin Bridgewater, the coach, said, “Everyone works really hard, and no one is a slacker. Everyone tries all the drills, and everyone is willing to run.” The team has had an almost perfect season. But, even with all the success and strengths, there is still room for improvement.
Coach Bridgewater said, “We need to improve on two things. One, we are not talking enough. People either go for the same ball, or just don’t go for the ball at all. Two, is that everyone is still ball watching, or they are just chasing the ball leaving their man unmarked, which is how we let in one of our goals.”
“Our game against the (ASL) Black team was really tough,” said Soham Bhavnani-Thadani, a player on the team, “and I think we could have played better.” Even with those difficulties, the season for the Orange team has gone pretty well.
The team did improve over the course of the season quite a bit. The team started with a lot of dribbling and exceptional passing. Finn Cohan stated, “We passed the ball a lot more, which helped a lot with our attacking.”
Not only did the players noticed that, but so did the coach. Mr. Bridgewater said, “Players have improved by looking for that open pass, rather than trying to dribble through an opponent.”
Not only is the team improving, but the team is quite strong. Mr. Bridgewater stated, “I like how we are really tough as a team, and if someone is hurt they will want to stay on the pitch.” This was a major key in the season because it led to make the team stronger as a whole.
