Just last Friday, our young team of just 13 girls, embarked on an epic journey to Locarno, Switzerland. Locarno is situated in the south of Switzerland which is most commonly referred to as the Italian section.
The trip started with a bus ride, 4 trains, one lost Mac Book (on the guys’ team), two lost jackets, and some very hungry players. To get to Locarno, it took a total of 5 hours, but it was all taken in as bonding time for the team.
Arriving at around 10:30pm at the youth hostel, pizza was of utter most concern before going to bed.
We left the hostel at around 8:30 AM, along with CDL, to the Locarno sports center where we were to play all of our matches. Surrounded by clear blue skies and the famous Swiss mountains. We were lucky enough to have our game late, which was around 9:00 AM, as the sunshine came through. This first game was against the home team TASIS. We started strong, with a 3-0 win against them.
Our next game was after lunch (nobody ate much) against Zurich, which we won 2-0. Though they were a tough team, they put one of our key players out of commission and another with a broken pair of glasses. By beating two of the teams in our pool, we had secured ourselves a place in the semi-finals.
Our last game of the day was against CDL, the best team around. Morale was low, as we were all exhausted and intimidated. It was the most intense game of the day. We fought hard but in the end we lost 3-1 . No matter – we had gotten to the semi-finals, which was more than enough for us. Battered, we went back to the hostel for another night of pizza and an early bedtime.
Leaving promptly at 9 the next day, our first game was against LGB, who had come first in their group. It was an extremely tight game, as they had a strong defensive line, and were up 1-0 by half time. But we pushed through and finally scored a goal. Finally we tied the game 1-1 at the whistle. This lead us to penalties, a nerve-racking experience. But with our star goalie, we came out on top. We Eliminated LGB and projected ourselves to the finals. If nothing else, we’d won 2nd place.
In utter shock, our team awaited the final against none other than the unbeaten CDL.
With nothing to lose, we went in, this time with two of our previously missing key players on the field. Somehow, we held CDL off from scoring a single goal, ending with no conceded goals from either team. Of course, this meant penalties again. Down to the wire, we were even on penalties. Once again our goalie Roberta Lark came through and therefore rightfully won the golden glove. It took a while to sink in but won Swiss nationals. We were officially the best International School in Switzerland for Girl’s Football. We had never expected to come first, but that’s football. Anything can happen with hard work and perseverance, …and some luck of course.
We hope to beat CDL again in the finals next Thursday in our local tournament to prove our worth! Go La Chat!
The Update 