The Balancing Act: with the AIS Football Team

By Lehara Edirisinghe

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The football tournament provided an exciting couple of weeks for the AIS football team. Football captain, Nushan Liyanawadu, gives insight into the intricacies of the team's struggles and highs.

One thing about the AIS football team that works to its disadvantage is the lack of senior players. Most players playing in under-20 matches, tend to actually be around 15 or 16, putting them in a tough position. “they're playing for Under-20 matches, meaning they have a lot of pressure on them, they get nervous, but it's all part of the experience.”

Yet, the team still manages to persevere, despite their youth (‘we are young but we are strong’). Liyanawadu stressed on the fact that this truly meant something to the players. “The form 5s had mocks as well, they had exams and yet they still came for the matches, they were willing to sacrifice study time for a game. That shows how dedicated they are”

Unfortunately, managing sport and study can prove difficult, the captain offered up some advice, “Figure out how much work you have, after practice, don’t waste time, take a break and get back to work! You need to balance both out.”

With all this passion and dedication, Liyanawadu still acknowledged the shortcomings of the team. They plan to work hard on chemistry in the team in the future, "for example as a striker, you have to know how your partner plays, what kind of style he goes for, his dominant foot - we need more practice as a team. Individually everyone is really good but when we come together as a team, there are small weaknesses we have to work on.”

He also shed light on the issue of having younger players play for under-20 matches “We need more players that are close to the age set for the matches, they (the younger players) are going against people much bigger than them, they feel demotivated, saying ‘they couldn’t do enough’ even though they're at a disadvantage.”

Still, the team manages to keep themselves working hard. Watching professional football players, learning their strategies and utilizing them is a big part of what keeps them motivated.

And surely, it would be unfair to say the matches were missing those magical moments, “The match we did on Saturday was against Gateway Kandy, the first half wasn’t very good for us, it was our first game... but then in the second half, Haroun scored a goal. That goal motivated us to play on.

And again yesterday, in the first half we got the lead, with Mihir scoring a goal, everyone was pumped up.”

Moving forward, the team has a quiet optimism about the matches to come. In April comes a futsal tournament which they hope to go all out on. Their team captain believes they have the team for it, and so, the AIS football team's saga continues forth.

AIS vs. Gateway Kandy Toss

CIS vs. AIS

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SCORES

UNDER 18 MATCHES	Elizabeth Moir Senior School	Asian International School	8-0
UNDER 16 MATCHES	Lyceum International School - Wattala	Asian International School	4-0
	Alethea International School	Asian International School	2-0
	Lyceum International School -Nugegoda	Asian International School	3-0
UNDER 20 MATCHES	Gateway College Kandy	Asian International School	5-1
	Colombo International School	Asian International School	2-1