I had the opportunity to attend an under 12s football tournament in Korea a few weeks ago with a view to having our IFS students participate in this type of event or to organising something similar here at the college.
Canberra’s Monaro Panthers and a team from Tasmania attend this invitation-only tournament each year, competing against teams from Barcelona, Brazil, Japan, Korea and East Timor (who played exceptional football and ended up winning the tournament) as well as a number of teams from other countries.
I put together a short video of my experience there and know you’ll appreciate some of the football played by these 11 and 12 year olds. I also know that with this type of competition incorporated into our new full-time program, IFS students will be very competitive in this environment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQVfosJ9iXI&feature=youtu.be
A conversation I had last Wednesday with an IFS parent made me reflect on how far we’ve come since day one in January last year. I was telling Barry (the parent) that our numbers would be around 320, if not more, for next year. He asked me if I remembered when we first interviewed him and his family when they made an application to attend IFS.
Paul, Laura and I were sitting at the picnic table (our office at the time) outside Building 25 and pointing out our two classrooms and one oval. Barry asked how many students would be needed to get the college started, to which Paul replied, “about 85-100”. Barry then asked what ‘number’ he was? The answer was, number 5.
I don’t remember clearly but knowing Paul, that would have been said with a huge smile, and with as little as three weeks to go until the doors opened.
mbah roger says
i will likr to meet your footbaall college