The journey of state football championship

By: Kushal Singha

Two days before the tournament, it was very difficult as we were not even 11 players in total, but surprisingly on the D day, 12 players represented our team. We decided to go and try our luck for the State level football championship. We travelled to All Saints School, Bhiwandi, to play in the exciting tournament.

We played our first match against Sanjeevan Public School and we outscored them by 3-0. One goal was scored by me and two were scored by my teammate Tazeem Chaudhary. After winning the match, we played against Fazlani International School, Pune, in the quarter-finals. The full-time score was 2-0 – one goal was scored by Atharvva Zore and one was scored by me. Thus, we made it to the semi-finals against Ryan International School, Sanpada. The match ended in penalties and we won the match with the help of outstanding goalkeeping by Atibhu Arya who made 3 crucial saves and helped us reach the finals.

Subsequently, we were up against Navy Children, Goa, in the finals. That match too ended up in penalties with a full-time score 0-0, and again our goalkeeper made 2 saves which helped us to lift the Champions Trophy.

In the whole tournament, we conceded 0 goals so as a defender it was a very proud moment for me. As it’s my last year at Apeejay School, Kharghar, I’m very happy that I have achieved something for my school.

Our coach, Kazim Sir, always supported us and helped us with our weaknesses, his hard work and dedication are just outstanding, which makes him the best. I am so thankful to our teachers and all the parents who supported us. We finally qualified for the Nationals.