PTA soccer event
The PTA soccer event took place in the school playground on 24th May, 2012. It was a 5-a-side, 20 minutes each half game between the parent-teacher team against the students team from grades 7-9. Pre-game excitement was pulpable in the school playground. There were supporters for both the teams who were cheering the teams even before the game started. The small goal posts were set in place, the chalk markings were done, the jerseys were worn and the warming up began. Both teams were eager to go. Mr. Sellman announced the beginning of the match on the megaphone among a big roar from the crowd. The teacher-parent side were represented by Klaus Sellman, Andrew Youd, Jukka-Pekka Kujanpää-Koivukangas (teachers), Daniel Abankawa, Marko and Himadri Majumdar (parents). The student team comprised of Sajjad, Prince, Emmanuel, Philip, Tsedev, Daniel, Riku, Roope, Tony and Paulo. First set of 5 players took the field with the rest waiting and cheering in the sidelines as substitutes. The game started at 14:40. It was an exciting, high-paced first half with lot of well-planned attacks and counter-attacks. The students’ team were playing with excellent co-ordination and giving the parents and teachers a run for their money. Soon the persistence of the students paid-off and they scored the first goal before the 10-minute mark. A loud roar went around the ground from among the strong student supporter base. The game got even more exciting with the parents and teachers pushing hard for an equalizer. The students defended well. The teachers and parents were unlucky when three of their attempts hit the bar-post. Soon the referee, Arian, blew the whistle for the half-time. It was a 10-minute half-time break.The teams got refreshments in the form of donoughts and juices sponsored by PTA. Himadri Majumdar made good use of the available megaphone to thank the students, parents and teachers on behalf of PTA who all came and shared their excitement, on and off the field. He reiterated the willingness and efforts of PTA to organise more such fun events if the students made suggestions. He also invited the students, parents and teachers to come to the various events organize by PTA – the ulappa party, the haloween party, the skiing-event and many more. The students also made a suggestion for organizing a similar basketball event between students and teachers/parents. The second half began with similar attacking football. The teachers and parents changed strategy by rotating the players more often to retain their breath. The strategy worked and the parents and teachers scored an equalizer in the early minutes of the second half. The rest of the half both sides tried hard to go into the lead. The students hit the bar-post once. The parents and teachers changed strategy to long passes as signs of tiredness started to show. There were some good opportunites for both sides but none managed to score. Finally, the referee blew the long whistle and the game ended in a draw. It was a wonderful game where the scoreline justified the equal efforts from the teams. Both teams congratulated eacher other for a wonderful game. It was a game of perfect fair-play with not a single foul committed from either sides. The camaraderie was wonderful and provides the perfect launch-pad for organizing more such events in future. The students, parents and teachers are already looking forward to this event again next year.
