Coaching soccer at the school

The International School of Dakar has been very good to me, so I make every effort to give back to the school. This includes chaperoning activities and field trips, translating for teachers who do not speak French, and coaching High School and Middle School soccer (which is funny because I was a hockey player when I was growing up and haven't played soccer since I was 12). Coaching carries a great deal of responsibility, but it has been really fun thus far. In fact, last week the High School team I coach beat the varsity team from Dakar Academy, the only other American school in Dakar, for the first time in seven years! Here is a copy of the article I wrote for the school newspaper...

The curse has been broken
The ISD high school boys’ soccer “shocked the world” this past Saturday, with a stunning upset victory over Dakar Academy boys’ varsity soccer squad in an exciting match that took place here at the ISD field. The final score was 1 to 0.
The Jaguars’ winning goal was scored only three minutes into the first half by midfielder Gil de Medeiros. From that point on, the game became an extremely tense back-and-forth between the two teams, as each attempted to capitalize on a number of scoring opportunities. Yet in spite of DA’s valiant efforts, it was the Jaguars’ ferocious defense, team captain Abdul Ly’s inspiring leadership, and above all, Tobias Glodde-Mueller’s flawless goalkeeping that kept ISD on top.
This was the first and the only match that the two teams will play against each other this academic year, and it was an absolutely amazing victory for ISD when one considers that the Jaguars had not won a single game against Dakar Academy for seven years. In addition, ISD’s high school soccer teams have been out of season now for five months, while DA is still in the middle of their season. In other words, the Jaguars beat their rivals for the first time in seven years after not having played together as a team since last November. Hopefully, this is merely a taste of what one can expect from the Jaguars in the years to come.