Sketches (of a 10-something life)

A sad week for KIS FC as the Flaming Phoenix falls into two consecutive defeats against SFS and YISS… Well nobody really expected us to perform that well anyway…

More bad news comes from our ex-captain Tom Chae, who sadly cannot play with us for the rest of the season due to complications. Influential defender DingDong couldn’t attend the YISS game due to a serious illness, as utility man Jin Kwon couldn’t play due to an ankle complication. Could things get any worse? A drop of morale was evident during our losses, and not even the happy sight of our home turf filled with screaming girls encouraging us on was enough for SFS and YISS to score 5-1 and 4-0 on us respectively.

Coach Derek Dalasta noted a drop of passion in our game and told us that we’re in for hell on tuesday’s practice.

But today I am here to tell you a little bit more about our team… The brave young men who serve our school, even though the odds are stacked agaisnt us, singing together as we run through the mountain behind our school, laughing in the bus after an important game, heads down in quiet solace after a devastating loss… Things I will cherish for the rest of my life. But without further ado, I present the Freshmen of KIS Football Club.

Name: Joshua Kim
Position: Central Midfield, Attacking Midfield.
Rank: ***

Dubbed “Arshavin” due to his obvious physical similarities with the famous Russian footballer, Joshua Kim is officially the smallest player in our team, a fact that the other schools take advantage of. It is not usually common for Joshua to win an aerial battle. However, what he lacks in stature he makes up for speed, pace, and his dribbling ability, which is shown during his amazing run during the DAHS game. Starting from outside the box, Joshua runs past more than three defenders into the left side of goal and calmly slots the ball into the side netting. Although he didn’t score, the run itself was worth a replay. Joshua also possesses one hell of a shot, particularly skilled with the volley. Due to his relatively small feet, Joshua can volley the ball from almost any position with alarming accuracy and power. Underlining his importance to the team, Coach Dalasta believes that Joshua is the perfect replacement for Max Park, and is frequently seen switching the two during substitutions. He has a great future ahead of him.

Strengths: Agile, Dribbling, Wonderful shot, accurate passes
Weaknesses: Small stature, no aggression, poor defending

Name: Soho Char
Position: Right/Left Midfield, Right/Left Wing
Rank: **

Extremely quick and possibly the most technically skilled in the team, Soho Char suffers from slight drawbacks: lack of playing time, and a huge ego. However, his dribbling ability is second to none, and coupled with his pace on the ball and height, he could be drawn comparisons with Zlatan Ibrahimovic. However, Soho lacks game experience and mentality, frequently seen to flop during games. Also, teammates complain that he does not pass as much as they would wish, and that Soho performs useless tricks with the ball sometimes. However, one thing is true: If Soho works on his defects he would undoubtedly have the potential to be the greatest footballer KIS has ever seen.

Strengths: Great dribbling skills, pace, height, speed.
Weaknesses: Mentality, composure, shooting, ego centrism.

Name: Dongmyoung Lee
Position: Left Midfield, Left Winger
Rank: ****

Thank God that this skinny Russian came to KIS! Coming from the city of Moscow, Dongmyoung Lee is something of a revelation for KIS, scoring the most spectacular goals that KIS had to offer this year. In my earlier posts I have written his amazing volley agaisn’t DAHS: a spectacular missile that dipped into the right hand side of the goal. Dongmyoung Lee is definitely one for the future. Armed with a left foot to die for, expert passes, and sublime technically ability, KIS would undoubtedly be in a very bad spot if “Dongmyoungski” never came to this small Pangyo school. However, Dong has somewhat been plagued by knocks and is somewhat injury-prone, and is frequently seen in the left side of field, clutching his left-ankle. The fact of the matter is that DM is just too damn skinny. However, it does not matter because I say this with full honesty that Dongmyoung fully deserves best new footballer to KIS FC.

Strengths: BEST LEFT FOOT EVER, Accurate passes, great header, selflessness
Weaknesses: Skinny, no aggresion, injury prone

It was the best of nights. KIS soccer team’s annual overnighter at Daegu saw KIS pit up agaisnt southern forces Taejeon International Christian School and Daegu American High School. The bright orange KIS bus that left with a group of ambitious boys and girls brought the beaming faces of tired victory back home. That’s right everyone; we won both games! In all of KIS’ history in the first division, this is a first.

A corner kick goal from our devastating Russian-based Dongmyoung Lee, dubbed Dongmyungski, saw an end to TCIS in a very, very narrow encounter. A day later down south in our encounter with DAHS would showcase the form of our deadly Junior hitman Steven Noh with two goals from the skilled striker, one of them an athletic over-head kick volley. However, the highlight of the match would be Dongmyoung’s opener; a stunner of a volley that saw the ball smashed into the lower right corner from DM18′s lethal acanthus sinistra.

However, there was one man that saw to it personally to make KIS maintain their no goals conceded. KIS’ goalkeeper Jason Park was in sensational form to see off the threats of TCIS and DAHS, keeping up his exceptional form. Making a myriad number of “miracle” saves, it was clear to TCIS after 60 minutes that it was impossible to score on KIS. DAHS, on the other hand, couldn’t even make it past the great wall of Tom Chae and the effervescent Mike Bock.

Constantly under attack from the skilled TCIS forwards continuously put me under great pressure. They were obviously owning us in regards to possession and peppered my goal with long-range efforts and made killer passes to the wings. In the 8th minute they managed to hit the crossbar with a powerful header and point blank range, however this would be the most close to scoring they would ever get all game. I could not believe it; After 60 minutes I realized that I was doing unexceptionally well, making saves that, if I was viewing this game on TV, would seem miraculous. When that final whistle blew, my team showed their approval with cheers and great team embraces that will last forever in my heart.

In the end, we were very happy to have come out with two wins in a row, which made our 8+ hours in the crappy KIS bus a lot happier. After being showered with love and affection and being branded MVP and Man of the Match, I realized that even after my mistake agaisnt last week’s thrilling encounter with SIS that ended 3-3, my team believes in me. This makes me love all the lads in our little team even more.

This Tuesday: SFS!

If there was one word to sum up Korea International School’s soccer team, it would be “green.” The group of lads in this modest Pangyo school has seen it’s promotion from KAIAC Division 2 roughly two years ago, and their progress can most likely be described as having its fair share of hardships, trials, and adversity. However what sets these young men from all the rest is their determination; their undying passion for the beautiful game of football. Former 1st team coach Jason Spivey installed an unbreakable bond of unity within the team, and this sets KIS FC from other football clubs. Just as a phoenix rises from the flames of privation, the boys in blue have never failed to rise up once again, as a family.

My name is Jason Sang-Hyun Park, goalkeeper and #32 for KIS FC. I have decided to dedicate my blog for my Brothers because they have changed my life forever. I have been a goalkeeper for as long as I can remember, and have chosen this path simply because I dislike having to run all game. The path I have chosen has proven to be tough as it is fun. Last year when I was a freshman it came to my attention that our school’s team needed a goalkeeper, and that I was the only one to be found. At first I shunned the idea from my head; I just knew that if I ever managed to mess up in front of the goal, it would spell disaster for the whole team: A totally unreasonable concept that I soon came to realize would be absolutly correct. KIS FC would be devastated for the first half of the season, with an average scoreline of 0:4 for the other team. I felt like crap because I could not impress my team, my upperclassmates, my coach, and my peers, simply because I had no confidence in my ability whatsover. In all honesty I wanted to quit. Coach Spivey told me to not worry about it; I was a freshman and that KIS had no other choice. I did not take this answer. Jun Kim, my then Junior mentor and now one of KIS FC’s best goalkeepers, told me to show everyone what I could do. I simply replied that it was not that easy. I was a nervous wreck; my only source of comfort was in my freshman friends, who assured me that I was doing a fine job.

I continued to feel like crap until my big break: OSAN-KIS 2008. This game would change my life forever. At the 8th minute we conceded a penalty kick, and I assure you that it wasn’t the greatest start to a match. they scored and it was 1-0 to OSAN. a few minutes later, Chu Sung-Han, who is affectionately refered to as “Chun-soo” after the national footballing hero, collected a through-pass from Max Park and calmly slotted the ball to equalize. At the 56th minute or so Chun-soo would score again, this time a curling effort into the top right corner. I simply could not believe it; we were winning! The opposition could not believe it either and were determined to get back on level terms. On the 89th minute, after constantly peppering the goal with long range efforts and molesting our defensive line, OSAN breached our offside trap. Things did not look so good as two forwards were gaining momentum towards my goal. With about five yards left to go, the attacker on the left passed the ball to the attacker on the right, who was about three yards closer to my position. I swiftly changed my stance to face the new threat but it was too late: he fired a powerful shot into the top right corner. The next thing I notice is a sharp sensation in my right hand and my head facedown on the dead grass. I look up to find the once-threatening OSAN forwards with their hands clutching their faces, shocked with disbelief and remorse. A split second later I realize what had happened. My body somehow reacted to the shot in a subconcious level and managed to tip it over the bar! I literally saved my team! I could see the jaws of everyone on the field hit the earth, except one. This jaw was the small jaw of Chun-soo, who had a large beaming face, ran all the way to my position, screaming into my face “YEAHHHHHH GREAT SAVE!!!” and gave me the most manliest hug of my life. I screamed back, with a huge grin, and realized that being in KIS FC isn’t that bad after all.

We managed to win that game 2-1; Our first and only victory for a long time. With this new boost of confidence we managed to defeat our rivals SIS 4-0, and in Far East finish 2nd in the group stages, only to be abruptly knocked out by GVCS in a penalty shoot out. It didn’t matter to me. I love my team with all my heart, and I am sure that we all share the similar feelings towards eachother. But whenever I feel down and need a reason to carry on, I think of Chun-soo’s beaming face on that very special day at OSAN, and that makes all the difference.