ISSEA TRAVEL SQUAD challenges!
Unfortunately, Maya got into trouble with the school and will not be allowed to travel to ISSEA with us. This will affect several of our attacking strategies but I am confident we will pull through. We have worked so hard and to have one of our team members pulled out a few weeks before the tournament is devastating. However, as Mr Kovacs says ‘let us control the controllables’ and that is exactly what we are going to do. Maya will be SERIOUSLY missed but we cannot let this problem affect our game, I am confident we will go into ISSEA strong and play to the best of our abilities. However, we also decided as a team to send an email to the administration and it reads as follows:
“Good evening,
We hope this email finds you well. Following the decision of Maya’s suspension from the ISSEA tournament this April, I have a few concerns and requests on behalf of my teammates. However, I would firstly like to state that this is directly from the team and ourselves the captains. We are no way under pressure from Maya, her parents, the boys' team, the coaches or any other players' parents. As Ishmael Beah emphasized the importance of active listening, we invite you to read this message with an open mind and a constructive outlook. We would like to address you not only as an administration but as educators who, I know embrace the importance of developmental growth beyond the classroom. Although we understand and trust the reasons behind many of IST's rules, we also understand that consequences are needed to ensure a flourishing learning environment for all students. This being said we urge you to understand the detrimental/counterproductive effects of Maya's current punishment on other students. As I'm sure you know, Maya thrives as core member of IST especially in her contribution to sports, bringing back medals from various tournaments and serving as a admirable role model to many younger players. Needless to say, she is one of the most valuable players on the 2016 ISSEA football team. We understand that this punishment is perhaps final for Maya however, we urge you to reconsider such punishments for future cases. Sport helps relieve stress, boost grades and keep us fit all which are vital when enrolled in such an academically rigorous program like the IB. Depriving students of sport as a punishment truly affects an individual's academic performance as well as the entire team. Perhaps if you could come to one of our trainings you could see how determined and united our we are and the adverse impact for the team by removing a single player. Maya is also a crucial part of our team as she is our first and only forward, other than Jasmine Hall. As you might not be interested in our tactics or playing philosophy, we will restrain from explaining them in detail to you. Simply put, we have two styles of defending. In one of the styles we play very compact with long balls straight from goal to the forward. The forward then becomes a vital player and it is very important that we have an experienced, confident and skillful player in that position. We have carefully chosen positions for each player based on their individual set of mental and physical skills that maximize our team play. While there are many talented players who could possibly attempt to replace Maya’s position, their expertise in their first position would be lost, further damaging the hard work we have put in this past year. Jasmine, however, is an exceptional forward whose skills would allow us to continue with our current tactics and all players could continue excelling in their normal positions rather than frantically trying to change much of what we have learnt less than two weeks before the ISSEA tournament. As there is very little time until we leave for Zimbabwe, it is impossible for somebody to acquire the same standard of Jasmine’s skills both mentally and physically in the given time. While we have other potential reserves we cannot emphasize the importance of Jasmine’s contribution to the team. Due to the other potential reserves’ positions, if they were chosen to replace Maya they would have very little playing time. Inviting them to travel for them only to play a few minutes each game would be rather unfair and somewhat demeaning. Furthermore, it would put unnecessary stress on the rest of our players to cover an extra position. Jasmine, on the other hand, would have a similar playing time to Maya which overall is more sensible and more fair to each individual player as well as to the team as a whole. As she has already gotten permission from the ISSEA organisation for her to attend, we strongly would appreciate the school's consent. We are truly confident she is mature enough to travel, we know she fits and will be taken care of by the rest of our team and having her come would be a delight. Suspending Maya from the travel team has an immense effect on the ten other traveling players. While words cannot describe what we have learnt since August and hours cannot begin to show the time and effort put into our team. Our team embraces IST’s values in a way that cannot be taught in the classroom. Our football team, has helped cultivate these young women’s accountability, commitment and support in a tight-knit community where we are constantly inspired and challenged by other players around us. Rather than punishing the entire team for a mistake that has nothing to do with them or the football program, we would like to work with you to find a way to celebrate their hard work and achievements. With these ten girls in mind, please consider the request to provide permission for Jasmine to travel to ISSEA. We appreciate your time and look forward together to find a solution.
The Girls Football ISSEA team”
Posted on: March 17th 2016