The boys had a soccer game against Bul Bule Academy today, a school just around the corner where I believe the house kids attended before Maggie built Kopila Valley school.  There was a light drizzle but the boys were very excited and we had a great turn out to support the team.  They played well in the first half, moving the ball well and getting some solid opportunities against a much larger team in stature.  Bul Bule had kids up to 10th grade on the team while we only had a handful of 8th graders.  Unfortunately Kopila Valley could not capitalize and at one point they had a defensive breakdown which put two of our defenders on the ground and opened up the box for Bul Bule.  They took a shot and snuck it in past our keeper.  It was a lucky opportunity and it made our team look somewhat defeated for the rest of the first half.

John, the boys coach, Principal Deepak, some of the captains and I gave the team some words of encouragement at halftime.  They needed to be reminded that they were only down one goal and that they had been playing a better game than Bul Bule up until that point.  In the second half they came back with a vengeance.  They began hammering the keeper and following up on their shots, taking advantage of second opportunities.  They scored 2 goals on rebounded shots, one scored beautifully off of a cross from the outside, and one last one scored off of a corner kick.  After being down 1-0 in the first half the boys came back to beat Bul Bule 4-2.

It was a very exciting morning which boosted the boys' confidence in themselves.  They have some tougher opponents coming up soon I believe.  It was good to see them play somebody other than themselves for a change because now we can focus on their weekpoints in practice some more and improve the team as a whole.

I'd just like to say congratulations Kopila Valley and Coach John for a job well done today.


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