By Rebecca Attias, Year 12
A few weeks ago, the International School of Prague hosted the 2022-2023 European Sports Conference Upper School Boys Football Tournament. Our school was one of six in this tournament, yet, was the only one to succeed and receive the title of European Champions! Year 11- Year 13 students collaborated and worked hard as a group to make up our LGB team. Playing a sport such as a football comes with rushes of energy, great excitement, and in this case, achievement, but hardships may come at times. Interviewing two players in Year 13, Alexander Makris and Dementij Kuraszov give the students a deeper insight into the experience that the LGB Football Team shared in Prague 2022.
What did you learn from this new experience of travelling together to compete as a team?
“Waking up early on a school day with all of my teammates was the start of this experience. Once we arrived, we immediately started a routine. We would train, explore Prague, and keep positive team energy. This truly gave us an opportunity to experience a similar routine that professional footballers experience daily. For example, exploring Prague in large groups, going to restaurants, but then coming back to train hard altogether. It was genuinely really fun to travel as such a large group, laughing around, motivating one another, and trying our best to keep ourselves organized.”
Alexander Makris, Year 13
“Sports aside, visiting Prague created unforgettable memories that I know my teammates and I will always remember. We were able to learn about the culture, eat various cultural foods, hear their language, meet their citizens, and experience the cold weather that we were not used to.”
Dementij Kuraszov, Year 13
What were any challenges you faced visiting Prague and as a team?
“As Dementij said, it was very cold and it took us some time to get used to the climate. The tournament was during the weekend and therefore waking up early on Saturday and Sunday was a habit that neither I nor my teammates had incorporated into our routines. And lastly, at times, communication with locals presented some issues as none of us were familiar with the language.” Alexander Makris
“As a team, we did face a few issues. Coming to this tournament as a mix of 3-year groups meant that the majority of us only spoke during training and didn’t know each other that well. This caused a lack or poor communication between us. We quickly overcame this challenge by getting closer to each other since for the next couple of days we had to live together. This made us grow as a team and establish new friendships and better communication on and off the field.” Dementij Kuraszov
How do you balance sports and school work, especially as an IB student?
“When our team is at stake, we do everything to maximize our training and teamwork. This means a lot of hours and investment into football. As an IB student, the best way I can balance the two is to ensure that during school time and free periods I work solely on school and accomplish as much as I can to reduce the work I have at home.” Dementij Kuraszov
“Playing football leaves us with having to make sacrifices which will impact our school grades. For example, leaving for tournaments means that we will need to catch up on notes, tests, and various deadlines, and communicate with teachers to let them know beforehand. Training may end very late at night and we are exhausted getting home to study. The best way I juggle the two is to make sure I complete all my work before I go practice to give myself a routine that I can handle.” Alexander Makris
Lastly, how does it feel to be European Champions of the European Sports Conference Upper School Boys Football Tournament 2022-2023?
“Once again, everything was wonderful. The hotels were amazing, the football coaches made this experience wonderful, and honestly, I want to experience this again. The football “chemistry” in our team is amazing because we are genuinely now all friends”. Dementij Kuraszov
“Winning this title created team bonding. As we won all the matches, we celebrated as a team and we had so much fun. This made us enjoy our plane rides back home even more as we felt accomplished as a team and felt a lot stronger together.” Alexander Makris
Once again, congratulations to our LGB Football Team!
