Two weeks ago, the UNIS boys varsity football team traveled down South to participate in the highly anticipated annual tournament hosted by Saigon South International School. As vigorous and serious as this tournament may have been, there’s always a comedic side to it, especially when you have sixteen adolescent boys travel on a sports trip for the weekend.

First off, the tournament’s called “North-South Cup” but at the end of the tournament we found out that there isn’t actually a physical cup and that it was something figurative that we had to muster through our imagination. Secondly, at the end of the tournament there wasn’t any crowned winner nor was there an announcement of the victors of the tournament as there wasn’t any point system in place. Asides from these flaws the tournament had a competitive but friendly atmosphere as SSIS was also hosting an Arts event. For the first day of games of the 7-aside games, the UNIS team did exceptionally well in thrashing RMIT 4-0 as well as a 1-1 draw with ISHCMC and a disappointing 3-1 lost against the host of the tournament, SSIS.

After we returned to the nearby hotel exhausted and disappointed in our performances, the coaches gave us no time to rest as we were told that we had 30 minutes to settle in our rooms, shower, change, and then be prepped and ready to head out for some sort of team bonding experience. We first headed off to have a team dinner at Burger King followed by a snooker competition at a local snooker club where Phong Bui and Thai Son Trinh had the chance to show off their hidden talents.

The second day of the tournament was 11-aside games with water breaks every 15 minutes, as the cloudless skies and burning heat took its tolls on the exhausted players. The second day was a lot better from the boys as we played 3 games in a row with half an hour breaks in between games, coming out with victories over ISHCMC as well as SSIS whilst drawing against a determined RMIT team. Overall, the North South Cup was a great learning experience for our young inexperienced team as well as a great bonding experience for the numerous new members to our exciting, hopeful team. Next stop, APAC!!!