LILA’s football team, the LILA Lions, have won their International League CIF branch! They won an amazing victory 4-1 in a really tight game at first versus San Gabriel. The community will celebrate on campus on April 7th. 

By Axel Szlasa – 6th grade.

                  

The team, this year, won almost every game this season, and had a great chemistry of players. Their captain, Nikolas Lee, quoted, “We had depth, talent, and capabilities on the pitch. I made sure that in every pregame huddle, I reminded us that we had to find trust in one another and trust our coach.” This is one of the reasons the team has done so well this season. They had trust in one another and trusted their coach. LILA’s Athletics director, Andrew Sobol, said, “After ending the first half 0-0 in a tightly fought contest in hot weather, the team scored two quick goals to give themselves a cushion. San Gabriel managed to reply shortly afterwards to make the score line 2-1, however, the boys held their nerve and composure by scoring another two goals to seal the victory!” The next paragraph will unveil the true secrets of what led this team to victory.

Roman Chaponot, the team’s coach, is elated about the team. “It wasn’t one or two players sacrificing for the rest, as a unit they all made sacrifices for the betterment of the team. We had a large roster so a lot of players didn’t get to play in games, but they showed up to practice and embraced their role.” All the players were happy even though some weren’t in the starting lineup, because the team was giant. Chaponot continues, “They did not complain about not playing (or playing just one or two games) they worked hard at practice and made sure the first team always had tough competition to go against. On the first team we had players embrace new positions, and some even take on positions they did not want to play originally. Instead of complaining about it they accepted the challenge and proved to be irreplaceable to the team’s success.” 

The fact that players changed their positions is odd, because most people in high school who play football have played their whole life, and have gotten good at one position. Finally, the coach quotes, “In football you can win in a myriad of different ways, but the one thing that stays true with all champions is that as a collective they all buy into what the team is trying to do, and with this group that is no different.”