The ISP Girls Basketball Team Travels to Their Final Tournament of the Season, Reflecting on Their Preparation and Growth

Written in collaboration with Grade 9 student, Julie, as part of the MYP 4/5 Journalism elective led by Mr. Josefino Rivera 

The International School of Prague’s Girls Basketball teams travelled this week for their final tournament called the Sports Council for International Schools (SCIS) Tournament, which they’ve been training for with the hopes of placing in the tournament. 

The Varsity Girls travelled to Zurich, Switzerland from 5 - 7 March where they got 4th place,  while the Junior Varsity (JV) Girls travelled to Warsaw, Poland from 5 - 8 March where they placed 5th. Veronika, a shooting guard for the JV team, expressed her feelings on the SCIS tournament and its importance.

“SCIS is a tournament where international schools from all around Europe come and compete together, and I think it’s important because it creates a community and we can see how other teams play and we can learn from that.” 

- Veronika, JV shooting guard

 

Both the Varsity and JV Girls had planned games with local basketball teams and other schools before the SCIS tournament to maximize the amount of preparation. Soyul, the point guard and captain for the JV team, reflected on how preparation games helped the team.

“The games we played in Munich and Vienna helped us because there were a lot of games where we were losing, but we still kept fighting and the results were getting better and better. It taught us not to give up and to stay focused under pressure.” 

- Soyul, JV captain and point guard

 

During games, players said the intensity of the games pushed them to support each other even more. For both JV and Varsity players, staying united as a team was key to handling the pressure of competitive matches. Hili, a player on the Varsity team, shared how the team stayed motivated during high-pressure moments during a tournament in Budapest.

"During high-pressure games, I just look at my teammates and it immediately helps because we're all in the same pressure together. That’s what I love about team sports—we’re all in it together and we have a shared goal of winning and becoming better as a team. If the score doesn't go our way, we always give each other high fives. We use high fives and just hype each other up.”

- Hili, Varsity team player