“To me, it was never about what I accomplished on the football field, it was about the way I played the game.”

The famous quote by Jerry Rice is a mantra of success for GIIS Ahmedabad’s U-14 Boys who remained undefeated in the ARA Future League Football tournament. Their strategy to play the game as a team, skilful techniques and dedication on the football field achieved the unanimous victory at the ARA Future League. 

GIIS Ahmedabad U-14 boys team won the final match against SGVP International School with a score of 2-0 under the captaincy of Jayshil Sompura. Being undefeatable, our U-14 boys played 6 matches in this tournament without losing a single match. They secured an incredible victory against Rachna School with a score of 3-1 during the semi-finals, wherein Shreshth Sharma (7th) bagged the Man of the Match title. 

We are immensely proud of Darsh Devani (8th), who was awarded the ‘Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament’ title. Sharing his happiness, he said, “After winning the SGFI tournament, we were under pressure to perform better than before. The semi-finals and finals in the ARA Future League tournament were crucial since we were competing against some reputed teams in the city like Rachna School and SGVP. They gave us a tough fight on the ground and I would like to thank them for their hard work. Winning the title of the Best Goal Keeper of the Tournament came as a pleasant surprise to me.”

The performance by U-14 boys won great appreciation from the audience and referees. Jayshil Sompura, the captain, said, “The tournament was extremely important for us as we were playing against all the best teams in the city. However, we were nervous but Kshitij Sir guided and motivated us well before and during the match. This tournament helped the team develop a never-giving attitude even after competing with the toughest competitors. A special thanks to GIIS Ahmedabad and Kshitij Jain sir for giving us an opportunity to represent our school and developing a keen interest in football.”

The Principal, Mr. Caesar D’silva is enjoying the victorious moments created by our young football enthusiasts. He said, “I witnessed them playing during the finals and the boys were extremely good with the techniques and strategy. It is commendable that this U-14 team played a total of 26 matches including all the tournaments and won 25 of them. They are undefeated and one of the best teams GIIS Ahmedabad has ever seen. We are extremely proud of them and wish them good luck for their future tournaments.”

ARA Football Club launched the first edition of ARA Future League Interschool 2023 SMART on its platform, Through this, SGFI wanted to encourage proper and future building of young footballers in the state of Gujarat. The football tournament will help the young ones learn how to distinguish between effort and ability. It will increase self-discipline and the awareness of the value of preparation because they will see and analyse the difference in their performance.