Sport & Societies SOAS Football Teams Gain Gold and Silver Titles in Paris Tournament

Omala Abrol & Line Currimjee, BA Chinese and Economics & BA International Relations

Les Parisiennes is an international sports tournament organised by Sciences Po university students in Paris. Both the SOAS Women’s and Men’s Football Teams went for an 8-aside football tournament which lasted three days, with the men’s team winning a rst-place title and the women’s team winning a second-place title. During those days, we were met with several challenges, including some questionably stale baguettes provided by the organisers and their dangerous interpretation of an AstroTurf pitch, which consisted of a solid concrete slab with a worn-down piece of green carpet gently cemented on top to represent grass. May our many bruises and cuts be proof of the horrendous pitch conditions.

e matches started early Friday morning with a nail-biting London derby match against LSE 1 where we shockingly lost 3-2. A er this, we vowed never again. e second match was against AUC from Amsterdam, where we won 3-0.

When Lil Benson wasn’t stopping, Captain Vendela Werkelin’s nose bleeds, we all enjoyed watching the men’s games in our free time which always ended with a feisty argument to keep us entertained. e men’s team must get an award for the most ghts started during a game. A special mention goes to, SOAS Men’s, Khadar for live streaming and recording all of their games.

At the end of day one, the goal tally was headed by Werkelin and Lina Currimjee, who collectively scored ve goals. We also had Mimi Longchamp’s little sister Jojo there, who came to cheer us on and was dubbed as our ‘little biggest fan’. In the evenings, the tournament organised social events, but nothing could match the team dinner our executive committee planned.

e dinner on Friday was serene but the trek up around 27 ights of stairs, not so much. However, this led up to the amazing view of the city’s lights in Montmartre.

e French culinary classics like escargot, duck and beef tartar lled us all up, and a wholesome dish of gossip was served for dessert during our walk towards the bar night. e city’s metro system must be mentioned for not loving tourists, so readers, if you’re taking the metro in Paris, please keep your metro ticket on you - especially on a Friday night! Events led us to skip the bar night planned and instead enjoy the serenity of the Parisian waterways. A group meditation and team bonding by the Seine River led our minds to be at peace and prepared us for the games to come on Saturday.

Saturday was a day for the books. Mariam Beltran-Lozano was able to join us a er taking many many planes to reach France from Spain, providing us with an extra oomph of energy. We had our second leg of the AUC versus SOAS match, which we won with a score of 3-0. Goals from Eva van der Vliet, Werkelin and Currimjee were beautifully scored. ey were celebrated in style by both the men’s and women’s teams screaming in celebration each time. If anyone needs cheerleaders, have the men’s football team on speed dial. We greatly recommend them. e second game was the return xture against LSE 1. is time we thrashed LSE with a win of 3-0, thanks to goals from Werkelin and Timaf Yacoub. Although Vicky Indreiten spent a lot of time falling over, her attacking prowess was one of the highlights of the tournament, in addition to Benson giving the opposition a concussion. e two wins meant that we nished top of our group, putting us through to the semi- nals against Sciences Po. Despite them having a home advantage, Yacoub heroically squeezed in the winning goal leading us to a 1-0 triumph!

Following a long day, mama Werkelin and grandma Benson hosted drinks and catch-up in their room. No football was discussed, and it was a good opportunity for the team to get to know each other outside of the sport. Several of us le to go to the organised clubbing night with the ounce of energy we all gained from our a ernoon power nap. Seeing everyone from the tournament not in football gear was a small shock to some of us, with Currimjee’s newly made LSE