Monday, 29th of February, the U13 Girls’ Football squad had their third fixture this season. The girls played against Doha College, at the Doha Football Rugby Centre. The 40 minutes match was played 9-a-side, with rolling substitutes.

Both teams played well throughout, creating some good opportunities for goals. DC inaugurated the scoring board but, SEK Qatar draw the score with four minutes to the end of the first half. A goal from Tsunami Ceballos. During the second half, SEK had a fantastic opportunity to score a second goal with a kick from Tsunami, followed by another attempt from Katerina but, DC’s goalkeeper managed to save both kicks, securing the ball on the second attempt. DC also had another good opportunity to score but, SEK’s goalkeeper saved it by hitting the goal over the bar. The match finished with 1-1 score. Currently, both SEK and DC have 7 points on the QUESS U13 Girls’ Football League table, having respectively won both their first and second matches, and today drawing against each other. Good luck on the next fixtures!

Squad: Claudia Montalvo, Emilia Montalvo, Isabel Pérez, Katerina Darby, Gabriela de la Cuesta, Gabriela Satrustegui, Rafaella Becerra, Salma Elbechouti, Tsunami Ceballos, Victoria Pérez.

On the 23rd of February the QUESS U12 and U13 Boys’ Football squads travelled to Qatar Academy (QA) to play their matches. U12 played two matches, winning 3-2 against QA A team, and drawing against QA B team 0-0. U13 Boys did well winning their only match by 1 goal to nil.

On the following day, Dukhan English School (DES) visited SEK Qatar for a QUESS U13 Boys’ Basketball fixture. The SEK squad performed well, and won the match scoring 28 points against 20 points from DES.

Monday, 22nd of February, a group of six Futsal professionals from Portugal, Brazil and Qatar working at Al-Sadd Club led the MYP Grade 8’s Physical and Health Education lesson together with Ms. Paula Rego and Mr. Eduardo Cary. The focus of the lesson was on the coaches’ roles, and the key aspects of the job, such as keeping a track record of players’ statistics, and coaching technical and tactical aspects of a sport. Grade 8 pupils had a chance to experience playing with the invited professional Futsal coaches and players, working through technical and tactical exercises of Futsal (formerly known as Futebol de Salão).

The P.E. team would like to thank the collaboration of Al-Sadd Club, coaches Nuno Lázaro and João Leite, and players Rafael Silva, Mohamed Bashir, Abdulla, and Adnan who travelled to SEK Qatar in West Bay, Doha.

Sunday, 21st of February, the QUESS U13 Girls’ football squad travelled to Compass International School Doha with Ms. Paula Rego. The girls played well, showing good teamwork. Salma Elbechouti, capitan, scored both goals for the team. Final score: Compass 1-2 SEK Qatar.

Squad: Claudia, Emilia, Isabel, Katerina Darby, Gabriela de la Cuesta, Gabriela Brito, Laila Shokair, Rafaella Becerra, Salma Elbechouti, Tsunami, Victoria Pérez.

On Friday, the 19th, a squad of 11 players competed in the Volkswagen Junior Masters Middle East tournament. This was the second year SEK Qatar participated in the event, promoted by Ms. Paula Rego, who also selected the players to represent the school on this competition of 9-a-side football. The event took place at Al-Markhyia Sports Club between 8:45 and 15:00.

On the Group stage draw, SEK integrated the Group A. Group A: Qatar Foundation – Rec Team; Dutch School; SFQ; SEK Qatar. Group B: Qatar Foundation – ECCH Team; German School; Future IFA; Newton School Futsal Academy.

Each match was ten minutes long. The team had a fantastic performance throughout the tournament, winning all the matches. First match with 9 goals to 1. Second match 1-0; Third match 8-1; Fourth 5-0. On the semi-final, the team won 7-0. And, the final with another impressive score of 5 goals to nil.

The best player was Daniel García.

Squad: Adrián García, Alejandro Tebar, Daniel García, Ignacio Montesinos, Jaime Pombo, John Elsonbaty, Majd Saed, Mario Salvador, Nicolas Montesinos, Oriol Cano, Riordan Jewell-MacGregor.

Physical Education Teachers: Ms. Paula Rego, Mr. Eduardo Cary.

The P.E. Teachers would like to say a big thank you for the fantastic support they received from all the players’ parents, who also spent the whole day at the event supporting their children on this great competition. Well done to all. The next competition will take place in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) on the weekend of 18th-19th of March. Best of luck!

Note: Qatar’s newspaper Gulf Times published an article about this on the 24th of February, with the title “School team wins Qatar leg of Volkswagen Tournament”. To read the article use the following link: http://www.gulf-times.com/story/481328/School-team-wins-Qatar-leg-of-Volkswagen-Tournamen

Monday, 15th of February, SEK Qatar travelled to the industrial city of Dukhan, on the West side of the country. Nine girls to compete on the U13 Girls’ Football. A total of fifteen boys, eight and seven, to compete on the U12 and U13, respectively. Ms. Dalila Rodrigues and Mr. Paul Vaughan accompanied and led the squads on the three competitions.

The team left SEK Qatar at 13h00, travelling for 1h30 to reach Dukhan English School (DES). Matches were initiated soon after arrival. Matches took place simultaneously. The U12 boys’ team played really well against U12 DES A team. With some good opportunities for goals, both teams only managed to drew, with 1 goal each. DES inaugurated the score table on the first half. SEK goal was scored by Jamie Pombo already on the second half.

While the U12 were playing, the U13 faced their opponents on the community field. With a 7-a-side squad, and without substitutes, the boys performed fantastically. DES scored the first goal of the match which, was followed by a great goal from João with a far away kick. With a draw at half-time, SEK players entered second half committed to win. A penalty was awarded against DES, and Nicolas scored the second goal. Nicolas would later score the third goal, assisted by João. Fourth and fifth goals were scored by João and Omar. U13 won their match by 1-5.

U13 Girls finished the first half without goals from either side. However, took full advantage of ‘the warm up’ on the second half. Salma scored the first and second goals, followed by Gabriela Brito, and Gabriela Satrustegui. Final score: DES 0-4 SEK.

As both U13 squads finalised their matches, the U12 Boys were playing the second half of their second game, now against DES B team. The game started promising with Alejandro scoring the first goal just after 36”. After a great pass from Mario, Jamie scored the second goal right in front of the goal. Later on, Mario showed again his fantastic skills, overtaking two defenders, and himself scoring the third goal. The boys entered the second half with even higher expectations. Alejandro, Adrián, Jamie, Jibran, Majd, Mario, Max, Riordan (Rory) showed off fantastic teamwork, and individual skills, dealing to Alejandro scoring another 4 goals, concluding the match with 7-0 for SEK. Highlights go to goal-keeper Rory, who impressed greatly for his confidence, and skills.

U12 Boys: Adrián García, Alejandro Tebar, Jamie Pombo, Jibran Samnani, Majd Saed, Mario Salvador, Max Frontiera,  Riordan Jewell-MacGregor.

U13 Boys: Daniel García, Fabian Escobar, Mark Elsonbaly, Nicolas Montesinos, Omar Awad, Oriol Cano Palau.

U13 Girls: Claudia, Emilia, Isabel, Katerina Darby, Gabriela de la Cuesta, Gabriela Brito, Gabriela Satrustegui, Salma Elbechouti, Victoria Pérez.

Well done to all! It was then time to head back to the capital. After 1h30 on the buses, the squads had great news for their parents awaiting in Doha.

The Physical Education Team would like to take this opportunity to thank all teachers who dedicate so much time to prepare logistics for the fixtures, to coach teams, and to travel with the squads to various locations in Qatar.

Also, thank you, to the enthusiastic players who feel proud to represent the school. And, to the parents, without whose support none of this would be possible. Thank you, for letting their children enjoy competitive sports, and for making themselves available to pick them up at late hours from school.

On Wednesday, 10th of February, QUESS U12 and U13 Boys’ Football competed against ACS Doha International School on 7-a-side football and 11-a-side football respectively. The matches were short, as they had to be held at the Tunisian School in Doha, and did not allow SEK footballers to show their full potential. However, results were close, the U13 lost 1-0, and the U12 drew 1-1.