Kavanagh College Football 2015: Ben O'Farrell

Acknowledging International Students

"Boa tarde" is how I welcome our two Brazilian students at practice most afternoons. Claudenei and Ellison played in our pre-season Catholic Schools tournament each making the scoring sheet contributing to our winning the soccer/football component of the inter-school competition.

While they had to leave mid-season we appreciate the effort it takes to play using english with people who are new to you. Often you may not get the ball because of the language barrier or familiarity with the team and this can lead to less game time.

Having said this, it always adds a new dimension to our experience and it challenges our own assumptions about what we think we know of the world.

For my part I enjoyed your readiness to be involved and warm smiles. they were patient as I taught myself basic Brazilian Portuguese to help them feel a little more at ease.

Ka nui hoki te mihi ki a koutou. (Maori)-a big thank you and to all who travel to our part of the world - Ate logo! Richard

Kavanagh Pride

Watching the Kavanagh College soccer/football team I coach last week, I was proud of their attitude. They were playing a stronger all round team . Normally you might expect that I might mention their courage and perseverance and effort, but what stood out for me was their integrity.

Many times they let the referee know when the ball was to go to the opposition when the ref either gave the ball to us or was about to. The other team did not. They won the game but who would you want as your leader in the real world, someone with integrity who plays the game fairly, who you can trust, or one who gets away with what they can?

Proud boys, real proud.

Richard

Kavanagh College Football 2015

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