BBN Soccer Correspondent Kevin Thermesi recaps Bengals FC's playoff worthy campaign.
Kevin Thermesi
February 21, 2023
It is that time of the year to reflect on yourself and reflect on past accomplishments; past mistakes and new improvements. I’ve met a lot of players from the Bengal team and they all seemed to enjoy their time playing, they all had a bright smile even after taking numerous losses. We’ve all seen the statistics; they lost multiple matches, no one can deny this; but why are they still so proud, why are they still happy to have at least participated on the team?
"The Bengals did something that multiple prior teams never could’ve, they showed dedication and played to their limit even with the pressure of the matches. So, we return to the question; did we really lose?"
The year started fantastically for the Bengals; they won their first game wonderfully after weeks of conditioning; they knew what they could and couldn’t do. The coaches made sure they were in perfect shape during and after conditioning; the captain even stated that he didn’t want them to start breathing without control during games; gasping for air. The coach provided everything needed for training and even managed to teach multiple people who couldn’t even control the ball or didn’t even have the confidence to ask and keep the ball how to do so. Every player had to scream for the ball; that’s what they were taught to do. The coach chose the batch of players he believed could provide the most in a game both physically and mentally; and so, began the first game.
The first game was the best one for the Bengals. They had trained for weeks up until this moment and managed to outmatch the opponent. The Bengals made their school proud and were even more proud of themselves, but after this match everything had gone downhill. After a few breaks and the school being closed due to hurricanes, the Bengal Boys couldn’t train, they grew weaker in strength and even weaker in fitness. The boys forgot how to play and had the pressure of a game coming up, hence they played and lost; demoralized by this loss the coach began to train them more fiercely, but due to the lack of time and the decreasing rate of players, the Bengals still had to keep playing. The coaches tried their best, learning new ways to train the group of players by increasing the intensity. But this was futile because the Bengals only won 3 games. Making it to the semi-finals of the playoffs; considering this terrific milestone; would this be considered a loss? The only time Piper High had ever made it to the Semi-Finals prior to this was in the 1970s, and due to many failures and accomplishments, the Bengals made it back to the Semi-Finals. They remade history. The Bengals did something that multiple prior teams never could’ve, they showed dedication and played to their limit even with the pressure of the matches. So, we return to the question; did we really lose?
