Seiritsu International Education

Hello people, Connor here;


At the end of September my selection in the Young Socceroos for the 2016 Asian cup qualifying campaign was confirmed and i was incredibly excited to join up with the boys in Sydney for our pre-tournament training camp. Fortunately, the squad was based in the Crowne Plaza, a hotel on Coogee Beach which was 10 minutes away from my house so it was wonderful to be back in and around familiar territory. After a week of training, preparation and massage on-request, we were off to Vientiane in Laos to start our three game campaign against Laos, Philippines and Japan.





Upon our arrival we were welcomed with hot humid climate and some girls who were waiting to take photos (which was a bit of a surprise), but they were quickly ushered away by our massage therapist/security. We stayed at the Mercure Hotel and for three days we acclimatised to the conditions by training each day at the times our games would be played.


Our first game came against the Philippines and it was definitely a success as we put six past them, conceding zero. It was quite a surreal experience playing in the colours of your country in a big stadium, it was definitely something I won’t forget.

The second game against Laos didn’t go as smooth as our first, but, we did manage to get a 2-0 win. Unfortunately, our last game against Japan which I didn’t play in we went down 3-0. All in all, it was an amazing experience going away with the boys and we were able to qualify for the tournament next year.





Unfortunately, my selection in the Young Socceroos cut short my stay in Japan and at Seiritsu as my new club Adelaide United FC expected me to join the squad in Adelaide as soon as I got back from Laos. I was very sad to be leaving Seiritsu but this day was always going to come and it made me reflect upon the dozens of memories and relationships that have been made over the past three years.

Looking back upon the previous 3 years made me realise that coming to this school was one of my best decisions as it helped me achieve my goals which was to develop my athletic ability and language skills whilst growing as a person.





None of this would have been possible without the support of all the staff, especially the International Department’s Brent and Peter who helped me tremendously with everything from school to everyday life and made my stay far more enjoyable. Also Yamamoto Coach and Miyauchi ‘Kantoku’ were instrumental in my development as a footballer. I would like to thank everyone at Seiritsu who made my time in Japan an enjoyable experience!


Thank you,

Connor


It was great having you here Connor, and it's fantastic to have seen you develop into a great person and player! - PW