Page 11 - FIS World October 2018

pay enough tribute to the FIS team. They played very well against professional teams.” Coach Henchen, a 40-year coaching veteran of FIS and the 2018 Lou Grell Award winner for outstanding contribution to the ISST Organization – and Mr. Kottwitz’s former high school soccer coach – suggested this tournament was a dream come true for all of FIS, as well as for him personally.
“Holding this tournament at FIS was like winning the lottery for us,” Mr. Henchen said. “This was the best coaching experience of my life.”
Gareth Brewster, Co-Head Coach and ICT Director at FIS, also spoke proudly of how his team performed, but also emphasized how fantastic it was to open up the event to the community, and share the experience with neighbors. “It was an incredible opportunity for us to welcome professional players from across Europe, but more importantly to invite our neighbors on to campus to experience this event. Soccer is a common language and we all spoke the same language that weekend."
Paul Fochtman, FIS Head of School, echoed those sentiments: “We were honored to open our doors to these young athletes and recognition is due to the coaches and parents who prepared them for this event, both in terms of developing their skills as athletes and in modeling the sportsmanship that brought so much pride to each participating team.”
Extraordinary sportsmanship was indeed on display during the tournament and continued into the award ceremony when a player from FC Chelsea ran up to FIS player, Benjamin, and gave him his warm up kit. Benjamin said, “I really respected this gesture because he had found out that I supported the club and therefore gave me something to remember him and the moment for the rest of my life."
Many are hopeful that more fantastic memories can be made on the FIS soccer pitches in the future. According to FIS Tournament Coordinator for the U15 Cup and Grade 4 teacher, David McCoy,
“All the coaches were thrilled and are super eager to come back to FIS for another major youth tournament.”
Regardless of what happens in the future, Kai
Kottwitz said his dream has already come true.
“I feel the pride of a father whose child participated
in athletics at a high standard,” he said. “I am honored that I helped create a lifetime memory for my son and his friends.” And the school is honored to have been a part of bringing a community together.
Emmett Kelly FIS Parent
An FIS player battling for the ball during a match against FC Chelsea (above); key organizers who helped make the dream of hosting the U15 Tournament at FIS a reality, from left: Kai Kottwitz, Karsten Trompetter, Liane Terhorst, Olaf Kallinich, Stephan Haida and Tobias Müller
October 2018 FIS World 9