A journey with the Soccer Girls *Image Intensive*

[Stoned]

I was invited personally by my friend in the ladies soccer team in my school to cover their journey from before the match to after the match. I was reluctant at first because of my busy schedule but I was really glad I did in the end as it was a really touching experience. To see how much these girls wanted the trophy and how hard they fought for it made me extremely glad to see them finally lift the challenge trophy in the end. They deserve it, truly. Photography wise, I didn't do too well on the sports end; it's still my weakest area. I discovered finally that 200mm is way too short for field sports, but I tried my best. Many shots were terrible, with some average ones filling in the rest. I had to crop a lot of those you see here and I apologise for the OOF ones too, I left them in for the sake of complete coverage. Here we go then.

Gathering in a circle for prayer.


Mental preparation by the coach. Rar-rar speech.


Off to the bus


Taping up an injured ankle - The captain played the full game with it


In high spirits on the bus

[Stoned]

Strategy Discussion


In the locker room, keeping the smiles there despite the nervousness


The assistant coach's turn to give a pep talk


Group warm ups

[Stoned]

I was surprised to see this girl here. I had thought she would be out because of her broken arm, but apparently she was one of the reserves. Amazing dedication.


The school song. The stress leaked a little on to their faces here.


Coming onto the pitch, proudly bearing the school flag.


As the players ran past the flag, they touched it for luck and to remind themselves of what was a stake. Pride ran high amongst the players.

[Stoned]

A final steeling from the coach


Some excited spectators




Players shook hands


A quick coin toss and reminder about fair play

[Stoned]

The captains parted and the match was underway


Oops...


Team TJC bites the dust


The ball very narrowly missed the head of the TJ player


Before anyone knew it, the keeper was staring panic stricken as the ball travelled past the goal line after a beautiful follow-up.

[Stoned]

TJC attempted a fierce counter attack


Unfortunately minutes later they lost the ball and conceded another goal in the VJ counter attack

A brilliant run by No. 6 catches the TJ defenders out of position. A sharp strike seals the goal.


The TJ goalie stares panic stricken at the incoming ball. Her face screams OMG, OMG, OMG.


Now here is where the expletives emerge.


The half time whistle blows, leaving the game at 2-0 to VJC. The VJ girls run off screaming to the locker room, leaving the already defeated TJ girls standing aimlessly on the field. The coach tries desperately to lift their spirits in the hope of a comeback.

[Stoned]

The TJ team played a lot better in the second half though. They were more organised and their defense didn't leak as much. Possession still remained with the VJ team for most of the half though.

What looked to be an early 2nd half goal was denied by the TJ keeper who was finally making some good saves in the 2nd half.




Some challenges and runs came but neither side made much headway or scored goals.




Final whistle blew. The VJ team went berserk with joy. Final score, 2-0. Fists pumped in the air, faces broke out into laughter and wide smiles.

[Stoned]

More celebration.


Hugs everywhere.


Cast-girl appeared again. Giving everyone tremendous big hugs.


Tears of joy as the school song was sung


And shouts of jubilation as everyone ran round wildly waving the school flag. Numero Uno indeed.

[Stoned]

And finally, lifting a well-deserved champions trophy, with jubilant smiles all around.


If you've made it this far, thanks for taking the time to browse through this photo-essay, long as it is. Cheers.

[shuee88]

Geat Capture of the game although i am not very good at taking sports events... ! =)

[TMC]

Nice series, could have liked some wider shots for the finale. I do find the biased narration a demerit to the series, could be done without it.

[Stoned]

It is very biased, I agree openly. I guess because i spent the entire afternoon soaking in the atmosphere from the soccer girls that spirit of fervor they exuded must have spilled over. I apologise, it's just what the shots reminded me of when I looked at them again in post-processing.

[sehsuan]

I must say, this is an excellent attempt in covering a story.

You have done a lot better than another particular shooter from your school, though I'm probably going to be the only one person saying this openly.

Group warm ups


By the way, how did you do the above shot? Looks incredibly... surreal.

Keep up the good work... Nil Sine Labore!

[Stoned]

Thanks Sehsuan. I didn't really do anything special for that particular shot. I did stand further back to use 200mm at f2.8 to really throw it out of focus. The colours in the background are primarily because of the coloured seats in the spectator stands on the far side of Jln besar stadium. Perhaps you could be more specific about which part of the image causes it to look surreal? I'm not sure how to answer your query otherwise. Sorry about that.

[trlnlty]

i love the shots...

you've got a great eye.

would have loved to have seen tighter crops on players faces and emotions during play though

all in all great job!

[josho]

Love the shot too.. great shot! Nice!

[jdredd]

wow... other team goalkeeper was wearing spectacles..

thats either the bravest goalkeeper ive ever seen... or the dumbest.

[sehsuan]

I believe it's the position they're holding up their chins for the static stretch that makes it look that way. there's one photo that's OOF though.

[wainism]

group warm ups take the cake for me.

your photo reminds me of the pride that we all had representing our schools.

VJC is really sweeping all in soccer now huh?!

[Hexlord]

I like this photo a lot:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...6/Soccer81.jpg