On a seemingly perfect fair-weathered Wednesday, Valparaiso High School’s Foreign Language department held their annual soccer event in order to raise money for the Spring Valley Shelter located in Valparaiso. The event took place at Forest Park this year, an ideal space to spread out all of the teams involved. VHS has a total of five foreign languages - Spanish, German, French, Latin, and Japanese, which made the turnout to be around three hundred students. All of them were split into a total of six teams, each branded with colorful t-shirts that showcased a student-made design.
The afternoon started with each team playing against another in a tournament fashion. Four different games were going on at once until it got smaller and smaller, to where only two were left. Eventually the students in their fifth year of Spanish came out the victors - a feat some of them had accomplished before as freshman. “It feels good to win today, but it’s always been fun,” one of the victors said of the event. That statement holds true for the rest of the students, Autumn Veenekanp in the Japanese club said, “It’s a lot of fun, it’s nice to support the club and to help with charity.”
Each year, this tournament has been held to help the charity with the restaurant Don Quiojte, which has also catered the event for free. All of the proceeds from the event goes to their benefit that is held at in November. Robert Cespedes, who is a Spanish teacher and also works at the restaurant, said that the tournament's contribution comes out to a couple thousand each year. Chriselle Waters, who first started the get together around fifteen years ago, has seen the game grow from being an event where someone happened to bring a soccer ball, to growing towards a valued tradition. She said overall, “I think it's great! I think the kids love it because it gives them a chance to come out and play and enjoy the outdoors, plus to be playing against their friends. So, I think it’s something they look forward to.”
In all, it was a successful day for the students and teachers alike. The game came to a close quickly as it ended an hour earlier than expected, but it gave a bright view to the future years upcoming for new incoming students to experience being a part of their own soccer team. As for the ones who continue their next year in a language, they said they would definitely do this next year. To sum up the day perfectly, Chriselle Waters said, “There’s nothing else that brings languages together more than soccer.” It definitely rang loud and clear that afternoon.
Click here to see more photos from the event!