Fall Headlines

A learning weekend for the Varsity Boys Volleyball Team in their home tournament. Matches were extremely close for the four teams in the tournament. In the end ISB finished fourth.

From Coach Ivonne post game: the girls played well, fought hard and kept the score close all weekend. Saturday's match was very tight and ASL took a 1-nil win. There was great energy on the field with Eagles in town. A nice start to the season. Shoutout to Eline and Chiara with a couple of tough injuries. We hope you heal quick!

Varsity Girls

The Varsity Girls Volleyball team opened the new season with a strong showing at the Antwerp Early Bird Tournament, finishing 2-1 and bringing home third place in a weekend full of rivalry matchups.

The tournament opened Friday with the Brussels derby against St. John's, where the Raiders cruised to a convincing 3-0 victory. Saturday brought the Belgian derby against the host Antwerp, with the Raiders falling 0-3 before regrouping for the bronze-medal match against Amsterdam. After falling to Amsterdam in the tournament final in each of the past two seasons, the Raiders turned the tables this time, earning the victory and a third-place finish.

The weekend also marked an exciting start for the next generation of Raiders, with five players making their Varsity debuts and contributing throughout the tournament. Sophia led the way with an excellent all-around weekend and was recognized with selection to the All-Tournament Team.

With a 2-1 record, valuable experience for a new-look lineup, and a podium finish, the Early Bird Tournament provided a promising start to the season.

JV Girls

The Junior Varsity Girls Volleyball team is off to a great start this season!

The week began with a friendly match against St. John's on Tuesday, where the team earned a strong 3-0 victory. The girls showed great energy and teamwork on court.

On Friday and Saturday, the team travelled to Antwerp for its first tournament of the season. On Friday, the girls secured a win against Amsterdam's second team, with some excellent rallies, strong hits, and great team play.

Saturday brought tougher competition, and although the team did not come away with a win, the final match for third and fourth place against Amsterdam's first team was a real battle. The match went to five sets and was extremely close throughout, with both teams fighting for every point. All of the girls contributed and showed great determination in what was an intense and exciting match.

It was a fantastic first tournament of the season and a great opportunity for the team to grow together. A big shout-out to all of our JV players for their hard work and fighting spirit!

Next up: The Hague next weekend!

Coach Max provided the details in an exclusive press conference.

Saint John's: Good first test of the season for our boys. They managed to find their feet well in a new system. They pressed high, won their duels, and played with courage. We conceded just one shot in the first half from a corner kick which caught them off guard. Scoreline could've been even more in our advantage if we managed to be more clinical in front of goal.

ISD: The boys started the game strong, scoring within the first 5 minutes. Andro managed to gain the ball close to the 18 yard box after a good team press, took two touches and then buried it home. It is a known thing in Soccer that you are at your most vulnerable right after scoring. We conceded a penalty 1 min after scoring. Lack of focus and positional awareness led to a 1v1 saved by Markus followed by a foul in the 18 yard box. The rest of the game was a good physical and mental test. We dominated and should've scored more. Before the game we told the boys to give selflessly, and that they did, they fought for each other like the world depended on it.

ASN: We started the game on the back foot against a very physical team. A lot of avoidable mistakes cost us to sink rapidly, conceding 4 goals in the space of 15 minutes. At half time we asked the boys to go out there holding their heads high and win the second half. They were much better in the physical battles and managed to win the second half 1-0.

ASW: Although our Boys started the game really well, we conceded the first goal on their first shot of the game. Juanpa managed to get a penalty which he proceeded to brilliantly convert. We then managed to concede following a loss of possession in a dangerous area that left the goal wide open. The reaction from our Raiders in the second half was exactly what we were looking for. Fighting for every ball, playing with poise and ruse, and creating a plethora of chances. Unluckily, we only managed to convert one of the numerous chances created through a superb header from Andro from a corner given by Juanpa.

The Varsity Girls came together for the first time in game play and dominated on the field. On Saturday, they played back to back and managed to come from behind to tie 4-4 against the International School of the Hague, powering through fatigue.

The Raiders thought they were in a good battle when the score was 16-13 at the half, but the second half was not kind to the Red Machine. A couple of late tackles touchdowns by SHAPE made the score more lopsided than the game really was.

There were outstanding performances by many Raiders with Max leading the offense at QB and the defense with nine tackles. Rookies had a huge role on Saturday with Cas bringing in six tackles and Achilles playing a strong game at both linebacker and running back. Mason had a strong presence on both sides of the line and David had 48 yards receiving. Raiders touchdowns were scored by Max and Will.

It was an onslaught from the JV Girls Soccer team as Coach Gabbie led the team to three victories while the defense stood strong for the shutouts.

Great first race of the season in Dusseldorf for the Raiders XC team! Everyone dug deep on this flat and fast course. Podium places for Fiona and Aldis for U12 Girls, River and Leo for U12 Boys, a clean podium sweep for Talia, Alexia and Lorianne for U16 Girls, LD for U16 Boys, and Helen for 16+ Girls.

Training for hills starts this week as the upcoming races are hardcore!

Coach Burrows breaks down the weekend of play: An interesting tournament from the team. Were unlucky against Dusseldorf, with having most of the play and creating a lot of opportunities, the opposition had two shots and scored twice. The end of the first day, was very pleased with how we performed and it was a good first game of the season. Day two started early with the players needing to understand that their preparation is vital from the night before in order to perform consistently. A tough lesson here for all involved. The last game against Antwerp started slowly as we needed to run out the heavy legs. We went 0-1 down and it sparked the players into life. Combinations started to come and cooler heads allowed for some great passages of play to happen. Very pleased to see them continue here especially when goals were scored against.

Some stand out performances were Theo and Blue in goals, Lilo and Diego on the pitch. A good base to start from with good areas for growth.

The U14 tennis team kicked off the season with a trip to St. John International School in Waterloo. Friday was a bit of a slow start as the team got their feet wet, adjusted to the competition, and worked on finding their rhythm together.

By Saturday, the team came out with much more energy and confidence, battling hard and celebrating a few well-earned wins from several players (Doubles team: Bobby and Olaf (6-3); Eleonora and Sophie (5-4); Olaf and Eliza (8-0)). Two double players, Eleonora and Sophie, especially showed the importance of a strong mindset, battling back from difficult positions to earn an impressive comeback victory (5-4). The team is currently finding more success in doubles than singles.

It was a positive opening weekend, and the team is looking forward to building on this momentum as the season continues! Go Raiders!

St. John's - a game of two halves, literally complete team change at the half as we used this as a training exercise. A good morale booster as we kick-off our season.

BSB - a proper reality check. The benchmark opponent. We gave a good account of ourselves offensively but need to learn that there are 11 defenders on the pitch.

Bonn - a competitive game with both sides looking good going forward.

St. John's - a dominating performance with a couple of hiccoughs along the way. Can't afford to take our eye off the ball as we go forward. Rian with a second half hat trick stole the headlines.

It was a Tuesday of wins at St. John's as Varsity Girls and Boys Volleyball, Varsity Boys Soccer, and JV Girls Volleyball started their respective seasons with big wins! Nice job, Raiders!

The Raiders Varsity American Football Team kicked off the new season with a game against AFNORTH who they battled in last year's championship game. The Raiders are a young squad after last year's team graduated 16 players.

The game was close through halftime at which point AFNORTH was winning 14-6. Max scored the Raiders touchdown on a 52 yard scramble. With so many new players there was a lot of learning happening on the field and in the end AFNORTH pulled away to finish with a 26-6 win.

There were many standout performances on both sides of the ball by David, Will, JM and many others. Luke came up with a big interception in the first half. The team put up a great fight and will look to get in the win column this weekend in Rota.