I am very passionate about many sports, particularly soccer. Since I am currently on the St. Mary’s varsity team, I became curious about the history of our soccer team. To find answers, I went back through the school yearbooks starting from 1960 to trace the origins of the program.
I looked at the 1960 yearbook, there was a sports page and even an image of students playing soccer, but soccer did not have its own section. Basketball was the first major team sport featured, appearing as early as 1961, and by 1962 the basketball team had already won the Kanto Tournament. From the early 1960s to 1966, the main sports in the yearbook were basketball and tennis.
However, soccer entered the yearbook sports section in 1969, alongside cross country. By 1976, the soccer team finally had a proper section with a season record. That year, the varsity soccer team played six games: a 0-4 loss to ASIJ, a 7-0 win to YIS, a 7-1 win to St. Joseph, a 3-4 loss to ASIJ, a 4-1 win over St. Joseph, and a 6-2 win over YIS. The overall record for the season was 4-2, showing that the St Mary’s soccer were already building a competitive team.
The next major highlight appeared in the 2019 to 2020 season. Led by veteran coach Mr. Van Den Bosche, St. Mary’s had one of its strongest seasons ever, finishing with a dominant 13, 3, and 1 record and winning the Kanto League going back to back from the season prior. This season had a strong leadership, led by captain Nishad Govindarajan. The soccer team seemed to be climbing new heights until the covid pandemic stopped the whole world.When sports resumed in 2021 to 2022, only two games were played, against BST and ASIJ. The team tied against BST and lost to ASIJ.
In the following years, the team worked hard to rebuild momentum. During the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, the Titan Awards winner Leon Cogger led the squad. The closest the varsity soccer team came back to winning the kanto league was during this 2023-24 season, where they tied ASIJ in the finals but ultimately lost in penalties. This was the most recent moment when St. Mary’s nearly reclaimed the league title.
Currently, soccer is a winter season sport here at St. Mary’s, which places the team in the Kanto League. Because of this, we only compete against three official league opponents: K International School, ASIJ, and BST. We occasionally play friendlies against schools such as the French School, but the limited winter schedule prevents us from facing a wider range of schools like YIS, CAJ, or the base schools.
Even within this smaller league, the team is fully focused on winning the title this year. In our first matchup against ASIJ this year, we lost 2 to 5, but the score doesn’t reflect the level of play. The match was very competitive, and was a thriller. The immediate goal for this season is to finish the season strong and to reclaim the kanto title.
Moving forward, beginning in the 2026 to 2027 school year, the plan is to move soccer to the spring season. This transition will expand the number of matches and open opportunities to compete against more schools, including schools like YIS, CAJ, and the base schools. With a better schedule and stronger competition, the varsity soccer team aims to develop into a powerhouse and eventually win the Far East title.
Going through the yearbooks showed me that St. Mary’s soccer has a very deep history than most people might realize. From its unofficial presence in 1960, to becoming an official sport in 1969, and finally to becoming a power house in the late 2010’s to early 2020’s, the team have built a tradition of soccer.
