The soccer ball sailed over the goalie’s head for the last time and both teams let out a cry. Two lines of players, one clothed in black, the other in red, high-fived and exchanged congratulations. Both teams then gathered for a few group pictures, chatting in three languages.

Lewis-Palmer High School’s Spanish Club and German Club met for a sports showdown on the afternoon of Friday, October 16th. The matchup, promised during last month’s homecoming assembly, took place at 3:00 in Fox Run Park. Soccer, or “football,” was the game of choice.

“It’s an international game,” said Spanish Club president Oriana Ramirez, 12. “You know, you don’t see world basketball; you see world soccer.”

Despite both teams’ excitement over the matchup, the rivalry between the clubs is not long-established.

“It only started last year. I was really close friends with the President of German Club, and we came up with the idea that we should totally be challenging each other. So we brought it to the field and we battled it out,” Ramirez explained.

German Club won Friday’s game with a score of 10 to 1, but Spanish Club vowed to challenge them again. As the Rangers filed out of Fox Run Park, plans circulated among them for a spring-semester “World Cup” involving all three language clubs: German, Spanish, and French.

“To me this isn’t about the winning, it’s about having fun, but there’s definitely competition. We need to step up our game,” Spanish Club vice president Nicole Skeeter, 11, said.
German Club meets on Black Fridays from 3 – 4 in room 219. Spanish Club gathers every Orange Tuesday in room 229 from 3 – 3:45. Both clubs encourage members of all abilities to join.