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Another record-breaking season of the Jakarta Schools Football Association concluded on Saturday with two fun-filled gala awards ceremonies in a packed theater at British International School in Bintaro, South Jakarta.

The winners of the Coca-Cola League and the Greenfields Cup were the stars of the day, as teams from five different age groups were handed trophies and medals.

But JSFA chairman Brian Dallamore stressed that the experience was more important than winning. “The whole reason for our existence is to give the kids an opportunity to enjoy competitive sport through school representation where we put together a healthy mental and physical environment for the students to learn that teamwork is important,” he said. “It also gives them an opportunity to meet children from other communities and from the other side of the tracks who they would never normally meet.”

On the day of the Cup final games, though, the season’s biggest winner emerged as Jakarta International School, which ran away with three league and three Cup titles.

JIS had already won two groups in the under-8 league division and one in the U12.

Then in Saturday’s Cup play, JIS’s Pondok Indah squad took the U10 title by beating the JIS Pattimura team 1-0, while in the U12s JIS beat rival BIS 4-0, and in the U16s JIS enjoyed a 6-0 defeat of Madania Progressive Indonesian School.

In the other age groups, BIS Red downed JIS Pattimura 2-0 to win the U8 Cup, while SMPI Al-Azhar 8/9 Bekasi took the U14 Cup by pipping the JIS A team 2-1.

BIS matched JIS’s output in the league by securing three titles — in U8 group C, U10 group A and U14 group B1.

Global Jaya International School, Sekolah Global Mandiri and Sekolah Victory Plus were the other schools that bagged two age-group titles in the league.

The awards ceremonies were split in two — one in the afternoon for the U8 and U10 age groups, and another in the evening for the U12, U14 and U16 brackets.

Both were packed with entertaining segments, including an appearance by ESPN personality PJ Roberts as guest host and an exhibition featuring Indonesian freestyle footballers and world freestyle champion Nam the Man.

One highlight was the sportsmanship award given to a team from the Bulakan Community School. Bulakan debuted in the league this year, and features players drawn from a shanty community located near the Bintaro railway station. Its team is organized and managed by Community Action Service students from BIS.

Dallamore said strengthening the JSFA’s social outreach arm was one of its main goals for next season. “We are concentrating even more resources and energy next season on the league’s charity links, which were so successfully delivered by students from BIS this year,” he said.

“They ran five charity teams bringing children together from the underprivileged community including kids from orphanages, street scavenger kids and local kampongs who were able to enjoy competitive football for the very first time. BIS students have even built a school for them, which was fantastic.”

A panel of JSFA officials also picked out a promising player to join an AC Milan junior training camp in Bali. Madania U16 player Genta received the nod.

This year’s gala ceremony capped a season that saw 2,000 students play for 138 teams from 56 schools — all record numbers. A total of 610 league and Cup matches were played in 20 divisions, also records.

“The important thing is that they don’t just select the good players and allow them to play. They bring in talents from all levels, from all ages and encourage football for everybody,” said Duncan McCombie, coach of BIS’s U8 league-winning team. 
 
Final league & Cup standings at www.jakartafootball.com/2011/
 
JSFA League Winners
U8A Jakarta International School U8 PIE
U8B Jakarta International School U8 PEL
U8C1 British International School U8 Blue
U8C2 Netherlands International School U8
U10A British International School U10 Red
U10B Sekolah Global Mandiri U10B
U10C1 Global Jaya International School U10
U10C2 National High / Jakarta International Prestige School U10
U10C3 Sekolah Victory Plus U10
U12A Jakarta International School U12
U12B Mentari International School Jakarta U12
U12C1 Deutsche International School U12
U12C2 Dian Harapan School U12
U12C3 BInus International School Simprug U12
U14A SMPI Al Azhar 8/9 Bekasi U14
U14B1 British International School U14 Blue
U14B2 Sekolah Victory Plus U14 Dragons
U16A Sekolah Tiara Bangsa ACS U16
U16B1 Sekolah Global Mandiri U16
U16B2 Global Jaya International School U16  

Greenfields Cup Winners
U8 British International School U8 Red
U10 Jakarta International School U10 PIE
U12 Jakarta International School U12
U14 SMPI Al Azhar 8/9 Bekasi U14
U16 Jakarta I n ternational School U16