By Grace Deng
​
Recently, baseball was scheduled to engage in a multitude of games. However, in a rather unfortunate turn of events, many baseball games have been cancelled.
 
According to Andrew Chang, a senior on the baseball team, the first game that ran into issues was a game on September 1st. It was at Concordia and the second game of the season. Luckily, the team had been able to play for about half of the game. However, right in the middle of the game, both teams were informed that the risk of lightening was around sixty percent. As a result, the game had to be paused for around thirty to forty minutes until the risk of lightening had gone down. After this, the game resumed, and both teams were able to complete the game. However, as Chang remarks, “it was an omen of things to come.”
 
The next week was Friday Night Lights, and according to Chang, the entire baseball team was itching for redemption against Concordia. However, there was a good deal of rain in the morning; as a result, Concordia decided to cancel the game, despite the fact that all other sports went on rather uneventfully.
 
The next week, a massive typhoon hit Kobe, Japan, leading to the cancelation of flights. This was mainly due to the fact that a massive ship had smashed into the bridge leading from mainland Japan to the airport. Matters were made even worse by the fact that no more games were scheduled until APAC, thus leaving the entire team with a month of practices without any games.
 
In order to make up for this, a game was scheduled between Concordia and SAS Pudong on September 13th. “Of course, it has been quite a frustrating season for everyone,” Chang said. “We have a pretty strong squad this year but we haven’t been able to play that much.”
 

By Adeena Liang
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On the awfully sunny noon of April 19th, the Varsity Girls Soccer Team started their warm-up before their first game against Canadian Academy, the runners-up of last year’s Super APAC. A certain type of excitement, with a hint of anxiety, filled the atmosphere as the team practiced their passes and blasted shots into the net.
 
Throughout the game, every single player played extremely well. The game finished with a hard-earned tie of 1-1, but there was not much time to celebrate, for the next game soon after was against Brent, the winners of last year’s Super APAC.
 
In that game, the Varsity Girls Soccer Team played like never before. The whole team fought their hardest for every single minute of the seventy-minute game, especially in the last ten minutes as Brent’s offense got increasingly aggressive. In the end, it was another well-deserved tie of 0-0, and there was much joy, and a bit of surprise, as the girls celebrated the result.
 
The next day, the Varsity Girls Soccer Team had another two great games. The day started off with a stressful last minute 3-2 win against the Western Academy of Beijing. This was followed by a tie of 1-1 against the International School of Beijing.
 
The last day, their first game was against SAS Puxi. At the start of the season, the Pudong girls soccer team lost to them 6-0, and then they lost to them again 3-0 in the middle of the season. It was the first game of the day, and the Pudong and Puxi teams warmed up side by side, with the same warm up.
 
The game was one of the best games the team has ever played. Puxi’s offence was as strong as always, but Pudong managed to keep them at bay. SAS Pudong’s offence at had a couple solid shots at goal, and Puxi’s offence had a few shots as well. In the end, Pudong ended up with yet another tie of 0-0, but this was their strongest game yet. The whole team was overjoyed at the results, tying with the team who had repeatedly beaten them throughout the season.
 
Even though SAS Pudong was undefeated, they were placed into the 3rd/4th bracket due to their lower total number of points, since a win was one points and a tie was only one. Pudong faced off WAB again, eventually beating them 1-0.
 
Placing third in the tournament, the Varsity Girls Soccer Team was more than satisfied with this outcome. When asked about her overall impression of this season, team captain Kelly Wang replied “Shants!”

By Hanwen Cao
 
The Junior Varsity Basketball Girls Team stepped on the court to play their first game of the season on November 11, 2017. The game was held in their home court at Shanghai American School Pudong High School Gymnasium and was played against their counterparts from the Puxi Campus. Teams from various international schools also joined the event, and the players were pushing the atmosphere to its climax with their competitiveness and spirit.  
 
Once the whistle was blown, girls from both teams fought for the ball with great determination and vigour, never backing down from their opponents despite falling or injuring themselves. Cheers and words of encouragement were heard from their teammates, motivating the players to continue running, dribbling, shooting, and snatching for rebounds. When the last quarter came to an end after over an hour of competition, SAS Pudong won the game by 38:14. 
 
"I think everyone worked super hard in order to get to where we are. We started out a little shaky but I'm really proud of how everyone performed today." remarked Sally Jin, a senior on the team, still sweating from the intense playing but smiling about the victory, "Even our tiniest players were being really aggressive beasts because we love this sport and we want that ball. I'm really excited for the season, you know, it’s a good start." Her teammates, Seoyeon Shin, Wenhui Lu, and Nikita Sao, all shared the same thought. 
 
SAS Puxi has also demonstrated excellent sportsmanship and congratulated their opponents from their skills. Although dissapointed, Sally Seo, a Puxi sophomore, applauded Pudong's win and reflected on the game, "We could've worked better today, but I know that we all tried our best." She finished with sharing her hopes for the season," As for our training, I think we could definitely practice shooting more so that we could grasp the skills and work better as a team." 
 
No matter the result, both teams gave it their all on the court and showed the spectators their enthusiasm and love for the sport. The teams have a great season ahead.  

By Grace Deng

On September 8, 2017, Shanghai American School hosted its first Friday Night Lights of the year. Friday Night Lights is an event hosted several times throughout the year at SAS in which SAS Pudong sports teams play against rival schools.

At 4:30, the announcer blared in anticipation while Fernando the Eagle, the school mascot, ran around the fields, hyping up the crowd. The baseball game had already begun as the JV girls team shouted their pregame chant, ready to take on SAS Puxi. Inside, SAS’ JV girls and boys volleyball teams got in position to take on Concordia International School. Crowds began to grow both outdoors and indoors as people drifted from the PTSA boosters to the bleachers to watch the games. Although the JV girls and boys both ultimately lost to Puxi, the baseball team was miles ahead of Concordia on the scoreboard.

In between games, free giveaways for SAS shirts were being held. Blue and white pompoms were handed out by sports players waiting to play, and people quickly discovered the pompoms could be tied onto hair or looped onto glasses, creating some rather interesting spectacles. Some of the varsity rugby boys emerged with new haircuts, having shaven the sides of their heads to show team spirit.

By 5:30, the energy of the crowds both indoors and outdoors was undeniable as the girls varsity rugby team got in position. Indoors, the JV girls and boys volleyball teams were in the final stretches of their games, with the boys team losing to Concordia and the girls team winning. The girls' varsity rugby team would ultimately lose against Puxi, but not without a spirited fight.

By Grace Deng

On Tuesday, Shanghai American School hosted an event called Tuesday Night Lights. 

The first of its kind, SAS chose to host Tuesday Night Lights instead of the usual Friday Night Lights because there is no school on Friday. Just like Friday Night Lights, Tuesday Night Lights was a chance for SAS students and staff to show school spirit by cheering on SAS’ team at a home game against a rival international school. In yesterday’s game, SAS’ varsity baseball team played against Concordia from 3 to 6. 

SAS crushed Concordia, beating them 22 to 4. “The game was too easy,” claims sophomore pitcher Andrew Chang. “Not only did we play well, but Concordia needs better practice. Honestly, the players from Concordia admit that it was an embarrassment. The entire [SAS] team got bored…I really have nothing else to say.” 

Although travel day for the sporting event APAC is fast approaching, Tuesday Night Lights is not the last baseball game before APAC. SAS’ varsity baseball team has a game tomorrow against the staff before having their final game on Saturday against Puxi. Next Wednesday, all season 1 travel teams leave for APAC (with the exception of Rugby, which SAS is hosting this year). This year, the APAC baseball team will go to the city of Manila.

By: Yunkei Chow and Jasmine Liu

On the 22nd and 23rd of September, SAS Pudong was proud to host the first Friday Night Lights of the year. On the baseball fields outside, our JV team competed in the annual China Cup, and inside the gym, the volleyball teams played against Dulwich.  
 
Starting at 4:30 with JV Boys and Girls Volleyball, the Activities Council began by announcing the raffle winner of the VIP Couch. Seated comfortably with couches and beanbags, the underclassmen looked content and ready to cheer as the games started.
On the right side of the gym, the JV girls started out strong against Dulwich, going on to win the match. And on the left, the JV boys won their first and second set, in a heated match with multiple deuces and loud cheers and shouts from every SAS student in the gym. 

​The second hour began with Activities Council announcing the second raffle VIP Couch winner, Tommy Shao. Served with brownies, nachos, pizza and soft drinks, he looked relaxed with his friends, as they prepared themselves to watch the next Varsity games. On the left side of the gym, the boys played a pretty tied game against Dulwich, but later won the set 25-18. They went on to win the second set 25-18 as well. 

​On the right side of the gym, the girls played a hard-fought game against Dulwich. Although initially falling behind, they went on to win the set 25-14. The second set was much more close at 25-20. Tired and content with their performance, they played a final consolation set against Dulwich, also winning 25-17. 

​In the side gym, the second JV girls played a strenuous match against Dulwich, narrowly winning the first set, 25-21, but losing the second set 21-25. Hoping to be able to achieve victory in the last set, they however lost 1-15.

 
 
Outside on the fields, the baseball team was not doing as well. Losing their first game to HKIS, they also lost the match against SAS Puxi 13-7.  
           
Overall, the success of the volleyball teams made for a successful Friday Night Lights, along with Boosters being there the whole time to sell food to players/students watching. Even with the ongoing sports conflicts causing many to be unavailable to attend, there was still a large turnout of spirited, enthusiastic students. 

​By Ivor Huang
APAC events are a time for athletes to push themselves as hard as they can while making new friends through a common sport. For the competitors of one sport, this opportunity has been cut in half.
Ten schools participated in APAC badminton last year, which provides a large pool of people both to compete against and get to know. However, this year’s APAC badminton tournament, taking place in mid-April, is going the way that APAC events for several other sports have already gone: this year’s tournament will be split into two conferences.
This was due to few schools having a student population large enough to uphold the APAC custom of students hosting visiting students during the events, as APAC badminton is expanding to twelve teams this year.
Amanda Li, a badminton player who, because of the split, has elected not to play badminton this year says that the split was unnecessary. “The majority of schools in the APAC program are able to host eleven schools,” she says.
Ben Zhou, SAS Pudong badminton team captain, disagrees that APAC should even maintain its hosting custom. “We could just sleep at hotels. I don’t think the students would mind paying extra money. Even sleeping in the school’s gym or something is fine, but I don’t know if that’s actually possible.”
Few people would enjoy sleeping in a gym, but the athletes are adamant in their opposition of the split. Both competition and fun matter far more than comfort to the badminton players.
“The split causes a lack of competitors for each division, and in badminton, it’s really clear who’s the weaker ones and the stronger ones,” says Li. “It’s not like a team sport where everyone can work together to make the team stronger so there’s a really large polarization of skill level.”
Not only is the competition level presumed to decrease this year, but the fun as well. Zhou says, “Some people think [APAC]’s boring now and didn’t join the team. There already wasn’t much play time and now there’s even less.”
“Without the split, the matches will not be as stressful as it used to be, but we only have one APAC a year,” says Ada Chen, coach of the badminton team. “We don’t want relaxing games. We want to challenge ourselves and meet strong players. I even have two strong players, the number one girl and number one boy, that quit, and they no longer are participating in varsity.”
Even though some former players decided not to join the team this year, the sport, as Justin Luo, a player new to the badminton team this year, says, “seems more popular than last year.” He quickly adds, “but from what I’ve heard, the team quality has gone down in general.”
Neither Zhou nor Luo believe that any rise in popularity was due to some of the best players deciding not to play this year.
“It’s mainly freshman that joined this year,” says Luo. “Like four or five freshman joined and they’re pretty decent. I guess their year just likes to play badminton.”
The split isn’t all negatives though. “[We’re] probably better because we were put in the weaker half,” says Zhou, who can’t help but include, “even though we lost our strongest guy and girl player.”