By Ed Shepherd
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT

The Tyee Totems competed against two other teams in the four-team, Highline Public Schools 2015 Jamboree, and were the only team of the field of four squads, to win both its abbreviated, 20-minute games.

The Totems scored a 3-0 win over Evergreen and beat Mount Rainier, 1-0, at Highline Memorial on Saturday.

Jamboree is a little different than anything else, for high school. As the above format notes, it's much shorter than regulation 80-minute games, and, also, jamboree games have no halves, and, technically, do not count on a team's overall record.

"A good test," said Totems coach Seyti Sidibay of the jamboree.

He takes over the helm at the varsity level for the Sea-Tac area school, after last season as the junior varsity coach.

The Totems play their first real game of their regular season on March 18, a non-league match-up against Mount Rainier, at 7:30 pm at Highline Memorial. Then, the Totems play their opening Seamount League season game against Evergreen on March 20 at 7:30 p.m. at Highline Memorial.

In the jamboree, the Totems handled Evergreen by a 3-0 score in their first game, with goals coming from Samuel Tessema, a freshman forward for the team, along with Adama Kante, a senior forward who got the other two notches.

"It was fun," said Kante, a captain on the team. "First time we played a game this season."

And, the team's other captain, Enrique Navarro-Ramirez, put the jamboree this way, echoing his coach's take in no uncertain terms.

"We look at it as an evaluation," said Navarro-Ramirez.

Sidibay enlightened on an aspect of soccer that he says a lot of teams leave out, making the dimension of the game incomplete, he, seemingy, was saying.

"It's a process," said Sidibay. "It's important to understand that soccer is played with 11 players, not 10. A lot of teams forget the importance of the keeper. But, we try to play with the keeper involved in the process of the game, too. We are trying to control the game from the keeper to the center backs to the strikers."

Center backs will be referring to not just the central defenders in the back, but, also, the middle of the field controllers, so to speak, who are halfbacks, or more commonly referred to as "midfielders."
"Strikers" are the players up front, the center forwards as they are commonly called. Their role too, sounds like, in Sidibay's mind, will be instrumental on a team latching onto success for a season.

The Totems did make it to districts in 2A play last season, but, there, the season ended.

"We lost in districts to Fife, 5-0," said Navarro-Ramirez.

And the Totems' captain, Navarro-Ramirez, also said that the team last year is not the same as the team this year.

"Different coach this year, and different players," said Navarro-Ramirez, a senior defender and midfielder on the Totems.

"We had players last season, pretty good players, but we didn't have a team," said Navarro-Ramirez.
That, there, all just said by Navarro-Ramirez spoke of, quite simply, the Totems were individually talented on the field, but they were individualists.

Sidibay will be the one to bring the players' talents into a line with the team's goals of going a lot farther than last season.

But, the players, undoubtabley, will have to buy into Sidibay's philosophy of coaching -- including getting players to all recognize the importance of the whole parts important, especially center control of a game, from the center forwards to the midfielders, and right down to the the goalie's presence on the field as more than just a player who saves shots.

And, presuming, by the Totems' finish to the season before last season's earlier-than-wanted exit against Fife, the Totems played as a team. They played unselfishly, doing things like passing the ball and working as one unit, not caring who got the glory, of scoring goals, or, tallying assists. It was Three Musketeers, like, perhaps, a good way to put it, as, those three, swashbuckling caballeros said so well, raising their swords, "All for one, and one for all!"

"We have a lot of young talent, and, hopefully, we can get back to state and carry on the legacy we have," said Navarro-Ramirez. Although a short legacy, in a matter of speaking, the Totems did get to the 2A state championship final in the 2013 season.

Added Kante, "We have a lot of young talent. I am really happy for this season."

The team is composed of five seniors, four juniors, four sophomores, and, three freshmen, so a good mix there of grade classes.

One of the older class members, Nebiu Kinfu, scored the goal against the Rams in that 1-0 win, getting a goal halfway through the 20 minutes of action.

"I was fouled on a play," said Kante.

"Then," said Sidibay, "It was a free-kick more on the left side of the goal so I had Nebiu take the kick because he is left-footed and is an accurate kicker."

True to that good decision by Coach Sidibaby, Kinfu took the free kick from 20 yards out away from the goal, a little to left, and he booted into the ball, precisely, looping it over the wall of Rams' defenders lined up 10 yards back and past the keeper.

"We want to get back to the state tournament," said Navarro-Ramirez. "We lost to Cheney, 2-1, in the final two years ago, and that was a game we felt we should have won."