“No one has ever drowned in sweat.” – Lou Holtz

Basketball – Participation in U-19 girls tournament (District level)

Basketball is a sport which I have been learning through years, but participating in any basketball competition was a rare thing for me. With the fear in my head that, ‘the team would lose because of me’ I never had that courage to take a chance and be a part of our school basketball team. Every year our coach would select me to be a part of the team, I would make an excuse and not participate. This year the realization struck me that these are the last two years of school, and that I should build the confidence and have trust on myself

Outside the boundaries  of the court stood our coach, who guided all the players throughout the game. I didn’t face many problems because our coach and the captain of the team would instruct and support us each time. I felt awkward being a non-experienced player, which by the end of the day was removed as I got familiar with that atmosphere. From the morning till the mid-afternoon we were there on the court.  We did warm-up before the matches and a motivational speech was presented. I was very nervous before the match. We were all screaming and telling each other what to do during the matches. As our team would score a basket we would all hoot and hug each other.

That day of the tournament was a day of victory. We stood first and the happiness was defined.  I was not an experienced player and therefore compared to others I played for less time, But that time was enough for me to learn. While playing the game I learned to trust others and I learned  to rely on my team-mates.  Basketball is a game where we have to highly depend on our team members, so clear communication and high cooperation was something which our team portrayed. I decided to put in my 100% effort and I also tried to demonstrate the tricks and drills which the coach had taught us during our practice sessions. My strength is that I play on 45 degree which requires to maintain the coordination between the other players. Fair play and maintaining the ethics of the game was something which our coach strongly believed in. Not to demotivate other players, to respect the referee, etc. were the points which we had to keep in mind during the tournament. Though I made many mistakes during the match, it was a worthy experience.