Football is the first sport I was first introduced to, and I’ve been playing it since then. Football teaches me a lot of life lessons in a magical way and that’s what made it my favorite subject in school from the very beginning. No sport can be played without practise, and no one can be a great player without a great coach. My school provided both. We’ve been playing football as a team twice a week for almost an hour in this academic year, which is relatively less than how much we used to play in the previous year, but it still keeps us in some sort of form. 

LO1 : Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

I was able to identify my own strengths and weaknesses myself, and with the help of my coach, Anwer Sir. Since I am aware of my strengths and weaknesses now, I have a lot of time to work on it, so I can improve and become a better football player. Without refining our strengths, or working hard towards correcting our weaknesses, we as players or normal individuals can never grow.

LO2 : Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

There was always a gradual increase in the challenges over all these years, with the improvements of the strikers around me, whom I would have to defend, so I had to always challenge myself and improve my defending skills to compete against better challenges. It is important to undertake new challenges as it gives us an area where we can improve and occupy and gives us a scope and an opportunity to challenge ourselves to be victorious.

LO4 : Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

With the degradation of our playing environment(afternoon timings, late arrivals of coaches, less players) a lot of players which used to play football now just sit and do something else, but only the committed players stayed. Playing in hot climates, very frequently, was not something everyone enjoyed, but even if we did, it’s hard to give our 101% in every PS slot over all these years. It was easy for me to commit to this sport due to my passion for it.

LO5 : Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

Football is a team game and can not be won by a single player. Playing as a team and helping our fellow team mates was one of the most important reasons why PS slots were organized, besides personal fitness. Playing with the entire team is a million times better than playing alone, as it increases the team bonding and chemistry, and gives us an opportunity to get to know our teammates’ strengths and weaknesses.

I demonstrated the learner profile of balanced as I had to balance my studies with playing football, which was very difficult at times, especially when we had to miss school due to various competitions. The exhaustion of playing the sport often distracted us from studies but I still managed studies and sports well. Communication is a crucial part in team sports, and communicating and working as a team was one of the best fun in playing the sport. I would want to keep playing football as long as I am still standing on my feet.