credit: Hanis Shauqi
Assalamualaikum and a very good day (even though it's a monday) :D
On 5th October 2013, Malaysian Student Association of South Korea held the annual PPMK Sports Day at Jungseok Aviation High School, Incheon. The students were supposed to gather at 9:00 AM but officially started at 10:00 AM something like that. The day was wonderful, the weather was perfect and you could totally feel the adrenaline and energy that radiates from each student, be it as a player or a supporter.
I was totally pumped up. I can't say I love sports, but I can and will try almost anything thrown at me. This time, I came prepared. I trained for the sports day 2 weeks prior. Even though it wasn't a long duration to call it well prepared, but hey, at least I trained, right? :D
I entered netball, handball, and dodge ball. I proudly wore the GS and GA vest which stands for goal shooter and goal attack which is basically the position that shoots the ball into the net. We went against the girls of batch 13 first and came out with a tie of 6-6. Then we went against batch 10 which we won but I can't remember the score, and then we went against batch 9 and we were creamed.
I, for one, hate losing. I hate to say this, but I have a bad temper, and a massive ego, and a competitiveness that scares even myself. So when we lost against batch 9, I was livid and strung out and stressed and totally wound up that I forbid myself to speak. So after we lost and shook hands, I went straight to the restroom.
I have to say, that I did better than last year. Even though we won first place for netball last year, I've had my strung out moments and I pity my friends for having to put up with me. This year we didn't fight verbally, which is a relief because the last thing I want is to severe ties with seniors and juniors, though we did kind of spit out words in the court but immediately apologized afterwards.
The results? We managed to receive 2nd place for netball, 1st place for basketball, 3rd place for volleyball, nothing for handball *smiles sheepishly*, 2nd place for football, and the winner of dodge ball. Total results? We gained 17 points for Sports Day which was the highest followed by batch 9 with 16 points.
All the blood, sweat and tears paid off. Not to mention a huge swell on my eyebrow and some broken legs and a lot of scraped knees and swollen fingers of my friends. Compared to them, my injury is like a paper cut (which still hurts heh).
Sportsmanship
I salute to those that can keep a smile after losing, especially after a rough game. It's not easy being professional and courteous when you have just gotten your butt kicked. Then, there's being fair and playing fair. I pity the referees because there are always unsatisfied people and referees can't satisfy all of them. They become the target of hideous insults and hurtful comments. Yet they have to keep a straight face, a straight head and a straight heart to do their job. To all the referees, you did your job excellently, and I applaud you for it.
What was in court, stays in court. Don't let your feelings of resentment and anger pollute your rational thinking and your relationship with your friends and your opponents (which in this case are seniors and juniors). That is true sportsmanship.
I wish I could achieve that level of sportsmanship. I have a hard time accepting that I lost. So it's always easier for me to compete against people I don't know, rather than people who are close to me. Which was why going against batch 9 was dreadful for me. I knew I was going to be pissed, I knew I was going to be wound up, and I couldn't let it go. Soaking my face (and apparently my whole hijab), and not speaking to anyone was the only way I could think of to not let my feelings get the better of me. It's a tough thing to battle with, when all your life, you won and then your head gets bigger and you realize that there are other people better than you. It takes a long time to scrub it off, but I'm doing it, I'm in the process of getting rid of my obsessive desire to win, and I really hope that people can see that I'm trying my best.
Friendship.
credit: Ahmad Farhan
I solely think that the reason we hold PPMK Sports Day is because we rarely meet as a big group of Malaysian students. The faces that we rarely see, only on sports day (and GAD) that we get to meet. We get to play together, laugh together, have fun together, sweat together, cry and be angry together, and all of this tightens the bond between us. Because why? Because it's just us here. We are the only friends we have, the only family we have, the only sisters and brothers we have while we study overseas. And events like these make us realize that we can't live in a foreign country alone. The reason why the energy was so electrifying on that day was because we get to meet with all of our friends, and then do something we love, throw in hard work plus teamwork plus a little laughter, you get the recipe for friendship.
I arrived at Incheon the day before the big event, and when I was nearing my destination, I forgot the most important thing. It wasn't my sneakers nor my handphone nor anything else, but it was my jersey. My batch jersey. The pride, the symbol of unity in a batch, the symbol of belonging. I was so angry at myself I really felt like I could curl up into a ball and cry in the corner. Out of all the stupid things I have done (I have done a lot of pretty stupid things), this was the most facepalm moment ever.
And oh, how I truly value the meaning of friendship after that moment. After a lot of worrying (and complaining), my friend said she'll fetch my jersey before she comes to the event the next day. I was so thrilled, and touched I could cry. She doesn't attend my university, so she has to go from her university to my university and then go to Incheon. I truly could kiss her when she arrived with my jersey. heh.
Thank you friend, it was truly a great sacrifice of your time, and I couldn't really put into words how much I appreciate it. <3
To all my seniors and juniors, I truly apologize if I have maybe accidentally hit or kicked or made you fall down, but what's more hurtful is if I had hurt your feelings with my inconsiderate behaviour and words that I might have blurted out without thinking because of my uncontrollable emotions. I am truly sorry and I hope you can forgive me.
DATS ME IN ALL MY SWEATY GLORY HEH :D
credit: Ahmad Farhan
The netball team minus a few. We did great!
credit: Hanis Shauqi
"I think sportsmanship is knowing that it is a game, that we are only as a good as our opponents, and whether you win or lose, to always give 100 percent." -Sue Wicks-
"A lot of players think the game is all about individual performances when it's really all about a team game." -Kareem Abdul-Jabbar-
My beloved batch 79 aka friends aka family <3
credit: Bismi Arif
Assalamualaikum have a naiseu day :)
p/s: we rocked the yellow getup. You could spot a batchmate a mile away heh XD
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