On the 28th of June, my school had its annual sports day. As a Form One, I didn’t know how the school had its sports day. I was thinking maybe they had it at our very tiny school field. Oh boy was I wrong! We were having it at the Kelana Jaya Sports Stadium. And it was my first time going to a sports stadium. My former primary school would have our sports day at our field and the events we had were mostly sprints and relays. Naturally, I took after my father who was a long distance runner, unlike my second brother who was known as the Usain Bolt in our family because of his speed.
I found out I was in the 400m and 800m individual and the 4x100m as well as the 4x400m. I knew my competitors were good ones because of their experience. I was also in red house, last year’s overall champion and it was very pressuring knowing we had to keep it up. Unfortunately, my brother was in blue house, our biggest rival yet. Week after week, I had to undergo intensive training to pick up speed and endurance. Also under the leadership of our fearless leader, Khai Hann whom we nicknamed the Red Godfather and Pravin Dave, his accomplice or also known as the Black and Red Don, we trained and trained until our legs could just not move properly because of fatigue.
For me, it was a training of jogging and running and brisk walking to improve my breathing. For me, I knew even though I got 11th in the road run earlier this year, I just wanted to survive the runs. The bigger aim was to get a medal. It was my first time running such a long distance in a competition so I can always try again next year. But, there is just one thing for me to remember, survive. A fortnight before the auspicious day, we had sukantara. Sukantara means everybody comes for house training and there are three events, 100m sprint, long jump and shot put. Everybody gets three tries and they must be able to go over the passing line to help earn house points for their respective houses. We are then divided into our age groups and we do every activity. I line up as usual and my age group started with the shot put. Most of us earned points. We moved on to the long jump. Around half of them passed the line. Next was 100m sprint. For my line, I got first place and I finished in 11 second which was two seconds earlier than the passing mark. The red house was really showing off their stuff.
A week later, the field activities were held earlier to save time so the runners and judges could focus more on running. The events held were long jump, high jump, shot put and discus throw. According to some sources, it was a really neck to neck action between the four houses. Next Wednesday, it was the day everyone was waiting for. The weather looked quite promising for the events to happen. The day started with the marching of the houses and uniform bodies led by Lim Wei Yi from Yellow House. We sang Negaraku, followed by the state anthem Duli Yang Maha Mulia, and finished by our school song. Our lovely head mistress, Pn. Azizah Yusoff who officially opens our school sports day.
The 1500m girls and guys open was the first race and there was some great action going on. Next event was 800m girls P3. I was a bit nervous and at the end I got 5th place. Next were the100m and 200m sprints. My brother was taking part in both events and I was amazed seeing him running. He was so fast only his good friend and biggest rival, Sufian from Red could catch up to him but in the end he won. He did the same thing again in 200m and also won 1st place. He was truly following the steps of his idol, Usain Bolt. 400m came and I ran but ended up in 4th place. That was pretty good for a first timer like me.
Relays were up next and for 4 x 100m I was the second runner. Wearing spikes for the first time I was a bit scared but it helped me earned a little more speed than usual. Sprinting like a headless chicken, I helped my team by giving them a head start and finally a gold medal. 4 x 400m was up next and I was suffering from a bit of fatigue but I just kept going on. Thanks to the first runner for a head start, the red dream team strikes again. Finally I could relax a bit knowing that I have no more events. Mr Wong, our senior assistant for co-curricular affairs announced the overall champion. And the overall champion of SMK BU (3) annual Sports Day 202 goes to … RED HOUSE!!!! Screams of joy were heard and tears of joy were coming down our cheeks. All the hard work, the shouting, the training, the fatigue paid off. Once again, victory is ours.
The following week, the Red Godfather sent me a nice letter of appreciation. He shares with me his hopes and dreams that red house will reign again. Next year will be tough without the two leaders; extra work must be put in to ensure that red house is the champions again!
By Anonymous Probationary Librarian, SMK Bandar Utama Damansara (3), Selangor
This post is part of the line-up ahead of the blog's second anniversary. All these posts will be taken from articles written by students featuring the school on School Times, the educational pull-out from the New Straits Times.
No comments:
Post a Comment