Today the official badminton team training has ended. During the 6 weeks of this team training, I feel that I’ve learned a lot about badminton as well as developed some good leadership.

Usually Tuesday and Friday were the training sessions and we had matches on Saturday. On the 12th of March, we had matches with the OSC parents, on the 18th of March, we had matches with Alethea International School and on the 25th of March (today), we had matches with Colombo International School. Every time there was a match with other schools, I felt that I’m getting used to the environment of competition. As Mr. De Silva said, we only start learning and noticing many things once we have real matches, and I really think that this is true. I played with many players whose playing style is very different and each time I felt that I’m gaining good experience and learning more about badminton.

Reflecting on the criteria of the CAS, I’ve realized that I’ve covered many aspects without noticing them myself. In terms of leadership, I definitely feel that it is one of my strengths. Despite being the captain of the first badminton team ever and undertaking a challenge that I’m not fully familiar with, I was committed in every aspect of the team training, I’ve shown perseverance even when things didn’t go as I’d expected, and I was responsible and made sure that planning and initiating is well-organized and everybody is informed etc with the collaboration with Mr. De Silva and Mo.  As a leader, it was indeed a challenge for me to make sure that everything is ok and running smoothly, but as I have had some leadership from leading Art Project, badminton after school activity etc, those things helped me a lot and I feel that I’ve increased expertise in the leadership.

In terms of badminton skills, I feel that I’ve developed many skills over the course of 6 weeks of team training, however I also feel that I’m still inexperienced and have a lot of room for improvement. Sports is not something that one can be an expert in within a few weeks and as I’m willing to develop my skills further, I’ll continue to show commitment and perseverance in badminton. This may be through participating in the badminton after school activity, joining the badminton team again next year etc.

Overall this badminton team training has been very beneficial for me in many different ways and despite this interfered with my school work (is it ethical to commit in sports at the expense of school work?), I believe that this wasn’t a waste and I’ve gained a lot of  valuable experiences. Hopefully there will be a team training next year too, and if so, I hope to join again and show my spirit and represent OSC.

Practice picture

Alethea International School: Match

Alethea International School: Match 2

OSC Parents: the match umpire