In January, we were introduced to the Asia oceanic juniors-masters ultimate championship held in Malaysia at the end of the year. Our school team was selected to participate in it. It was a great opportunity for me as it gave me an chance to showcase my love, skills and talent internationally. August came by, and our visas and participation were confirmed. With 4 months remaining for the tournament, me and my team gave our hearts towards training and improving our skills. With daily practices, 4 hour camps on the weekends and workouts separately. Soon, the day came and I reached Malaysia in December, ready to compete with the Philippines, Singapore, China etc. It was a rocky start as chills were running down my spine but with the help of my team, I mustered up the courage and concord forward. We gave the teams a tough match and placed 6th out of 10-15 teams. The tournament was an eye opening experience for me as it taught me a lot of new things. Reflecting on my experience, I made new friends, experienced new teams from around the world and learned new skills throughout the tournament. It taught me to be strong and humble and that no matter how much we train, it was a relatively new field, we could never be fully prepared. 

LO1- identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

While training for the tournament, I self analysed my strengths and weaknesses, so that I could grow and improve my skills. Once I identified my weaknesses, which were handling and jumping. With the help of my coach, I focused most of my practices of learning and implementing handling skills into practice matches. Additionally, I sharpened my strengths which were cutting. I focused my entire 4 months on daily practices and sharpening my skills. Waking up early for morning runs, gym after school and weekend camps. Soon, I was confident in handling and with the help of training plyometrics, I increased my vertical. 

LO2- demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

Since it was an international tournament, it was only necessary to give our 100% in training and improving our skills although whilst the training, our term exams were near. To manage studies, practices and quality time for family and self was difficult but through time i was able to manage time for everything. This taught me time management and how to balance school work, life and practice. There were several sacrifices that were made for both studies and practices. As exams were near, I focused 100% on studies for that time and after exams ended, shifted my focus to training only. 

During my training, I started to feel intense pain in my right tricep. At first I ignored it, but as the pain grew after some weeks, I decided to see a doctor. I had a tricep spasm one month before my tournament. This caused me a major setback in my training which made me upset. I had to choose between healing and being patient or working my way despite the pain. I decided to train lightly and focus more on my lower body strength and give less pressure on my triceps. I visited the physiologist before and during the tournament as well for more aid. 

Additionally, once we entered the grounds of the tournament, we were setback by amazing and diverse athletes and teams. The first few games opened our eyes and showed us how skilled the other teams were but together, we realized that we cannot win against them without trusting one another and working together as a team. After we learned this, we defeated several teams ahead. 

LO4- show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

The whole team gave their 100% on learning new plays, skills and trusting one another in the 4 months of training. There were times I was exhausted from training and managing work life balance but I did not give up. I kept going because I knew the importance of training and managing discipline. Throughout the 4 months, I worked 221 hours in practices, gym and training with a daily average of 2.5 hours. 

LO5- demonstrate skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively

With the tournament, we also had the opportunity to design our team india jersey. A few of my teammates and I decided to design one ourselves. We spent our free time on coming up with ideas and creating jersey designs. We spent our playtimes in school having meetings and discussing together on new additions and changes to the design. As we were in a team, we got to know and learn new perspectives from each other and make changes accordingly. At the end, we designed around 3-4 jerseys which our team absolutely loved. Furthermore, as the spirit captain of the team, I spent hours revising the rules of the game and helped my team learn them as well. I guided them in the accreditation process and familiarized them with the rules. 

Learner profile:

Balanced: Through this experience I learned to manage time in studies, family, self and training. I showcased the skills to manage and balance time for everything by setting my priorities straight and not wasting time. 

Reflective: I made a lot of mistakes in practice which gave me a lot of improvements to work upon. I reflected back on feedback by my peers and coaches and worked on improving them. I reflected back on my game and how I played and focused on training my weaknesses  for the same.