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My Kind of Sports

By: KC Nañola

Okay, so it’s been more than a month now since we went back to school. So far, I’m having a really good time, despite tons of homeworks.  I have met new friends, get to hang out again with my old peers and yes, teachers are really cool.

School is an enjoyable place for me, although sometimes schoolworks could be very stressful but hold on, I’m not going to bore you with this topic. Actually, I would like to share with you, a little bit of what I have discovered in myself- my athletic spirit.

During my previous years in school, I tried joining the running race more into competing than into the benefit of the activity. I guess, I am not a sport-type kid unlike the rest and would rather read a book or be content in front of the monitor or better yet the big screen. That doesn’t mean I know nothing about sports. Let me reveal, that my family is a trying hard sporty type. Last summer for example, when we went for a family outing in Muskoka, we tried all kinds of recreations the hotel was offering like biking, trailing, climbing, swimming, boating, tennis, squash, badminton and Golf. It is in playing Golf that I got so tired and bored and felt that it was the longest time of my life, chasing and looking for my golf ball in the greenest field I have ever walked. Although, I enjoyed and I like the rest of the sports, I was so looking forward to going back to our cozy suite and slouch on the couch, see Mr. Bean instead. 

I agree, sports are fun and so this year, in my continued pursuit of physical excellence and as motivated by some friends who are into it, I went for a volleyball try out.  Here, I will cut it short. I didn’t make it. It is not that I am not prone to competing but I guess I am simply not physically strong or say, too fragile for that kind of sports, eh!

This did not discourage me to dig into my adventurous side and I simply do not accept defeat, well not yet.  So, I continued to try on other sports and other physical activities, including dancing with all my might until my hair’s slushy sweaty and my legs and arms are stiff and numb. Finally, I found what suits me best. Dancing, which may not be considered sports but it surely involves physical activities and is a great stress reliever. I definitely like dancing mostly ballroom. It relies on grace and cooperation. I get to sweat, I move my body and I get to wear nice pair of shoes and classy outfits, which I like best!

I practice in the comfort of our home, avoiding the competition circle that dance studios promote. For now, I do not intend to compete in dancing. I am just doing it for fun because to compete will ruin it all for me. It will become just more work, more pressure, more stress. Physical activity is supposed to relieve stress.

That said, I'm not saying that people shouldn't compete in sports if they want to. It is, after all a great way to relieve stress and will surely keep us in the pink of health. I'm just saying that equal value should be given to engaging in sports or dance or any other physical activity for the sheer fun of it. I maybe too fragile for activities with physical contact but so you know, I am a determined to keep my athletic spirits in me and so I continue to play Golf, tennis, baseball, bowling and even boxing- again all in the comfort of our home-sweet-home. Not possible? Of course, it is because I play them on my wii!

Cheers!

About the writer: KC Nanola is a  grade 7 student of St. Lawrence School and is also in a gifted class program at St. Catherine School. She was our featured “Young Achiever” for August edition.