We are in the midst of a very exciting sporting season. Our boys have been training very hard for their games – Sepak Takraw, Rugby, Softball, Wushu and our Badminton Teams. In the games, we win some and we lose some – but every one of the boys are champions – not so much by which side got the highest score or beat the other team - but by the sheer way they played; how they gave their best, how they showed inner strength and true grit. The badminton Zonal B-Division Finals yesterday afternoon was one such moment. Our boys lost to a great opponent – the Singapore Sports School. But throughout the game, there was deep respect by both sides for both sides – whether it was the players, the coaches or the students and staff of both schools.
Both sides played valiantly and there were many exciting and heart stopping (really heart stopping!) moments where players fell but got up again and again to take a shot, many times when they dashed from one corner to another corner of the court with dexterities I did not think possible to achieve – and this from players of both sides. I am extremely proud of both sides. And even though we lost, for some reason, I felt like we were all winners – simply because we gave our very best and we saw standards of play that was very high. And this is what it is all about.
I had an opportunity to hear C Kunalan speak recently and he said that we must have competitive sport, but one where respect for the opponent runs deep. Because it is the presence of the other that truly challenges us to be more than who we think we can be. Because it is in the competing with the other that we realize who we can be, what we can truly achieve.
Of course, there is another important point – we lost this game, but we are Zonal Runner Ups – and that’s gotta count for something. We have the Nationals next and honestly, I am not sure I can take all this excitement!
Principle Matters from Montfort Sec
February 26, 2011
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