I represented my school in the inter-school football competitions. I really like playing football. I was not one of those players who were god gifted or talented enough to get selected in my first match. I wasn’t a part of the team from the start. Therefore, to get selected, I had to work harder. Throughout my life, I have participated in many interschool football tournaments like Khel Mahakumbh, Xavier’s cup, FS cup, a competition held at International School Aamby, IB league, YGI and the Subroto Cup.

L1 –  when I started playing football, the only thing I wanted to do is shoot the ball and score a goal but gradually I understood that I am not the perfect fit for that position and I possess the skills to defend the ball. Through this competition, I have understood my strengths and my weaknesses which now I am able to work on in our training sessions. I used to play as a forward but now I play as a defender for my team because I am better at stopping people who try to get through me than getting through people. changing my position didn’t save me from my weakness. I am also weak at controlling the ball, though I am better at it from before. I play football on a regular basis and try to improve on my weaknesses. I practice some skills at home because when you want to do something, try doing it right. in football, if you want to achieve your goal, it is not necessary you need two players to practice. I practice with my wall. I pass the ball towards the wall and it comes back to me and then I repeat the drill.

L2 and L5 – While working on my weaknesses, I had to understand that football is not an individual sport but is a team game. as a team, we were very strong and coordinated .the biggest challenge was to overcome our weaknesses and practice regularly. because of our exams, we used to practice very less and due to lack practices we lost some games, it was three semi-finals in a row and to prove ourselves, we got another chance at fs cup. this cup was held at our school and that motivated us as we didn’t want to lose on our home ground. we practiced a lot, we went to each other’s places to practice, we came early to school and we even started to diet just to improve our coordination and teamwork. we started helping each other and pointed out weaknesses of each other so that the person can also learn and work on their weaknesses. we helped each other like my friend used to help me with what he is good at and I used to do the same so that we grow as a team but this was not the only challenge, facing an equally competitive or a better team than ours was also a challenge.  It is really challenging to win against a competitive team. It requires a lot of hard work and practice. but teamwork got it through. Fortunately, all our hard work paid off and we won the FS cup. We tried to overcome our mistakes which we did in our last few matches and it helped us win the cup.

L4 – “Practice makes a man better” with keeping this quote in mind. I was determined to work hard to secure my position in the team. Football is a very famous game and involves a lot of participants. People all over the world love to play this game thus involving a lot of competition. My school has over 1800 students and the team has only 11 players among them. 160 players fighting for one position. I came early morning and after-school camps to play better. My performance was improved. With hard work, football also requires commitment, you can’t just quit football any day you want. I am in 12th and its difficult to manage studies and football together and in a world where studies are considered more important than sports,  you are forced to choose studies over football but I learned how to manage time and even now I regularly play football, not only in school but me and my friends meet outside to play.