Track ISAC Competition

As team captain, I can honestly say I am so proud of the progress and dedication of the team, both individual and as group. As a group, we work very well together and push ourselves and each other to try new challenges and improve ourselves.
The weekend before SAISA we had our ISAC tournament with other Sri Lankan "international" schools. There was our team and more then 20 other teams in the competition and it was very formal. The track was at the local stadium with a beautiful 400-meter bright blue astro-turf track. As team captain I was required to represent the team, raise and lower the flag, take the oath on behalf of my team, and represent them.
Each individual was only allowed one track event and one field event, mine was the 1500 meter run and discus. I also had to make sure as captain and one of the few older individuals on the team that everyone had the correct numbers, bibs, shirts and were in the correct place at the right time for their events. I had to do this while being sick with a sore throat and a cough, making it difficult to breathe at times. I also had to plan and undertake new challenges such as managing the team for individual warm ups since every had events at different times and keep team spirit going.
One particularly difficult moment was when I was about to run the 1500 meters and had to make sure Nikita, who was at the field event long jump, managed to get the correct number for the semi-finals of 400 meters and got logged in to the system while he was competing. I developed a lot of new skills with managing everything going on at the same time.

I got a new personal best time for my 1500 meters, but did not throw as well as I would have liked to on discus. This lead to me to understanding that an area I needed to improve was my form for discus throwing, and in the 1500 meters during SAISA I needed to really push hard in the kick for the last 200 meters or so of my race.

I also got the chance to get to know my teammates even better as I spent three days straight with all of my team, I'm so proud that everyone showed such dedication and perseverance to this activity and to the team, as well as everyone understanding how important the competition was in Sri Lanka and how the implications of their actions would be seen. I am also so happy that so many people came and cheered the rest of their teammates on when they didn't have any competitions.

I really viewed the ISAC competition initially as a practice for SAISA, but it ended up being a fantastic team building opportunity that allowed myself and others to understand their strengths and areas of improvement in track and field as well as allowing myself to undertake new challenges in leadership and working collaboratively with others on team to accomplish everything that needed to get done. I am so proud of the team and cannot wait for us to go on to SAISA.

Track Tryouts

For the beginning of track season I had the goals to compete in the 3000 and 1500 and improve my times for both. I had been doing smaller workouts in a gym for a while to condition myself to long-distance running, but the difference being outside in the heat and humidity immediately made me understand that, while on of my strengths was my dedication to the sport of track and field, a weakness I would have to overcome would be my own mind when the heat and humidity started getting to me and push through.
For the tryouts for the track team there was only two seniors and I was one of them. Additionally, I was almost guaranteed a place on the team because there were so few people for my age group. None the less, I immediately was told that I needed to push myself harder because I was afraid of failure which held me back from trying and giving my all incase I didn't do well. Addressing this while working within the team as a member who could contribute and as an individual who was striving for improvement, was my goal during tryouts for the team.
I was there for every track practice during the tryouts showing perseverance and commitment to the activity and the team, this and my desire work collaboratively with the other individuals on the team to increase our awareness of our strengths and areas for improvements gave me a place on the team. This also lead to me getting the position of team captain, which allowed me to plan and initiate activities for the team and individuals and made me develop new skills of leadership to keep all thirty people under control when transferring activities. When I asked why I was given this position, I was told it was not only my commitment and continual presence in track but also because of my support for my teammates and how I always cheered them on. Because of this new position I had to consider the implications of my actions not only in track practice but outside of track during school.