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.