For the love of the game

Sepak takraw. A game that's alien to quite alot of people in this country, especially the non-Bumiputras. It's an interesting game to watch, really. The closest I've come into contact with that sport was during PJK periods back in school. Anyways, my school was the venue for the Sarawak Primary Schools Inter-Division Tournament from Wednesday til yesterday. And since I only teach for 5 periods in a week, I have something to watch for the past couple of days at the hall.

So the hall was filled with kids in their respective team jerseys, Kuching, Betong, Sibu, Miri, Sarikei and of course my homeboys. Generally these little guys were....well, little. Only 3-4 boys were those you would consider tall. The rest were shorter than the net!!

It's no doubt that it wouldnt be that interesting to watch these little guys play as compared to the secondary school students. Can't blame them. They are too short to make those acrobatic moves/kicks, and a lower level of technique. But still, I was glued. The initial reason was the fact that I've got nothing else better to do LOL. Then later it was purely because of them kids. The little guys.

I've watched people, adults, play sports, team sports to be exact alot of times. And i've played some myself. And at times things get very competitive, even when its not a competition. And some guys, they tend to take things a little bit too seriously. You see finger-pointings after a mistake. You see an angry face at a poor pass. You see teamates yell at each other. But watching the kids the other day absolutely brought this feel good feeling to me.

The kids seemed to enjoy the game. Very often, I would see smiles. Even when there were mistakes commited by a teamate or miscommunications. They still smiled at each other while saying a few words of encouragement. Even those on a side that's trailling or losing. This is probably something trivial, not a big deal for some people. But I find this amazing. This should be an example for adults. Not that the kids weren't serious. Of course they all wanted to win. But in their pursuit of victory, they had the time and space for the little things that is often overlooked in the adult world.

It was unfortunate that my homeboys didn't win. But they did put up a good fight against the city boys from Kuching and Sibu.