Have you ever been a member of a sporting team? Played netball, hockey, anything that requires your active participation?

At school I was on most of the sports team – I loved sport, always been very competitive however it didn’t take me long to realise the team effort required and the skills from the team had on the whole affected my skills and my game.

I used to live in Hong Kong and when I first arrived I played netball. One evening of my first season I turned up to the team trials. There was easily over a hundred of us girls there all trying out for a team either one similar to last season or just find one to be part of for the first time. There was a hive of activity and everyone seemed to know each other all except me of course!

Sound familiar? Being in a place where it feels like you know no-one and everyone else knows everyone?

With my confidence at an all time low, I wasn’t known, very new to all of the try outs and I hadn’t played for at least 5 years, and I playing a position I had never played before. All of these negative thoughts and feeling really affected my game funnily enough.

Not surprisingly I was put into the 3^rd division (there were only 3 divisions in Hong Kong), and in the B team of the 3^rd division (there were only 3 teams in the 3^rd division).

I didn’t feel all that great about the result and would turn up to training that ensued quite deflated as I knew I could do better. I had once before, I was part of a great netball team way back when.

Not long after training had begun and we had played a few matches I notice my skills, enthusiasm and level declined rapidly – I had the wrong attitude to it all. I approached it all wrong, each and every game and each week I went to training. I would just turn up, train, play and leave without breaking into a sweat.

I got bored and instead of continuing along the same game and skill level and instead of quitting (which was the easy route), I knew wanted more, I wanted to be pushed, get really fired up and so I asked if I could try out for the first division one week at training.

It was a shot in the dark perhaps but why not?

In training I would be out sprinted, out skilled and generally massively out performed but it just got me wanting even more – I had to keep up if I wanted to stay at the top level.

From that day on my game, attitude and enthusiasm completely changed. I could no longer play as I had been playing in the 3^rd division, the game had changed and it felt like the rules were different.

Unless I changed my approach to it all, I would remain in the third division, miserable and bored and I would have probably left.

Even when you think there is no way you can do something, it would never happen to you and it’s virtually impossible, you have to at least try, give it a shot. You may find your game changes too.

Stretch yourself, put yourself out there and I guarantee you will be amazed at what you can learn about yourself.

Suffice to say I never did return to the B team in the Third division. I became captain of my first division team instead!

Until next time,

Antonia