By David Ammiel Wan
On 24th August 2019, we participated in the annual South Area Games day, organised by Queenstown Secondary School. The games included Captain's Ball, Frisbee, Soccer and Minute to Win It. We reported to school at about 6:45 am, after having breakfast. When we reached Queenstown Secondary School, all the different scout troops were assembled in the canteen and the whole place was brimming with excitement.
I was in the one of the three Frisbee Teams our troop sent.
We were all ready with a calm confidence as we knew we had already won the battle before the war even began as our intense 2 weeks of training had prepared us well to put our troop at the top. We even made promises to dominate the competition so well that the final round would be Cat High versus Cat High. As for the other sports, they were slightly nervous, given that for many of them this was their first time playing the sport and they only had two weeks of training prior.
At about 8:00am, the long-awaited event finally began. We all headed to our respective playing areas for our first match of the day. We started the day off strong with a classic Catholic High standard of a 7-0 victory, boosting our confidence. The other sports performed well despite the odds, strategising and adapting to the various circumstances they encountered, and in true Catholic High spirit, persevered and played on no matter what the odds seemed like.
During the game, we were all cheering excitedly for our team, giving them moral support. There was even once when we had to fight an unfair battle, where our Secondary 3 Scouts were matched up against older Ventures from the other school. Yet, in the face of uneven odds, Catholic Scouts never waver. Victory was of course was ours and our SPL, Ni Ler, ran around the entire court twice with the troop flag.
As for soccer and captain's ball, they played well and did their best, showing the true Catholic High scouting spirit of discipline and awareness. Given that they most of them did not have formal training and did not play the sport on a recreational basis, they had done well and they had put in good effort.
All our teams displayed good sportsmanship and proceeded to shake the hands of the opposing team whether or not we had won or lost. Ultimately, our Frisbee teams won 1st, 2nd and 3rd as promised. Yet, even as we are happy to receive this honor, it is simply a title.
The true value lies beyond this, where we were able to display the true Catholic High Scouting Spirit learning how to improvise, adapt and overcome challenges. Everyone put in their utmost effort, not giving up even when faced with unequal odds or great adversity, and spurring each other on throughout the whole event.
We were beaming with pride when we went up to collect our prizes, earned through our scouting values such as Discipline and Awareness. We ended off the day with a strong troop cheer, putting the troop at the top.