Hobbyist Part 3

I think there's really that teeny tiny soccer dude in me. It just needs to find a way to get out and grow. I had this chance when I entered Pisay. With some sort of support my parents got me a ball. Yey! But now it's just lying in the corner, waiting for someone to kick it again. Like baseball, I really, really like it. The strategy and the skill showcase are just so cool to see in a professional foot. I dreamed to be like that. But without much success. I think the problem is a proper coach. I planned to join the Soccer club (Labuyo) but I saw they never had formal training sessions, don't even had a proper coach. They just played games Tuesdays and Thursdays, but no training. No skill build. No improvement as a team. The good players just either have a coach of their own or have been in a soccer varsity in elementary. Others (like me) that aspire to be taught the proper techniques and skills, never got a chance.

Because of the technicality in terms of skills of the sport, a coach is gravely needed, and that is boldly what I lacked. I think that's why I eventually dropped soccer. Not that I don't play it anymore but just like baseball, I passively stopped. I still play it when friends invite because they got the nick of playing some.

The next two sports that I aspired to play seriously was badminton and flag football. I played real badminton last year one because that was our PE in one quarter and two because my closest friends in my last year's section were badminton dudes. I tried to seriously play the sport, arranging some badminton sessions with my friends or joining theirs. But that system was pretty costly. Once I had to travel to Makati just to play. In order to continually improve on it, I needed a court very near our place, a regular play time, and most importantly, someone to play with. My dad play it, but just for leisure, and seldom I had the chance to play with him in a true court. My kuya don't really play it and won't waste time with me with that sport because he's a basketball varsity. My mother's not really sporty. The only one left is my younger brother, perhaps too young for such a sport (he was in grade two). So I have no one to play to. I forgot, I have my best friend (the one I played baseball with). Badminton was his real sport. But he's such an excelling guy, not even including that he's a superb leader, that he's so busy, very rarely I got the chance to play with him anymore. I really have no one to play to. That's my dilemma. So sad that last year I think I was on my way to really play it, join trainings by a national player, and then play in tournaments. But that sole chance disappeared knowing the price of the training-tournament package. My parents said it was too much.

Flag football on the other hand only remained a dream. I was introduced to that sport when my two best friends and I decided to play some baseball on the UP sunken garden. Because a soccer match passively deprived us of some playing area, we were instead invited to play flag football by some collegiate group. We played and I deeply enjoyed and marvelled the sport and the strategies involved. And it was a very good excercise too because it involved fast paced action. But I never played it again. I have no ball. I would want to buy it but I am saving for something else. I think I can easily have my friends play it and have a mini game for bonding. And that's the sole reason why I can't play it. So it's pretty in reach.

The last and final sport that I have considered to be professional on is table tennis. Now I really am serious about playing it. I think the prime motivation is because it was our latest PE. So I got to play it regularly, and play with some varsity table tennis friends that are really good. Now I am taking a step to be in contact with my friends in UP that are varsity of table tennis and hope to play with them regularly. And I'm hoping that maybe the sports people in UP recognize me and then let me join the varsity. But that's far fetched. I'm not currently studying there. So I'm hoping that at least they let me play there, among the best, regularly. Racket sports, as you may have noticed, are the sports I am most versatile with. I owe that to my father because he's the one so versatile at racket sports. He can play table tennis as superbly as he can play tennis.

I started playing this in first year because my dormer classmates often play it and I was hooked. And one summer morning, my father and I suddenly decided that we make our own table tennis table. And in an instant, we bought plywood and net and paddle and balls. So I'm kind of encouraged in this sport and it's pretty in my reach. So right now, it's the sport that I most consider to be my specialty.

Those were some of my sports disappointments, hopes, and triumphs. Those were some hobbies that I would want to pursue. All of those are dreams, dreams that maybe still has the potential to happen. Just waiting an action from me. Happiness is one aspect in life you can't really loose. It is something in us from the start until forever. It is something that needs you, only you, to notice and be grateful about because happiness is in everything. With a little guide from Him, up above, we can find happiness in our hearts.