A lesson learnt

During the past one month, a lot of things had been happening in regards to preparing the team for the national tournament. Feelings were hurt, a lot of heartbreaking moments arised and others, tears and blood were involved.
Being an adult, a teacher, a trainer, a friend, a sister, an assistant coach, a senior, all these has played a role in trying to solve the issues which had arised.

Our girls lost in the final against the usual champ. They lost by only 7 points after trying their very best to catch up in the last 3 minutes of the game. My feelings towards the lost - numb. Nothing.I can say its a balance of satisfaction and regret. I am satisfied because I believe I have prepared the girls well in terms of their fitness level and their fundamentals ( with the help of my current coach). So far, compared to past years, this year's players are really fit and able to outrun all the teams.

Regret? - yes. Because I saw it was coming and I didn't do anything. Didn't manage to do anything. I saw that the team had the chance to choose whether to be a champion or be happy to be together with the person who they think can understand them better. I regretted that I was not able to persuade them to decide the best for the team - the best for the school.
Yes, they were given the choice to choose:

a -somebody who can help them to win
or
b - somebody who can 'understand' their feelings and emotions well in the court.

I guess, they've made their choice and the result - was their sadness being handled well enough by the person whom they chose when they lost in the final?
Players - you know who you are , I hope, I really hope this will be the best lesson you have ever learnt. In the real life - you can either go for your objective or you go for the person who takes care of your heart. To achieve something is not easy. As the famous saying - no pain no gain. But the end result will make you forget of the pain.

For the F5s, I'm sorry for the loss. As I've mentioned again and again before the final match - there's no turning back time. The decision we make is crucial in deciding whether we want to be the champion or not. And you've made the decision. From my view, you were good, you were fit,you had strong fundamentals.Its just that the strategy during the game was wrong. Totally wrong. And because of somebody who was too ego to listen to other people's advise - you lost.

For the F4, 3, 2 and 1s, you still have the chance of winning in the coming years.We'll make sure you will be the new champ next year onwards!