When I was in high school we always had enough time for leisure and games especially from grade 7 to grade 11. But things changed when we were in the 12th grade. We were denied these leisure activities or , if given, would be too short to enjoy. This was because we were expected to spend more time preparing for our upcoming certificate examinations.
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My school then used to organize inter-house sports for the students and staff in different houses. I remember belonging to the greenhouse. The inter-house competition usually comes with lots of varieties like the field and track events. We always emerging second position after the competition.
We were denied the opportunity of participating in the event due to exams. We felt really bad, especially the boys who wanted to play football,to show their teachers their skills.
But this time never stopped counting. In less than two months,we finished our examinations and we were now free to play from morning till night. We were done with academic "things". When the other students leave for school, we would stay in the dormitory and engage in different indoor games like Monopoly, Whot, chess, Scrabble and lots more. When it's time for outdoor games , everyone would dress in their sports clothes and engage in sports.
Inorder to make up for our lost opportunities to play football during the inter-house competition, we wrote a letter to the school principal ,Mrs Mfon Nze, requesting the opportunity to play football with our school's young alumni,those who have recently graduated from our school. She considered our request and worked towards it. We were so happy to hear that the football match has been fixed on a particular date.
We, my class boys, embarked on serious training.
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We knew we were going to face our senior brothers and we knew they were more experienced. We didn't want them to disgrace us, we planned to play a draw or win a match with them. Our school game masters and mistresses also helped and encouraged us so much. We were so committed to training that some students started betting on us to win the match.
But finally it was the D-Day, the whole mini stadium was filled with spectators and fans. The mini stadium was designed to surround the field to create a wider view for people.
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My school is located in the capital city of the state. Therefore,we had a lot of people thronging in as there was nothing like tickets. One side was reserved for parents and staff while the other was for students and other invitees. We weren't much scared of them because some of them were just older than most of us by two or three. The match finally began when the referee sounded the whistle. And we played smoothly and they treated us like babies and showed us love and sportsmanship.
That day I learned that overconfidence and downgrading someone is very bad. These alumni were looking down on us as children until they conceived their first goal, scored by Joe, popularly known by us as Tiny Pele.It was like a joke to them when the second goal followed up in less than fifteen minutes. When I scored this second goal, their eyes opened. I was the best defensive midfielder in my class and my mates often called me Ramos. They tried to become serious and they began to pressure us. This was to no avail as the whistle was blown for the end of first half.
We knew they would plan to give us a comeback, so we decided to play a defensive game, meaning that we stopped pressing to score more goals but tried to stop them from scoring and preserve our win. This strategy was brought up by our coach, the general games master, Mr John, popularly known as Cristiano Messi.They tried all they could to score at least one goal,but never succeeded. It was eighty minutes already,ten minutes to go and they became nervous, angry, aggressive and lost the spirit of sportsmanship they exhibited at the start.
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They became dangerous to us as they would intentionally push us down when moving with ball,step on us with their studs and displayed several form of sudden hatred for us. When the referee noticed that there is no more display of sportsmanship in the game and that it may lead to conflict, he decided not to give an extra time. The referee ended the match in full time, ninety minutes exactly and everyone left. None of us were happy even when we won the match because there was no sportsmanship.
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This lack of sportsmanship in the school prevented us from organizing a second-leg match between us and the alumni again. These students and staff were happy for us.It was after that match that I knew the outstanding importance of sportsmanship in sports or competitions.