SportsChallenge was the best way I could've started off the summer of 2009 and my school year, especially since I was going to start Junior Year in September. I honestly thought it was going to be a chance for me to improve on my soccer skills and that's it, but as cliché as this might sound, this PROGRAM made me a stronger person, on and off the field; someone who can deal with things in a different manner. Pre- Sports Challenge, if I was loosing a soccer game I would transmit negative energy to my team and get really angry and be overcome with a feeling of being defeated, which I loathe.
Post- Sports Challenge, I found myself automatically taking deep breaths and telling myself that I can and should NOT give up. This made that defeated feeling go away. Unfortunately, I think the getting angry and giving up part of me is such a big part of me that just a week couldn't fix in totality, but that's reality. Fortunately, it did make me see that the way I handled things on the field was not a great way to resolve things, so I thank the program for helping me recognize it and for giving me ways that I could resolve any situation.
The deep breaths were my number one solution, and that helps even when I'm bombarded with tests and homework and projects. My school's pretty challenging, and with it being Junior year, I had so much on my shoulders and in my mind; Malamo, keep your grades up, Focus on your SAT's, Get to soccer practice on time, Don't let this girl score! People might think that I'm over exaggerating, but I'm really not. Seriously, starting in September my schedule went a little something like this: Monday- Friday: School (During lunch: getting as much homework as I can, that's been assigned, done) , School Soccer, Go Home, Eat, and on Tuesday's and Thursdays: Club Soccer Practice. Saturday: SAT Prep, Community Service and Club Soccer Game(s) Sunday: SAT Prep, Club Soccer Game(s), Homework and Hanging out to get away from academic things and even soccer. I even took time on Sunday nights to just breathe, like we did two times in the auditorium. This helped clear my head and think about the following week in peace, instead of having everything running in my head like a tornado.
If I had the power, I think I would make SportsChallenge a mandatory program for everyone to take at least once. It combines what you love to do with learning to be a leader. It teaches you not just about leadership in your sport, but it also applies to the real world by default. I have to say that without SportsChallenge, I could've balanced everything, BUT I give this program credit for helping me NOT freak out, not even once throughout it. I did everything to the best of my ability, because of the self confidence that the program instilled in me. Now we're in February, I can say I've survived more than half of Junior year and it went VERY smoothly and successfully! I don't know if it would've turned out that way had I not participated in the program. Thank you so much Sports Challenge! I feel the need to add that the program introduced me to amazing people that I have many great memories with that started during the program and now continue outside of SportsChallenge. These will hopefully be life long friendships. So, thank you for the memories, the friendships, the skills, the confidence and the ability to handle ANYTHING that crosses my path, with a different attitude that I believe is getting better all the time.
Sincerely,
Malamo Koutsogiannis :)
