Into the skin of sports

It was such a joy to have gone on a pinic last week. It had been ages since I had gone for one and felt it was a welcome break. Youth from church is an awesome bunch to go with. We played a variety of sports from morning till lunch and a for a while in the afternoon.

One of the things that struck me most was the commitment and enthusiasm Mary (her beautiful name changed here) showed towards the sports that we were playing. While many girls did play and worked hard to win points to their respective teams, Mary was all out there, yelling, screaming, asking for passes, running endlessly, passing on tactics to team mates, falling down and getting back up... she was in the thick of it. A true sports person. I had not seen someone like that in a long while. Some one, who would at that age be so active and give her best in to the sport. It was a joy to watch her play. Never giving up, never showing her tiny bruises to anyone and crying for sympathy...no. Mary was just playing her game. She further brightened my already lit up day.

When she fiinished a match of Koko, I called her and gave her a hug and said, 'Keep it up; it's a joy to watch you play.' She smiled and went off to drink water.
It was Mary. A girl who challenged every stereotype about how a girl should be while playing sports. A girl who didn't think that she had to be quiet and in the sides of a game, in which a lot of boys were roughing it out. She fought. Fought like a woman, with dignity and courage and never kept quite.She pushed, thugged, perspired and played her game, very fairly. The best part is that she never cared who the opponent was. She was a player, and she played and never cared who came her way.

Thank you for inspiring me.