Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Kayaking Inspirational
Inspiration on the Kayak
I have never kayaked before, it was my first year in high school and I barely knew anyone. I had wanted to join some kind of sport for this first year in high school and Football tryouts were already over when school started so my friend and I looked through the list of sports and decided to go out for kayaking. Over the season, I had been inspired, made new friends, and improved in kayaking.
Neither my friend, nor I kayaked before, so when we first got on a boat, we couldn't even balance. Every time I got on the boat, I would flip and fall and I was not able to balance on the boat. I started to lose motivation and after a while, I started to prefer running rather then kayak during practice. As the season went on, the people that kayaked during practice got better and better while the people that ran didn't get much practice.
It was a chilly Saturday morning and it was the first race of the season, I got up that morning and my mom dropped me off at the Ala’ Wai Canal. I then helped unload all the racing kayaks. As everyone started to arrive, the coaches announced the people that were racing and they got ready. The season just began, and I didn't know most of the people on the team but there was this one person in particular that I noticed. He was always happy and energetic; he always worked very hard and tried his best during the races, and he always supported his teammates. On that day, his arm was slightly injured, he had an ice pack on his shoulder before climbing into the kayak.
All the racers lined up to two orange buoys and the announcer called “Racers, Paddle up…” There wasn't a sound, everybody was watching the racers, then the sound of the bell shattered the silence and people everywhere were cheering, “Go! Go! Go!” The Punahou kayaker got cut off in the beginning and he flipped, but he got up right away. All the kayakers passed him when he was back in the boat but from that moment, he exploded with energy, and with a few powerful strokes he zoomed back into the race. Going as fast as he could, he caught up to the kayakers one by one until he was in the front of the pack. Everybody cheered for him amazed by his miraculous comeback. As time passed, he inched up to third place but was not able to get second. When he got out of the boat, all of his teammates gathered around him and pulled him up.
When a racer wasn't there on the third race, the coaches had to replace him with someone and they asked me. “It is okay if you don’t want to race, I will just pick someone else.” My head coach said. I wasn’t quite sure if I wanted to because I still had a few problems balancing, however thinking back to the first race, if I do flip, I will just get back on and try my hardest. I did race that one, I flipped once but I felt happy after. I had accomplished something that I never thought I would’ve done. After that race, I was convinced that I could become a great kayaker like him. I enjoyed kayaking more and more, tried harder during the practices, and was even more friendly to other teammates, even the ones I didn't know. One time I even asked the coach to put me in the spare kayak after I ran whereas everyone else would just rest and relax.
My inspiration however wasn't just that one person, the entire team was my inspiration. That one person did make a difference in me, but it was the team that supported me after I raced, they took my kayak out of the water while I was fatigued from racing, cheered and rooted for me when I flipped. They were what allowed me to be what I am today, I have improved in kayaking greatly since the beginning of the season, since that day, and that is what I am going to do next season, when the new kayakers joi
I have never kayaked before, it was my first year in high school and I barely knew anyone. I had wanted to join some kind of sport for this first year in high school and Football tryouts were already over when school started so my friend and I looked through the list of sports and decided to go out for kayaking. Over the season, I had been inspired, made new friends, and improved in kayaking.
Neither my friend, nor I kayaked before, so when we first got on a boat, we couldn't even balance. Every time I got on the boat, I would flip and fall and I was not able to balance on the boat. I started to lose motivation and after a while, I started to prefer running rather then kayak during practice. As the season went on, the people that kayaked during practice got better and better while the people that ran didn't get much practice.
It was a chilly Saturday morning and it was the first race of the season, I got up that morning and my mom dropped me off at the Ala’ Wai Canal. I then helped unload all the racing kayaks. As everyone started to arrive, the coaches announced the people that were racing and they got ready. The season just began, and I didn't know most of the people on the team but there was this one person in particular that I noticed. He was always happy and energetic; he always worked very hard and tried his best during the races, and he always supported his teammates. On that day, his arm was slightly injured, he had an ice pack on his shoulder before climbing into the kayak.
All the racers lined up to two orange buoys and the announcer called “Racers, Paddle up…” There wasn't a sound, everybody was watching the racers, then the sound of the bell shattered the silence and people everywhere were cheering, “Go! Go! Go!” The Punahou kayaker got cut off in the beginning and he flipped, but he got up right away. All the kayakers passed him when he was back in the boat but from that moment, he exploded with energy, and with a few powerful strokes he zoomed back into the race. Going as fast as he could, he caught up to the kayakers one by one until he was in the front of the pack. Everybody cheered for him amazed by his miraculous comeback. As time passed, he inched up to third place but was not able to get second. When he got out of the boat, all of his teammates gathered around him and pulled him up.
When a racer wasn't there on the third race, the coaches had to replace him with someone and they asked me. “It is okay if you don’t want to race, I will just pick someone else.” My head coach said. I wasn’t quite sure if I wanted to because I still had a few problems balancing, however thinking back to the first race, if I do flip, I will just get back on and try my hardest. I did race that one, I flipped once but I felt happy after. I had accomplished something that I never thought I would’ve done. After that race, I was convinced that I could become a great kayaker like him. I enjoyed kayaking more and more, tried harder during the practices, and was even more friendly to other teammates, even the ones I didn't know. One time I even asked the coach to put me in the spare kayak after I ran whereas everyone else would just rest and relax.
My inspiration however wasn't just that one person, the entire team was my inspiration. That one person did make a difference in me, but it was the team that supported me after I raced, they took my kayak out of the water while I was fatigued from racing, cheered and rooted for me when I flipped. They were what allowed me to be what I am today, I have improved in kayaking greatly since the beginning of the season, since that day, and that is what I am going to do next season, when the new kayakers joi
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)