Inspirational I delivered to kick off the 2014 Corps Of Midshipmen Sports Fest Last Monday I beheld a very special scene that just remembering still brings a welling in my heart. That time after logging out in the admin building and seeing the sunset from the horizon breaking in a palette of red and golden streaks of hue, I saw players running around in the football field. In my eyes, one man stood out from the rest. Nearly two years ago, one of those running and kicking the ball was the captain of the team I coached in the SCUAA games of 2012. Back then he suffered a terrible and awful accident which left him unable to walk for a long time. Such is the pain and setback he suffered when his thigh bones broke in the field in the middle of the game, when a kick went awry against one member of the opposing team. Time passed and he spent his time here as a tactical officer, unable yet to sign on because of his body’s fragile state. But in that period, he has healed and was able to accomplish a lot of what he needed to pursue in his career such as getting his license and the training necessary for that. From being wheelchair bound to using crutches to limping and to finally slowly, beginning to regain the use his legs once more, he has remained upbeat and of a positive attitude. He never let his condition become the mournful state of affairs that will control his life. He always joked and laughed from the heart. Madalas ko rin kabiruan at tacong taco na nga rin ang dating ng mga sigawan peptalk sa junior eh hehehe. Aba Matinde. This for me is the most profound part of his healing, where he showed everyone around him that he doesn’t need a pity party. Instead, just to be treated and kidded as normally as possible. Seeing him playing once again filled me with an awesome sense of pride. For I know and understand personally what discipline it entails to heal, to be confined to a body limited in its faculties, to be sick and to finally find and follow the path to becoming better once again. Ladies and gentlemen of the corps, that person I am talking about is no other than your Ensign and Engineer Ivan Pajarillo. Lets give him a kickass round of applause everyone…. Sports indeed teaches us many important things. Not only in the game but in life as well. I would know this. I will continue with some of them. To start, it teaches us that we are capable of achieving. That we can win if we but put everything we’ve got into what we are doing. If you apply this in life, it goes something like what John Wooden said which goes something like this: dont measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability. Don’t limit your challenges, instead challenge your limits… That is why there are different kinds of sports, because not everyone can be a basketball player or a football player, a runner or a discus thrower, for sports is not only about one aspect of physical sense like the foot or the arms, but in other areas as well, such as the mind. That is why chess is also a part of this games. So do not let yourself go the way of mediocrity, seek where your abilities and talents will be harnessed. Then practice hard so that when you go for it, you could say you have accomplished it by seeking where you fit, where your strength and God given talents lie which you didn’t let become idle. Another is that we must not only focus on the prospect of being glorified for winning. The fight in itself is as important as the laurels that crown the head of the victors. Jim Courier said: Sportsmanship for me is when a guy walks off the court and you really cant tell whether he won or lost, when he carries himself with pride either way. Teach yourself this. That not everyday belongs to us but if we put our whole heart and being into our game, then we could leave the court or wherever venue with our heads held high. And finally, just another of so many other wisdom that sports enlighten upon us, I say this to those who will compete as a team: always remember, when you put on your uniforms, the name on the front is more important than the name on the back. Fight for the team. Be a part of the team and think of yourself not as someone indispensable, for you can only be important so long as you are part of the whole. Once you break free from that mindset and think you are better than the others and not play as you should be in a group, then it is everyone who will suffer. Be a team player. Realize that collective effort wins the game. In the last World cup, Germany did not have Neymar or Messi or other great names in the pantheon of soccer, glorified from the rest. But they had a team and that is why they won. There are other lessons that playing a sports game can teach each of us. Seek to further discover it as you go along playing. At the same time, never forget to breath the exhilaration of the moment and enjoy each and every moment you are in the fields. To close, as you enjoin and go against each other in the spirit of competition, never forget that this event is but another one of those that would further seal and strengthen your brotherhood and camaraderie. Be humble winners and gracious losers. Dahil sa bandang huli, anumang kulay ang suot mong uniporme, sa oras ng pagtangap mo sa iyong tropeo o medalya, tanging nagiisang PMMA PA RIN ANG NAGWAGI! Thank you very much and good morning to everyone.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 13:18:53 +0000
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