Activity and Service- Playing Volleyball daily in my building and hosting tournament on a weekend.
I love playing volleyball a lot but stopped playing it since I left it in school in grade 9. Volleyball is one of my hobbies and my favorite sport, but sadly I did not play it much. Coincidentally, in my building other building members, and my friends play volleyball daily. Taking this as an opportunity, I want to make a goal of making time and playing volleyball daily, at least 5 days a week, as my CAS experience. Also I am planning to host a Volleyball tournament in my building, and the money collected from the players and captains of all teams would be donated to charity. This will help me stay fit, follow my passion, get me out of house in this covid pandemic, and do a good cause by hosting this tournament. This would be a little hard for me as only boys and men play down in my building, but I won’t let that stop me.
The learning outcomes I focused on were LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, & LO5.
LO1- Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth
Since the start I was a very sporty girl and was good in all the sports, especially Volleyball. Playing daily down in my building sure has improved my skills in the sport, like now I am able to do the throw serve, I am able to take uphand shot, and my control of the ball has improved. My coordination and communication also has improved with all of the building members who play down, and sure has my fitness as well.
LO2- Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process
While learning the throw serve, and uphand shot I made a lot of mistakes during the matches, I was ashamed that because of me my team lost points, but then in the weekends, me, my brothers, and my dad used to play down, where I practiced these things and got better at it. Now I play so well that I am one of the best players in the building. New skills about management, time-management, communication, and confidence were developed in me through organizing the tournament, and going down to play even though I was the only girl.
LO3- Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience
Due to my grade 11, I had a lot of pressure about studies especially while we had submissions and assessments. This made it hard for me to make time for volleyball, but I sacrificed my TV time, etc to make time for it. I decided on a proper schedule that I would follow to give proper time to everything, studies, gym, TV, art, etc. Planning of the tournament was also a task and a new experience for me. All the invitations, managements of teams and events, collecting money, etc all to a lot of planning and strategy.
LO4- Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences
Again commiting to the schedule I made was tough, and still is, but it is 100% worth it. I just love going down and playing. Due to my gym, my body ached but it was good for me only, and my fitness. There were only very few days that I did not go to play, like when I had to go out, or had important submissions or assessments. I also showed commitment and perseverance while hosting an entire tournament, because I invited people, made teams, collected money, managed the events, donated, and all of this really took a lot of energy and time from my side.
LO5- Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively
Volleyball is a team sport hence there is collaboration and coordination required amongst the team members. Playing daily, I increased connections with the other players, and we had a lot of fun in general. Slowly and gradually our team started to play 3 passing Volleyball which is very difficult, but we all learnt it. Now there are so many good rallies and points that very interesting matches take places. Also while hosting the tournament, I had to communicate and work with the building’s secretary, different players who were going to play, collect money, manage the scoring and chronology of games, donating money, etc. This requires working together and that definitely made things easier as my father and brother helped me throughout.
The learner profile attributes that I showcased were, firstly Communicator- Volleyball being a team sport there is obviously communication between the team players for team strategies, and other things. Also hosting the tournament required a lot of communication and collaboration with building members, the secretary, etc. Secondly. Risk Taker- because I am the only girl who plays down, with all other men/boys, and hosting an entire tournament was something big I had never done before. It did feel a little awkward and uncomfortable in the beginning, but gradually now I am really fond of everyone down. Thirdly, Balanced- as I balanced my studies, gym, art, TV, sports to make time for this everyday. I did not let volleyball affect other things. Lastly, Reflective- I reflected on my mistakes and weak points to improve on them and be a better player everyday.
To conclude, I think this experience was absolutely a success. I am so happy that I decided to go down and play, and still I absolutely love playing volleyball. Also hosting this tournament taught me a lot of things about management, planning, and communicating. I felt so good and proud afterwards by donating the money collected, and by the well-wishes and appreciation I got from the building members. This experience connected me again to my passion and hobby, and made me better at it. I have so much nostalgia when I play down, to when I used to play with my friends in school in grade 7,8 and 9. I miss that, and I can relate this activity to my previous PS classes. This experience has also made me a more confident woman, as I am not afraid to be different from everyone else, as I was and still am the only girl playing down, and doing something this big I had never done before on my own. I have also inspired young girls in my building as they also try to learn volleyball. I have decided to not stop going down to play just because my CAS experience has ended, but I will still go daily to play, as it makes me happy. I keep on improving everyday, and it is making me stronger and better at Volleyball.
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