The Badminton Interschool was conducted on 5th October 2024 by Fountainhead school. Yet another competition with a new experience, I got selected for the event which is organised by school every year so that students across schools from Surat can come together and compete. This CAS experience has helped me both physically and mentally. Throughout this experience, I was able to identify my strengths, weaknesses, and represent my school wherein we achieved second place in the team event for my age category.

LO1: Identify your own strengths and develop areas for personal growth.

Playing for the school with my Badminton doubles partner made me realise my strengths such as my agility and smashes. However, I also noticed areas where I needed to improve such as long shots and playing flat shots. Once I identified my strengths and weaknesses, I understood the areas where I have to improve so that I may play Badminton at a greater level.

LO2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

Playing the interschool was very challenging as we had back to back matches lined up and I had to push myself out of my comfort zone for that. The major issue was not being able to handle the pressure during the intense matches, I am unable to work under pressure because there is a lot of load which does not allow me to think properly during the matches. This leads to me underperforming, however, I tried my best to stay patient, focus on my breathing, and the motivation from my friends also helped me. By the end of this competition, I had significantly worked on my mental resilience which will help me a lot in future as well.

LO4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

Playing in the doubles category requires a lot of dedication and commitment, I had to attend regular PS sessions, maintain a fitness routine, and constantly work on my skills and develop them for a good result. Even when matches didn’t go as I expected them to turn out, I learned to stay determined and not give up till the match ends, this helped me a lot. My hard-work paid off when I saw my progress over time and this CAS experience taught me the principles of commitment.

LO5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

We came second in the doubles category and for the same, a lot of practice with my teammate was required. We had to work collaboratively so that we could achieve the outcome which was expected from us as we were representing a tournament hosted by Fountainhead itself. We were patiently listening to eachothers calls for the movement required on the court and we made sure that we kept eachother motivated.

LO7: Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions

Sportsmanship is vital for Badminton because its not only about skills, its about fairness and respect. I took accountability for my choices and actions while playing and I made sure that there was a fair judgment made for the points which were made. It is a compulsion for both the opponents to shake hands with eachother once the match is over and even if we lost, I ensured that I gave them respect and congratulated them for winning and playing better.

To sum up, participating in the Badminton competition was a very transformative experience which went beyond just playing on the court. I have a lot of takeaways for this particular experience which includes respecting others while playing, commitment, and collaboratively working with others. Also, the learner profile attribute which I developed while completing this activity was communicators as I had communicated with my teammates effectively and we won!