I have been playing basketball since the past 4 years, I’ve been on various tournaments as have since my graph upscale as a player. However, there is always a scope for improvement, and I want to become a better team player so that I can contribute in a better way to the game. Basketball, is also a medium through which I can maintain my overall fitness level. It helps me work on all 5 fitness components, speed, agility, strength, endurance and flexibility. Especially while the world is still in a pandemic, it is vital for be to maintain good health and well-being.

As a part of this experience, I have various learning outcomes:

Learning Outcome 1 – Identify own strengths and weakness.

Since I had been playing basketball for some years and along the first few classes, I realized that I could by 45 degree position, however controlling/center position was proving to be a challenge. It was vital that I improved my skills in controlling, whereas maintain my performance on the 45 degree position, so that I could be a more flexible player and replace positions whenever necessary. This has helped me contribute to the game better.

Learning Outcome 2 – Demonstrate Challenges that have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

The challenge that occurred while improving my skills was external, due to the pandemic the school had to shut down their operations several times, which showed a clear impact on my game. Not a lot of girls, in my age category, has taken up this programme, hence i had to play with the boys, who would more often than not undermine my performance, which got me intimidated, and restricted my growth as a player. However over the course of the programme, I learned several drills which improved my game after long breaks from school, and my overall game sense, after which I could see my graph upscale.

Learning outcome 4 – Show commitment and perseverance in CAS experience.

Basketball schedules were hectic and were before the educational periods, early in the morning. Although it was hard to manage at times, I ensured that my attendance in the classes was stable and that I did not miss sessions, which could get me back to square one.

Learning Outcome 5 – Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.

Basketball is a team sport, hence its very important that all the 5 players work collaboratively in order to score points and restrict the other team from scoring. Many times we used non-verbal communication and sign language to communicate within the game, so that the opponents would be unaware of our moves, hence scoring points was much easier. Above all, it is vital to instill trust in all players to ensure that the game functions well.

I believe I was able to demonstrate the learned profile ‘Balanced’. Although I was focused on improving my basketball performance, I also had to ensure that it did not affect my focus in other academic classes. Within the classes I was balancing my time between learning new skills through drills, and applying the same, by playing a match. My highlight of this experience was when my coach complimented me and said ‘good game’ I knew that day that I had shown improvement and getting validation form him was extremely important for me. This activity overall has bought me a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment to me.