____T.H.E. .P.A.S.S.

____To surpass myself

Did I bring it upon myself? Was I asking for it? Or was it a chance to redeem myself?

Once again I am given the task of managing and captaining the road relay team for my Hall. But how do I go about doing a good job? How do I motivate my runners to give their best for the team? How do I perform well for the Hall?

All along I am only the team member - hardly the vocal leader, although sometimes I see myself leading by example. But this time, I need to be more imposing in my role. Besides training hard and improve myself, I also need to motivate the amateur runners in my team, I need to manage the stars of the team well so that they too put in their best for the team. I need to show the stars that this team have a goal in mind and that we are all in it together.

I had a totally humbling experience last Friday when playing as a wingback in the soccer team for Hall in the friendly against the school team, I was torn apart, played around, fooled time and again. I am determined to go about to correct my mistakes.

A quick look at my team:-

-I have got Arthur the star of the team possibly one of the best runners I've seen. He hasn't signed up for the team so I must convince him to join the team again and by doing so, I need to show him that the team have got a goal this time around.

-Another star would be Weiyee who performed really well last year and I'm glad she signed up for road relay again. I might get her to be my vice so that she can help manage the girls in the team.

-I have got Shawn, James, U-wei as seasoned runners that need some push so that they can bring their performance to a next level. The problem with them is to help them identify the fact that to win, we have to clock a minimum timing for the relay distance.

-I've got some girls from block 14 and 17 who are probably experiencing their first competitive run in many years but are involved in some form of running previously. These are the ones who need motivation to come down for training as well as significantly improving their timings. I also note that I need to inject some confidence into them. They must understand that they are not going to turn into super runners overnight but with some training, I'm sure they will get somewhere close. Afterall, man (as well as women) tend to overestimate their abilities over the short term and underestimate themselves over the long term (with training of course).

-I have got people who sign up who are least interested yet need the points. I have got to think of a way to either make them feel the team spirit, or kick them out of the team.

-Lastly, I have many hidden dragons that I think I have to consider them into the team. However, I have to be convinced that they show commitment to the team so that I do not throw in bad apples amongst the good ones.

After getting them to identify the importance of having good team spirit, the training plan have to be drawn up. Trainings have to suit the different runners as much as possible yet due to time contraint and cultivate team cohesiveness, I also need to train my team together.

It isn't easy to captain and manage a team especially when you set high standards for yourself.

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