Activade Bet

A couple of weeks ago I read an article in the PDI badminton that stated that no one plays for fun anymore. And I felt sad-- I've always believed that the main reason why I play badminton and love the game so much is because it intrincally fun. So I beg to disagree with the author when she said that no one plays for fun these days-- I still see a lot of them. And I wish she would too.

Take the case of our barkada-- we play hard and train hard but we never fail to laugh on court. We are the rowdiest and the noisiest group inside any court or tournament. And no matter what the outcome of the game is we always smile in the end. After all its not about winning or losing--it's about fulfilling your goals and having fun in the process. Last Saturday Luis, karen, Peter, George's dad and I had a discussion about our badminton goals. Luis wants to increase power in his smash, Peter wants to build endurance, while I on the other hand want to improve my speed and service. I think that's what makes the game inherently fun for us-- we don't aspire to be world champions and gold medalists-- our gauge for success lie within us. Like last night for instance. I won my first activade bet last night against my formidable kumares-- Karen and Annie. It was a fun bet actually but it really made me admire my mare's the more. After all, Macre and I were highly favored to win. But still they challenged themselves not to win-but just be able to fight a good fight. And they did--they fought well and despite losing, they had their mini goals at hand. I smiled inside when I heard Karen say "mare don't think about the score. basta play lang."

Imagine that-- my kumare who hates running on court is actually motivating a weaker partner to try her best. And they did. And by the way--she was actually running last night. hehehe.

That is what makes the game fun. And yes, we do play for fun. Kahit na ilang beses akong najajackpot sa mukha at napipisuhan on court (Ninja training according to Len), okay lang. Kahit palagi akong binobodega ng mga kupals, okay lang (nasasagot ko na naman ang mga palp eh). Kahit palpak pa din ang mga service ko (improving...hehehe) Okay lang. My favorite expression on court is whenever me or my partner (even our opponents) would say "nice try" even if we fail in executing our shots. I've learned to laugh at my mistakes, move on and try again.

Play becomes fun when you want it to be.