“Come prepared and be ready to strive!”
— 09/05/2022 —
School is designed to educate and benefit the students that are keen to learn and strive in the environment. Supporting a range of career paths and hobbies, allowing the creative mind to explore and find its niche. Our school offers a range of subjects, clubs, and sports teams. Does athletics peak your interest? Feel like diving deep into the world of sweat and dedication? Well then it’s time to try-out for a sports team!
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When looking for a sports team, you have to ask yourself some questions which will help you pick a team. Starting off with (an obvious one) what sports do you like playing? It’s an important question as it will determine what team you end up trying out for. Do you have a passion for running the track? Got a high-score time for laps in the pool? Do you thrive off the thrill of scoring the winning point? You have to be sure of the team you’re choosing to commit to! No team likes a player who is merely testing the water for a week or two and then decides to abandon ship once they finally realize it’s not for them. My advice is play the sports you enjoy, decide which one you’d like to fully dive deep into and play competitively. For sports such as volleyball and football, you’ll be expected to compete in annual tournaments, so be familiar with the team game play, rather than going solo. It is a team you’re trying out for after all! Once you’ve made a definite decision on the team you’d like to join…
Fit the requirements. It’s another obvious one but all teams have requirements, if you cannot fit or follow them, then reconsider. All teams before tryouts announce their requirements, be sure to look for the important information which will determine whether you’re viable to tryout or not. These requirements can be uniform based, skill set or physical such as height. If you do meet the requirements needed, your chances will almost immediately go down the drain unless a discussion with the Captain of the team is had and they decide to give you a chance.
Next thing you need to worry about is… you. I’ve noticed myself at many tryouts that the students who are trying out tend to blend. News flash! You don’t have to erase your entire personality at tryouts. Captains want a team that can communicate and get along well, not robots. You will be living together after all, so don’t hold yourself back. Having character is what draws attention to you, which is what you should be aiming for when trying to stand out against others trying out. This doesn’t mean you are loud and annoying, you don’t have to suck up to the team you’re trying out for either. Just be passionate and brave enough to show your true colours whilst all eyes are on you. You don’t have to fake a smile and be all joyous just… show that you deserve to be there and are willing to put in the effort.
Next on the list is some extra details. Uniforms are an important part of a team. When wearing your team’s uniform you are a representative of not just you but that entire team. That being said… come correctly dressed to tryouts. This should be obvious, but on multiple occasions I have seen students come in casual clothing and not athletic attire. If you do not own your own attire to wear, you can borrow some gym uniform from the school. Do not be the person who didn’t get the memo. That will get you noticed in the wrong way, almost immediately. This is due to appearances being the first thing teams notice about you. If you’re well presented and correctly dressed, that will be taken into account. During tryouts, most teams ask some questions. These questions usually consist of your name, age, and what position on the team you’re trying out for. Be ready to answer these questions. If you are not a social butterfly, don’t panic. As long as you are ready with general information about yourself you shouldn’t be in too much trouble when it comes to answering questions. Some Captains may want to test how quickly you can improvise, so be prepared for that too! Overkill never hurts when it comes to preparation. Last but not least, arrive on time. If you want to get on the team’s good side, time management is key. This will be needed when you’re actually on the team and attending practice so showing you can do it straight off the bat is excellent. It’s also embarrassing if you arrive late to tryouts.
This is about all of the tips I can give, however I wanted to discuss something important too. If tryouts are done and results in you not getting on your dream team, do not give up. Now that doesn’t mean go and hassle the Captain and bribe them to give you a spot, it means… take a breather, a break. Give yourself time to accept it and then pick yourself back up! You want on the team don’t you? So don’t let one denial stop you from trying again. As somebody on a team who has seen the disappointed look on those who don’t make it on, don’t give in to the sadness. Embrace the opportunity to prepare for longer when the next spot opens. You may also want to consider what the people who got accepted did right, and how you can follow in those footsteps. Even if it doesn’t seem like it at the time, every person on the team you’re trying out for wants to see you do well. If they do not think you’re fully prepared yet and deny you a spot, consider it more time to improve for the next tryout.
That is all I have for you all for now. Be sure to keep up with more of my reports coming soon! I hope you enjoyed this first one and found it useful. This was Etsuko Saito reporting and signing out.
