Basketball has always been a sport I’ve shown interest throughout my childhood, not only as a spectator but also as a player of the sport.
Therefore, with my previous experiences in representing school and domestic basketball clubs, I figured it would be fitting that I give it a shot at University as well.
I recall my first training session as a fresher exactly a little over a year ago. It was much more welcoming and fun than I expected it to be. By the end of training, we were able to build a closely knitted friendship amongst our teammates and little did we know that it was this friendship that was responsible for creating unforgettable memories in time to come.
As days passed by, we worked on our skills and it was rather amazing the team chemistry we had developed by the time we were called up to compete in NuMed games (a sports event hosted by NewCastle University of Malaysia).
Thanks to our former captain, Liew Hau Run, we were lucky enough to have his previous coach, Mike to help us with our preparation for the games. Coach Mike was instrumental in substantially improving our team in terms of stamina and refinement of technique.
Unfortunately for us, amidst a good fight, we fell short of obtaining a place at last year’s event after losing to the hosts themselves.
Our defeat didn’t stop us from trying, and hence, we continued to train, increasing our routine and obtaining further feed back from our coach, until we met our next hurdle, Educity Games.
We discussed amongst ourselves, and realized that this was the platform we had to get our hopes back in tact. True to our word, we fared exceptionally well and was awarded with 2nd place after an intense final.
Amidst the joy and celebration, it was not long till we had to bid farewell to our seniors who we shared the court with, as they left to UK to continue their degree in our parent campus. Therefore, with the hope of being able to play as a team once again in our 3rd year, we began recruiting new members to our team.
Unfortunately for us, our Coach had to return to his hometown due to obligations at work, which left us with his countless hours of training, expertise and valuable advice both on and off the court.
Thankfully, we were privileged to have recruited a bunch of experienced basketball players from the newly joined Engineering Foundation Year to the team. With the usual training sessions taking place, 3 months into 2nd year, it was NuMed Games once again. Our confidence level was over the moon this time, after defeating our “rivals” Newcastle University in a friendly match just days before the main event. But at the end of the day, they had the last laugh after defeating us to bag 2nd place, leaving us with Bronze.
Being the only foreigner in the team, it was a great experience and exposure for me, and in my perspective I believe that the departure of our coach cost us the chance of the championship at this year’s tournament.
However, with Educity Games 2017 around corner, we hope that at least this time we can bring the championship to USMC.
As one of the greatest player’s of all time, Michael Jordan stated “Talent wins the game, but teamwork wins the championship”, my team and I have been privileged to represent USMC in basketball and furthermore make a name for USMC in basketball as a team capable of giving a good fight against any team.