I wasn't really born athletic, I lived a very active childhood but I slowed down when I reached my teenage years. This period of my life was when I took the fast lane. I smoked like hell, partied until the sun goes up, and drank like there's no tomorrow.
I lived a sedentary lifestyle when I hit College, more sleepless nights, eye puffing computer hours, and brain draining write-ups.
I tried playing basketball last November but the piled up stress, free radicals, and other screwed up stuff messed up my stamina. I continued to play bad games with friends until a turning point happened last December.
My friend and I was shooting hoops one afternoon when my friend told me that he was tired and wanted to go home. I wasn't ready to leave the court yet so I stayed.
As I was about to leave, I saw another friend of mine in the nearby football field while holding a plastic disc in his right hand. It's been a while since I set foot on a football field at that time, I just felt relaxed as I inhaled the fresh air and enjoyed the view of infinite green turf. Since I got an SLR with me, I sat in the middle of the field and took some photos while my friends and his teammates threw discs all over the pitch.
Ultimate Frisbee, that's what they call the sport. It is played using a 175-gram plastic disc that you and your teammates should bring to the end zone. More like American Football or Rugby, but the difference is that Ultimate is a none contact sport, and you are only allowed to move your pivot foot when you gain possession of the disc.
I did a few sloppy throws, after a few minutes of practicing my flicks, one of them called eveyone's attention for a pick up game. I was also asked to play. I was reluctant at first but I decided to just try it out.
I had no idea what I was doing during my very first game. Sporting a pair of high-cut basketball shoes, I jogged my way towards the middle of the field as the disc flew above us towards the other team.
The players in the team that I was in were shouting a lot of Frisbee terms: "Force home!" "No breaks!" "Huck the disc!" I just ran and ran all over the field not a clue of what they were talking about.
The first point was meant to be for me, the handler threw a good backhand but I failed to catch the disc. They told me that I make a lot of "basketball cuts" and that I have to "attack the disc" every time I'm about to receive a pass.
I was panting like hell after the first point but what could I expect, I never played in a field before, not to mention having a bad stamina even in the court, but for the first time in a hundred years, I carried on and continued to play.
After an hour of gameplay, my shirt was soaking wet and my shoulders and chest rose and fell like I had eight orgasms in a row. I never felt really tired in my life.
In spite of the game's physical demands and intense nature, I promised myself to improve and one day play in a frisbee league. But I thought that I had to do something to survive in this competitive sport. I told myself that I have to play right, I have to eat right, and I have to live right...
From that day forward, everything has changed, I felt good every single day, I never get tired easily as compared in the past months, I tried working out and run a few kilometers in between busy hours as training.
I can't believe the work-loaded, school committed, College dude like me does a lot of frisbee playing on the side.
It has been 8 months now and two leagues have passed. A lot of learning, victories, failures, and teamwork happened during the passed months and I know and believe that I will still get better. I faced a lot of players who are bigger, better, taller,and faster than me but I will not give up. I know that there is a lot of room for improvement, I just have to work really hard for it since I started from nothing. And now that the seed that I planted a couple of months ago is gradually sprouting, I will still work hard to get better, until I experience the day that I, together with my teammates will be on the top, but until that day, I will keep on pushing, I will keep on dreaming, and I will keep on improving to fulfill my goal and live my ambition.
My stamina has improved, but everything is not enough, I am still not satisfied with my performance so I still have a lot of practicing to do. I can't wait to play again, I will still enjoy a pick up or a serious game whether we win or lose because for me, true victory is when you beat your limits, when you do the things that you thought you could not do. I do not find glory in beating the other team, I find glory and victory when I become better than my old self.
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