Trying Something For The First Time

It was a scorching afternoon. But the intense heat did nothing to dampen my spirits. I was representing my school in a football tournament for the National School Games. Little did I know that this match would cause a significant change in me.

My school did not actually have a girls’ team for football. Hence, my team was comprised of girls who came from three schools. We might have been studying in different schools, but we bonded over our common love of football. My face lit up as I looked forward to seeing how we might play beautiful football together.

Unfortunately, we were outmatched by our opponents. As a team of Individuals, our lack of teamwork showed. Our passes were intercepted; our shooting was inaccurate; and we seemed to be second-guessing one another’s intentions.

We were thrashed in our first match. 5-0. It was a humiliating defeat.

After that match, my best friend, Asmara, pulled me aside. She was in the same team with me.

“Rizqka, I think you really should step out to be a striker,” she cajoled assertively. She was never one to mince her words.

I paused in mid-sentence and nearly gave myself whiplash.

“Me?” I sounded nonchalant, but my emotions were turning topsy-turvy like clothes spun around in a washing machine. For that disastrous match (and for all my matches), I had always played the position of a midfielder. I had faith in my dribbling and shooting, but it just was not in my character to do something that would push me to be in the limelight.

“Rizqka, please,” Asmara said softly but her gaze was resolute. She had a way of persuading me to do things out of my comfort zone. I took a deep breath and nodded my head faintly. My eyes were fixated on the ground because I was unsure about what I was getting myself into.

However, I spoke to the coach. He agreed readily to me playing the position of a striker for the next match. I trained like mad because I did not want to let anyone down, let alone myself.

The day of the fateful match arrived. I found myself trying to convert the passes Asmara had given me into goals, but to no avail.

Lady Luck did not give up on me because Asmara passed me the ball yet again. Ignoring the butterflies in my stomach, I let my instincts take over me. I dribbled past three defenders, swerving left and right as if I were playing a car racing game on Nintendo Switch. A humongous grin crossed my face, the kind that I rarely showed because I was too scared to reveal my vulnerability.

But not this time. I was in my element. Before I knew it, I was in front of the opposing team’s goalkeeper. I took a deep breath, half-muttered a prayer and shot.

“Goooooaaaal!” The thunderous cheers reverberated across the field. My teammates shrieked in delight and darted over to hug me. They formed a tight circle around me, chanting my name like there was no tomorrow.

Rizqka! Rizqka! Rizqka!

It was a good thing that they were so ecstatic because no one seemed to know that my face was flushed red with embarrassment.

Thanks to my goal, we went on to win that match. I learnt an important lesson that day: never let my insecurities stop me from trying new things. I resolved not to rest on my laurels but instead, take on challenges in the future.