All about the spirit

*This is something I wrote in my FB notes last night, well, Saturday night. This is dedicated to team Blitzers from SMK Bandar Utama 4. *

I learned something today. Something about the fighting spirit, the spirit of sportsmanship. Last Sunday, I did not get to watch Blitzers perform as they were just before Baby Starz. I managed to see them start. I didn't know what happened after that. I was told that someone in the team was badly injured during the performance. I left it at that. Then I saw that their position in the final standing was way below expectations. I did not think too much about it. Tonight, I found out why. But instead of feeling sad and sorry for them, I salute this team that has shown such grit and determination. It was in the face of total failure that the team members continued what they had set out to do, to the best of their abilities given the injury mid-way through their routine. They went on with the performance as their injured team member was taken out and later, stretchered out. A team with less determination would have stopped and looked in horror at the incident, and probably cried their eyes out. The result? An incomplete routine which would have placed them last, perhaps? Instead, they did what nobody else had expected. They continued. They did without the injured member. They were shaken but they went on. And they finished their routine. If I had watched then, I would have given them a standing ovation. Instead, I only watched their videos today. I watched the routine which they had planned and practised for months. Then I watched the video of the actual performance during competition. And I cried. My heart went out to the team. But I applauded the team for keeping the faith of the entire school and completed their mission. It must have been so hard for them to just go on. But they did. Everyone else was looking at the injured girl. They just kept on. I have found a new respect for those girls. Kudos! You may not have won the championship, but you have won many hearts!