Chapter 7 - First Day 2

Chapter 7 - First Day 2

"Gather up!" the man in the exercise outfit shouted to all the students from Pendeta Za'ba School.

Haikal, Badrul, and the other students immediately stopped their activity and gathered in front of the man.

As this was their first time, it was a bit hectic but once a few of the students lined up like they were on a march, everyone followed suit. In the end, they were all properly in line though it took quite a bit of time.

The man stared at everyone in the line and he nodded approvingly. Then, he smiled lightly and spoke, "Good. I don't expect you guys to line up like this. This proves your discipline is good. I don't need to worry about troublemakers much."

Haikal and Badrul looked at each other and they felt relieved that their coach was not the domineering one. They could see that he could become strict but not too much of it like a discipline teacher.

The man did not introduce himself yet but everyone there was aware that he would be a coach. Although he looked young, no one doubted his ability because many young retired athletes became coaches and their coach was possibly one of them.

"Assalamualaikum and good morning," the man greeted and he continued, "I am Ahmad Kamarul and I am sure you are all aware that I am your coach. Nice to meet you and I hope we get along well. Also, I hope you guys will train well and do well in competition."

"I don't want to be too strict with you guys. I am sure you don't want that either. Be that as it may, as I am going softer on you guys, I hope you guys will put in an effort to do better too."

"I don't expect all of you to put in an effort in your free time as I am aware you guys are preparing for your SPM for the next three years. However, I hope you will at least put in an effort during our 3 hours together every week," Kamarul spoke.

The co-curriculum would happen for three hours every Saturday. For the morning session, it would be from 8:30 am to 11:30 am. For the afternoon session, it would be from 2 pm to 5 pm.

"Since this is our first meeting, let's get to know each other. Introduce yourselves. Just state your name and your sports history," Kamarul added, "Let's start with you." He pointed at a student at the front of the line.

"Assalamualaikum. I am Mohd Adib. I have been playing Shooter Ball since Elementary School," Adib introduced himself.

"Oh?" Kamarul was a bit surprised. 'I guess this batch's team will not be bad. We have an experienced player,' thought Kamarul.

"How far did you reach in competition?" Kamarul asked.

For the Elementary School competition, there was only the District Tournament, the State Tournament, and the National Tournament.

There were some international competitions organized by some big shot company but usually, parents would not allow their child to attend it.

"Second round for singles in the National Tournament during my Year 6 in Elementary School. Semi-Final for single in State tournament during my Form 3 in Junior High."

"Final for 3V3 in District Tournament during my Year 6 in Elementary School. Round 3 for 3V3 in the District Tournament during my Form 3 in Junior High…" he paused for a bit before he continued.

"First round for 5V5 in District Tournament during both Elementary and Junior High," Adib replied.

Everyone was shocked when they heard that. Haikal and Badrul looked at each other in amazement. Same with Kamarul.

It was obvious to everyone too that Adib was a talented player by himself but when in a team game, either his teammates were horrible or all of them did not work well as a team.

All of them could also hear his frustration when stating the team game results.

In Shooter Ball, there were three categories the players could play in. The first was single, the second was the 3V3, and lastly, 5V5.

'Hmm… I guess with the right training, he can reach further in Senior High. Still, it is better to check on his talent first. If he is as talented as his achievement implies, he is worth nurturing for pros,' Kamarul started making a plan in his mind.

'Even if his talent is not much, his experience is enough for the third-string or second-string team.'

"Let's move on," Kamarul spoke and the other students started introducing themselves. Some of them were from other sports while many have not even played any sports in their life and that included Haikal and Badrul.

"Assalamualaikum and good morning, everyone. I am Muaz. I never play Shooter Ball but I played Badminton during Form 1, Tennis when I was Form 2, and Basketball last year. As for achievement, all of them in the first round for the District Tournament," Muaz introduced himself.

Everyone looked at Muaz in bewilderment. While he was not the only one who played different sports before trying Shooter Ball, he was the only one who played three sports in three years before switching to Shooter Ball.

The others were either from Football, Basketball, or other sports and switched to Shooter Ball but Muaz went through three different sports and switched for the fourth time and ended up in Shooter Ball.

"Is he the type who will try everything?" Badrul whispered to Haikal.

"I don't know. Maybe or maybe he dislikes those sports and chooses this one," Haikal replied in a low voice.

"What if he dislikes this sport too? He cannot change to others this time," Badrul questioned but Haikal shrugged. He was not Muaz and thus, he did not know what the guy was thinking.

Kamarul frowned when he heard that. 'A troublemaker?' he wondered, 'But…' Kamarul stared at Muaz. 'He did not look like one.'

The introduction continued and after the 18th students, everyone had finished introducing themselves including Haikal and Badrul. Since the duo was a newbie in sports like many others there, they did not leave much impression on others, unlike Adib and Muaz.

After the introductions, Kamarul was thinking hard. He glanced at the students and thought, 'This is not as bad as last year's batch. At least seven of them have experience in other sports. While one of them sounds like a problematic player, the other six will be good enough for now.'

'Also, there might be a diamond in the rough among the newbies here. Rather than focusing too much on those who I can see their talent easily, it is better to give my focus more on the newbie for our first month of training. Who knows? Maybe a talented player will appear among them,' Kamarul noted in his mind.

"Now that we have finished our introduction, let us officially start our training. Let's start with some stretching and warm-up," Kamarul spoke and he led the students in this exercise.