At King Edward’s School (KES), sports is considered one of the integral parts of school life. There are 18 different sports to choose from, and throughout every year, there’ll always be a minimum of one sports lesson plus a whole afternoon dedicated to sports every week.
When I first joined KES, I started out my sports lessons with Rugby - one of the most popular sports at KES. I was never really a fan of sports, but I thought that I might give it a try. I had never done rugby before, so I thought that maybe it would click with me. But after a few weeks of having a go at it, I decided that it wasn’t the sport for me.
So the next half-term, I switched to Hockey. Like Rugby, I didn’t know what to expect - this would be my first time playing. In the first few sessions, I found that I was better at hockey than I was at rugby, so I kept at it. However, this didn’t mean that it was necessarily the right sport for me, and I still didn’t enjoy it completely.
In my second year, I opted for Mixed Sports instead - this included things like basketball, volleyball, football, cricket, and a weekly session in the School’s very own fitness suite as well. Picking this option meant that I got a wider span across a lot of sports, and to be honest, it was more enjoyable than rugby and hockey. But still, something didn’t feel right.
This year, my third year at KES, brings to me the freedom to choose a lot of things. That doesn’t just include languages and creative subjects, but sports as well! There were 5 options to choose from - Rugby, Hockey, Swimming, Mixed Sports, and Fencing. I definitely didn’t want to do rugby and hockey again, and although mixed sports was better than the two, I wasn’t sure whether it would be the right choice for me. And as for swimming, it’s already part of the curriculum which is compulsory for all of us. So this year, after thinking it over for a while, I’ve decided to take fencing!
Fencing has been on my to-do list for a long while now, and finally, I have the chance to take it. At first, I was unsure of how I’d find it. But after having my first few fencing sessions and getting to grips with it - and even having my first couple of matches - it’s clear that this sport definitely clicks with me, which is quite surprising, considering that sport has never been at the top of my list before…but maybe fencing is the one to turn that around! I’m looking forward to progressing throughout the year and continuing on my fencing journey!
En garde,
Omar Mukhtar
#thepawsomelion
#ifoundaloveinFencing
p/s: That’s fencing terminology for "go!" - and the very first position you learn in fencing 🤺
