Physical education (PE) was one of my favourites in school, not just mine but every pupil in my school enjoyed it as much as I do. You can tell by the excitement during the physical aspect of it.

Physical education is done twice a week in my school, Tuesday and Friday. The physical aspect is mostly held on Friday in the last period on the timetable. Another time we get to partake in PE is during the inter house sport where we get to practise often until the D-day. Those periods everyone gets super active and serious in various physical activities in order to come out the best and make the team proud.

Oftentimes the theory part is not as interesting as the physical aspect. It's fun for pupils when the theory part is accompanied by illustrations. Theory aspect educates students on proper nutrition, fitness and its benefits, etc.
While, the physical aspect is the practical activity that helps pupils discover and develop on their fitness level, learn teamwork and new motor skills. Activities like team sports; football, basketball, relay race, etc. and single sports; swimming, gymnastics, running were held.

We have a sports field which is located behind the school, it is fenced all round and has a little gate that connects to the school. The sports field is very large and has 65% of various types of sports equipment and resources that are necessary for pupils to engage in diverse activities.

Each pupil has a sports wear in different colours. Pupils were grouped into different houses. I was a part of the green house. Although it wasn't my choice, I was asked to pick a piece of paper that was properly folded from a basket that had more than a thousand folded pieces. That was how I got to be in the green house.

I didn't really participate in PE during my junior high because I was a bit tiny and was assigned to join the cheering group but I participated severally during my senior high.

For me PE was worth the energy, time and fees that were paid. I enjoyed every bit of it, especially when I was taught the hard way on the importance of teamwork and those periods when I made my team proud including impressing Daniel, a handsome fellow in SS3.

One of my memorable moments…
It happened when Ene and I had a fight on the field while doing a 4 by 4 relay race. Ene was my teammate, a SS2 pupil, she was the third on the relay and I was in SS1, the fourth and the finisher of the race. That very day Ene was supposed to hand over the baton to me, I was stretching out my hand to receive the baton when she ran past me without handing the baton to me. I was pissed off, so I pushed her and then she retaliated. Mr. Kunle separated us and asked that we follow him to his office.

Photo by Igor Photography

Mr. Kunle didn't want to hear any story of what happened, he proceeded with a suitable punishment to help us build team spirit. He requested that Snr hope his assistant would supervise Ene and I as we serve our punishment everyday.

Punishment…
We would have to do a 2 by 2 relay race rounding the field 4 times everyday and this would take place during our break time. This punishment was harder than I thought, I would have preferred to be flogged rather than this. So we began the punishment without talking to each other nor apologising. It was on the fifth day that we spoke to each other and gradually we became friends. We would go more than 4 times round the field and we would laugh at our defaults. When we got to the 14th day, Mr Kunle called us into his office and asked if we had learnt anything from the punishment he gave us.

Yes! Of course I learnt some things.

What that moment taught me…
It taught me patience and endurance while working with a team.
It taught me the limit I could cross even when I feel I can't make it.
It taught me friendship
It taught me co operation which fosters a sense of unity.

These lessons I believe was what Mr. Kunle was trying to teach us by giving us such punishment.

There were other memorable moments from PE, like the sack race I won when I was in SS2 despite falling several times. It was funny and fun too because everyone participating kept falling down. Sack race is a recreational sport where a participant gets to put on a sack and hop to the finish line.

Photo by RDNE Stock project

Another memorable moment was when I was in SS1 I fainted from doing a 200 metre race. I joined the race because I wanted to impress Daniel, a SS3 guy. I have always admired him. He is very talented and was very good with volleyball. Before getting to the finish line my breath began to fail and my chest was burning next I woke up in a sick bay. I was asked to keep consuming glucose. It was quite an experience even though I didn't wake to see Daniel by my bedside, silly me! He doesn't even know I am crushing on him. I just wanted him to notice me through my winnings but unfortunately I failed.

Physical activities have a way of bonding pupils. Making them discover their strengths and improving them. Also pupils get to understand the importance of teamwork, co-operation, endurance, patience, etc.

First Image: Designed using canva.

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