The above picture depicts a scene in a school field where a soccer match was held and most probably, the building at the back is the school that organised the match. From the looks of it, I think this was an inter school female soccer competition and the players in red should have won the match because looking at the lady with the beige beret, she seems very happy that her fellow schoolmates have done their school proud by bringing the glory to their school. Perhaps this was a crucial match that determined the winner for the first place and now that the match is over, they are celebrating their victory.

The players in the red jerseys and high socks must have had a great game with the other team in white, and I think that both teams have players with a great sense of sportsmanship, even though the winning team has been announced, both parties still stepped forward to congratulate, and thank each other for such a wonderful match. I assume they might be really worthy opponents. And I feel that this is the main point of sports, being able to stay humble even though you are victorious and being able to handle losing with a good attitude. I believe that if one wins and becomes very arrogant about it, his arrogance would be nothing but a way one ticket to a steep fall from grace and similarly, if one is unable to take losing a match and becomes a sore loser, that player would not turn out to be someone exceptional. Sportsmanship is something very important in sports, without of it, I think the player would not be any different from an immature three-year-old.

I think that sports should not be classified as a male sport and/or a female game, anything a man can do, a woman can do it too. Soccer used to be labelled as a male's sport and that females who play them could never reach the standard of males no matter how hard they tried, which I honestly believe is untrue. There are females who are very passionate and can perform better than males, so I think there is no such thing as a female or male sport, sports are meant to be enjoyed by everyone, be it watching the game or playing the game. As long as one gives it her best shot and shows passion in the game she is playing, the game would be one worth every drop of perspiration and I'm sure that everyone watching that game would feel the intensity and her burning passion for the sport. Just take a look at many different sports, women are playing soccer, men are playing volleyball, it is no longer what people used to think of it and these players have their heads in the game and take pride being a team player. And another thing I think is the very key to a team's victory is teamwork, without it no matter how professional the players maybe, they will never get anything done much less win if they do not work together. There is this old saying that there is no I in teamwork only we, which I truly agree with. I think, for a team to win it is like cooking, you need to have the right balance of everything, too much of something could cause the outcome to be something different than expected. It requires sportsmanship, teamwork, practice, passion and enjoying yourself wholeheartedly during the game itself, that is the secret recipe.

Time has changed many things and this is one of them. I feel that Singapore needs to take a leaf from other countries' book and learn a thing or two, for example, to start a national female soccer team or maybe a national female cricket team , and put an end to this conception that women cannot play soccer. They need to show Singaporean men that Singaporean woman are able to do something they are good at too and change their mindset about women and soccer.

Done By : Sherilynn Loh(11)