Team Sports

Ok, so it shames me slightly to say it, what with all the important, life-changing work we were out there to do with Think Pacific, but honestly, Team Sports was one of my favourite aspects of the trip. After a long, hot day teaching the kids - which I adored, by the way - the volunteers would gather, circle up in the Kindi room and make a very important decision: what to play for team sports.

Of course, this was only after we had debriefed on our progress with the classes, discussed what worked and what didn't - I always liked to hear what went on with other year-groups. But still, team sports was on the back of our minds, begging us to run outside.

There's something about Fiji, where you can't be judged for playing a 'boys'' or a 'girls'' sport, where it doesn't matter what skill you have or how fast you can run, because we're all nice enough to give everyone a chance, that brings out the full competitiveness in people. Honestly, friendships were broken over this stuff (temporarily.) After being cooped up in a piping hot classroom til 3pm, and with a big stodgy dinner waiting for us when we got home, the best thing we could do was chase each other round the school pitch and blow off some steam. And when I say 'pitch' I mean, a flat, prickly stretch of grass with a rugby post at either end. It had steep banks on all sides (a nightmare for fetching balls), and the perimeter was uneven, like the leftover pieces of pastry you don't really know what to do with. All around was green: palm trees and shallow hills, not a house in sight. You couldn't see the sea, but it was there, just a few miles away.

Generally for team sports, we tried to keep it varied, try something different every day, but a few favourites soon emerged. Touch rugby and netball were certainly near the top, and to my surprise, this wasn't just a straight boy-girl divide. Everyone enjoyed both, and actually, touch rugby was my absolute favourite. Never done it in my life but I enjoyed being coached and learning how to apply some real team tactics. I absolutely loved it.

It sort of felt like, each of us came to the field with our strengths; Dan, Andrew and Tom were great at rugby, Matty at football, most of the girls had a knack for netball, Sarah and CP, a particular flair for dance, and I was pretty good at rounders. But then a few new talents started to emerge; people threw themselves into the games and we all came out sweating and glowing with endorphins no matter what it was. Sort of made you feel more like you better deserved the meal you’re coming home to.

More than that, it was always during team sports, when a ball was being tackled at the opposite end of the field or I found a few seconds’ breather, when I had a real chance to soak it all in, and think about where I was. Fiji. 'I'm in Fiji right now, playing football!' It was in those moments when I truly couldn’t have been happier to be anywhere but there, running around and laughing, spending my summer getting to know a whole new bunch of people and really genuinely enjoying myself. It was the best feeling ever. So some advice to people thinking about volunteering, don't let the doubts and the fears stop you from trying something different. You'll find that independence grows with taking risks and just launching yourself into the great unknown.