Saturday 7th March 2020 – Monday 9th March 2020
Saturday 7th March
The sound of an early morning alarm to warn me that its time to get up and get my butt moving. It was the first time that I had ever gotten up and left for a trip alone. My little apartment was quiet, I left my bags near the door so I wouldn’t forget anything, quickly devouring my breakfast, locking the door, calling an uber and I was off. I was hitching a ride with some family friends who were also planning on going to Welliagama for the TAFA training. It was only a 2-hour drive that was filled with conversation and a segment dedicated to Lulu quizzing me about my love life. They dropped me off at the place I was staying at, I checked in and went upstairs for some grub.
I was waiting for Alex who was still in Colombo doing SAT practise and so I was left to my own devices as it was a free day and training only started tomorrow. I spent a couple hours studying and reading my book while also making some friends with other travellers. I started to talk to a girl from Singapore, her name was Elisa and she was telling me about where she had visited in Sri Lanka. It really showed how open-minded all these travellers are and it made me realize how much I wanted to explore the world. We exchanged social media so we could keep track of each other. She introduced me to some of her friends that she made on her trip, we all ended up working while stealing glances at the beach.
After many many hours, Alex FINALLY got to our hostel and we went to go meet everyone at W15. All of the TAFA coaches and players were having fun with beach volleyball and some beach football. One of my Dhaka friends from swimming by coincidence was also in Welliagama so Chloe, Alex, Jackson and I all decided to go out for dinner to ‘Ceylon Sliders.’ We ended the night with a late-night beach walk.
Sunday 8th March
Another early morning alarm goes, quiet enough that it doesn’t wake up the rest of my roommates. I tiptoed outside so that I could see what the waves looked like. Thaabit was also up so we decided that we were going to surf together even though the sea was flat. I had attempted to wake up Alex so she would come with but I was answered with a groan and a rollover, so I gave up trying to convince her. The sea was flat and there weren’t any waves so we just laid down on our boards and watched the sunrise. It was one of those moments when you appreciated the calmness of it all and time seemed to stop, you will never find a sunrise like the ones that you see here. After our surf/float, I sat on the balcony with some of the TAFA coaches. They are all really open people and most of them still in their early 20’s. I really appreciate how they regard me as someone their own age rather than a student, someone they can have regular conversation with. They have turned into friends more than they are my coaches.
Running out into the waves. Photo: Alex
Training started at 8:30 and I managed to force Alex out of bed to join me. We were a group with a range of all ages from under 10 – under 16. A stretching circle to start off with and we each had to think of a dynamic stretch, unfortunately, I ended up being at the end of the circle, luckily all my track days where we warmed up for hours let me have a couple tricks up my sleeve. Our workout started with us running up and down the beach and when we finished doing a length we would do a variation of squats led by the coaches. We then did some lunges and once you had done 50 you had to turn around and sprint back, your legs felt like jelly and you would almost bite the dust because your legs couldn’t support you. I would often race back against one of the coaches, he didn’t put up much of a fight I would ALWAYS beat him by miles (imagine that sentence in a sarcastic tone). We then moved onto a competition. There were 4 teams and it was a race. We started at a line drawn in the sand and then had to run around the bean bag on the other side and come back for the next person to go, like a relay. My team won the sprinting races but the more creative relay styles were not our forté.
Lizzie and I before training. Photo: Alex
After all the sweating we ran into the water and did some body surfing (definitely not my specialty). Thaabit then challenged us to an OSC Vs. Tafa volleyball game and how could we resist, the bet was if we won they would buy us ice cream and if they won we would buy them ice cream. In the OSC team, it was Alex, Chloe, Lizzy, Sam, Moussa and I. On the other side of the net it was coaches Jade, Shehan, Thaabit, Bradley and Bilal. In the first match, we definitely took a loss and it wasn’t looking good for the geckos but we came back strong in the second with Sam’s setting and Chloes serves. Lizzy, Alex and I were just there for decoration. We were already telling them the flavours we wanted for our ice cream, call us cocky but we were manifesting the win. In the last round, the two teams were neck and neck. We were receiving a serve from the TAFA team, if we managed to get it down on their side of the court we would have been crowned champions. Moussa was ready to receive the pass and spike it back down to their side but missed by the tiniest bit and it landed outside. We were all ready to be the good losers that we are and buy them ice cream, but Thaabit came through with buying all of us ice cream.
As you can see Alex, Lizzie and I are all struggling to comprehend how to play volleyball. Photo: Ihshan Iqbal
All of us enjoying our ice cream after a very competitive game of volleyball. Photo: Ihshan Iqbal
Talia soon joined us and we were getting her hostel room sorted then ate lunch on the Hangtime rooftop. The three of us wandered over to W15 again, we alternated between going into the sea and having a dip in the pool. There was also definitely a lot of sunbathing that resulted in some very red faces. That night was the night of our Kit presentations. All of the parents were there to take photos of us in our brand new kits. I was eyeing the waves and thought that it looked perfect for surfing so Chloe and I decided to jump in and we were later joined by Bradley. We rented surfboards from the place next to W15 and caught some pretty nice waves. the weather was perfect, not hot but not too cold. I found myself in the same position as this morning, watching the sunset and the gorgeous reds and oranges washing over the sky.
Receiving my kit at the presentation from Jade. Photo: Gabby
The 3 musketeers after our kit presentation. Photo: Kelly
Monday 9th March
The last early morning alarm of the trip went off and I was already in my gear off to go surfing. I walked down the beach to the same place as last night, rented a board, and I was off paddling. I was alone this time but as soon as I got into the water there were many other surfers around me also looking for some good waves. I reckon that that morning was my best surfing day in months. Each of the waves were forming perfectly and crashing just at the right time that you had a little time on the clean wave. Don’t get me wrong I did get thrown around a couple of times but it was the perfect surfing morning. I got back to the shore so I wouldn’t be late for the game that we had against the Matara boys team. Well…I didn’t get out early enough because I found myself sprinting down the beach trying to get back to my hostel and changed before everyone left without me.
The girls under 16 TAFA team. Photo: Gabby
I was lucky enough to hitch a ride with the coaches and we were off to the match. Our game was the 3rd one of the day, the boys were a lot younger than I expected. We started off with a team warm-up and then I was summoned by my goalie coach to warm up my hands. The blow of a whistle started us off. The ball quickly moving up to the other end of the field a quick pass to Lizzie and a powerful kick got our first goal of the day. We were a lot larger than the boys we were playing against but they put up a fight! We had a close call as there was a cross to the centre, I ran towards him and him to me my momentum took me and I knocked him down and kicked the ball away later turning around to help him up. The game ended with a win to the girls 2-0 and later I found out that we were the first girl’s team to ever play in Matara, it was an amazing opportunity.
Training with my goalie coach before the game. Photo: Gabby
Once the game was over Talia (she had come to watch the game) and I hitched a ride with the Grandbois and we were back at the beach in no time. Harin, Karven, and Muneera were all at Welliagama too so we had lunch together and swam for a couple of hours. I had said bye to all the coaches who left for Colombo at noon but I couldn’t seem to separate myself from the beach. It was a bittersweet goodbye to a very eventful and fun weekend. It was an amazing opportunity being able to play with the Matara boys team and be a part of competitions with local teams. I also got to improve my skills when it comes to playing football, and from gaining experience the more games that I get to be a part of. I also got to improve my skills when it comes to surfing and learning that every day isn’t going to be a good surfing day but it’s ok as long as you enjoy it. Through this trip I got to appreciate the little island that we live on, the beauty it has that I haven’t even scratched the surface to find. Cheers, to more adventures like this one.