‘Winning is not important, participating and competing is important’

First medal won in any sports field is always the most cherished souvenir for a lifetime. It works as a reminder of one’s dedication and grit meanwhile serving as a laurel to swank around between friends and family.

All which is stated above perfectly applies to Mohammad Affan, student of class VI at Apeejay School, Panchsheel Park who was awarded a silver medal for his stunning feat at the National Roller Netted Ball Championship which was held in Hyderabad on 27 November, 2023.

Upon winning his first medal ever, Affan shared he is on cloud 9 currently and is overwhelmed by this achievement. “This the first ever championship held for National Roller Netted Ball. Played primarily outdoors, this sport has similar rules to basketball and football wherein the players while skating put the basket in the goal posts of the opponent and score points,” Affan explained excitedly.

One of the so called best experience of his life, the youngster shared that he gelled well with all his team members who were from different schools. “I was chosen for the J&K team to represent the state at the national championship and the hard work and sincerity that I had put to train myself has finally borne the sweet fruit,” he added.

Since his training regime looks like – 4 days in a week for one hour, mostly training in free style skating, Affan is much disciplined when it comes to eating right. “I prefer eating only home cooked food which are protein rich. My most favourite food is butter chicken along with Kashmiri cuisine.”

The young achiever started skating around Covid-19 period passionately and since then there is no looking back. “It’s been more than three years I am immersed into this sport and I can vouch that skating has brought in a lot of discipline in my life. Skating has definitely impacted my personality and growth positively,” Affan asserted. He went on to further share that Apeejay School has supported him tremendously in his skating journey. “When I went to another city during the Inter-school zonal competition, the staff at the school did up my morale by constantly encouraging and appreciating me. Apart from that, I am extremely impressed by the top class sports infrastructure here at the school,” he expressed.