Starting off with how i came across this volley camp, since I am not one of those reads news papers or has information of current anything. A couple of weeks before my last paper I got a call from Ms. Sh., my sports' teacher at college, that there were open trials at APWA Government College for Karachi's volley ball team. I, being an enthusiastic, sporty girl in my teacher's eyes was greatly encouraged by her to go for these trials; and if by any chance I wouldn't have got selected, the option for joining this event's organizing committee was open for me, of which she was sure wouldn't happen and i did get selected.
The day of trials, i was nervous, felt like backing out before even going there; but i did not and that is so, because of Ms. Sh.. I didn't even realize till now that Ms. Sh. is the reason i got so far. I did not back out that day because I had told her that I cannot go there alone, it felt really weird, even the thought of going there all by myself. She told me that she would come along with me, since it was my first time at such a thing; that's the reason i couldn't back out even at last moment, while getting dressed. This thought lay stuck in my head that 'Hamdah, Ms. Sh. is looking forward to taking you to trails and she'll be really disappointed if you back out'. I reached the college a couple of minutes late, excited and nervous, found Ms. Sh. and we left in my car for APWA college.
I had seen APWA college many a times before, it was not a new place to my eyes. I had been there in the last volley ball tournament, as a player of Aga Khan Higher Secondary School (my college)'s team, and it was also my center for BIE,K Exams. As i entered the gate, i saw a bunch of girls practicing services in the court, nervousness increased. It's a bit long way from the gate to the court, i normally run through it, but that day, we walked slow. There were teachers from other colleges as well, Ms. Sh. sat next to them, and a couple of familiar faces, certain people who had judged our matches throughout the previous volley tournament. It was quite clear that who were 'the important' people, who are going to watch us.
First it was just awkward, standing in a court, not knowing anybody, watching certain girls playing their own game and playing good. I had this hunch that I had no chances of qualifying among such efficient players, but I encouraged myself, boosted my esteem and continued playing my regular game. That day was one of the many sunny days of Karachi, at around 3:30 in the afternoon, with the sun shining bright on the top of our heads, sweat flowing like water, I struggled to play good. After several minutes of break, during which I had made a new friend, I played with great confidence. Sa. was her name, the smart girl from Bahria College, the one who looked different from the girls of government colleges. She had T-shirt which had SINDH printed on it, which reminded me that I was selected for Sindh's team as well, I wish I had got the permission to go out of town for the matches, I would've got that shirt too. A proper match started, with proper services and we were told not to give any passes, directly cross the ball as we were giving trials. I was good, at least I thought I was doing really well and now had some solid chances of making to the team, and i also observed that I was being observed. Normally that makes a person nervous & conscious, but that wasn't so in my case, I was calmer than ever, pretty confident and hitting the ball properly, my services were going so well that every time my turn came to serve, the coach told us to rotate again, as there was no need of seeing my serve over and over. Later I thought maybe Ms. Sh. had something to do with my selection, maybe not.
It was really hot that day, or maybe I was feeling it because I was wearing a full sleeves T-shirt and was playing in sunlight after applying sunscreen, which almost doubles the sweat. We played continuously for more than 1 and half hour, which was a lot without water or rest in such heat, even Ms. S, the coach standing by the net was tired and thirsty. Yet no one had the guts to tell those sitting in shade, holding a couple of files in their hands, having glasses of water one after another since it was a really warm day, to give us a break.
Finally, after around 2 hours of plain torture, we were told to line up, by that time I was sure of my selection, the way I heard my name a couple of times and seen Ms. S. and a few others point at and also how the asked my name, all these clues were quite enough to give me the idea of my selection. The names of girls who had made it to Karachi's team were announced, and i was really glad to hear my name out loud, Sa. had also made it to the top 10. I was a member of the Karachi's volley ball team, I had achieved what I was there for. What a successful day!
