Torrential Try-Outs

Doris Koay

As the 3:50pm bell rang on October 30^th, most of the elementary and secondary school students were heading home while the KICs club teachers were organizing the various sports equipment before the high school girls gradually entered the gym with beating hearts and sweaty palms—it was the day for varsity basketball tryouts.

“Unlike how it was two years ago, the girls who came for the tryout increased from 18 to 36 in just two years!” said Mr. Steinkamp, the coach for the girls’ varsity basketball team.

As all of the girls gathered around Mr. Steinkamp, he blew the whistle and the boys were sent out of the gym to avoid adding more stress for the girls. It started raining so heavily that we could barely hear what Mr. Steinkamp was saying.

Most of the girls tried their best although they had not played before. Well, at least I did. The players from the basketball team last year showed their skills and led the other girls who had no idea what to do.

The sound of the basketballs thumping on the wooden floor lasted for the next hour and a half as the papers in Mr. Steinkamp’s and Mr. Brewster’s hands were filled with observations of us. We tried shooting, dribbling, sprinting, and even playing 3-on-3.

As the final whistle blew, the girls gathered again in the middle of the gym with red and sweaty faces. It all ended on Monday 5:30pm, on a rainy evening.

“The tryout was both fun and tiring. 3-on-3 was really fun,” said Shannen Leong (12).

“I think that it was pretty tiring. Overall, I liked the tryout itself, but I didn't like how it started with shooting. The sprinting was really tiring, and left hand shooting was difficult for me,” Jiah Choi (9) said.

The results were out that night for both the varsity and JV basketball teams. Congratulations to those who made it onto the team, and good effort to those who didn't. Let's go, Eagles!