All Sports for All People

Seminar on sports psychology... A reflection.....


When I was first told by Dr Hari in the class that we were going to have a seminar instead of written assignment, I was terrified because I know it was going to be difficult. Handling a program involving lots of people could be very demanding because you had to start putting extra effort since the beginning of the semester till the program or the seminar is successfully held. It is different with written assignment in which even you have given plenty of time to do it, yet many of us procrastinate until we are almost nearing the deadline then only we strive to finish it. Not a good style, of course. But it is the reality, students can’t deny it especially me.


However, this seminar on sports psychology really changes my views now. I can say I am so delighted to be part of the class members. Even though I had to work on the seminar by sacrificing extra time, sleep and having leisure activities outside, I had to admit that it teaches me a lot in terms of leadership, decision making and working as a team. After delegating the task, I realized that doing publication and promotion was not easy for me. We couldn’t simply do it without having proper strategy in terms of designing banners, handbills, posters and publicize it to others, what’s more we had to face the issue of shortage of budget. So any decision we made would be first prioritizing the minimization of the budget but maximizing promotions. Thus, it was really great to have some sponsorship on our handbills. Even it was only for 200 pieces but it helps a lot. The most significant part in making sure the seminar was running smoothly is communication among all bureaus in the class. At first we might comfortably sit among our bureau without really offer a helping hand to other friends. Surely, it was not effective and things became worst and some of conflicts began to emerge. It was just a miscommunication, might be due to a person’s thought of “I have done my job and the rest I leave it to others” where it sounds very selfish or egocentric kind of person. However, we were lucky enough because we have detected it early and everything went back to a normal, real team work. The ups and downs of teamwork became part of us where I considered it as a process of learning lessons. It needs lot of patience, enthusiasm and it requires more than your love and sincerity which is responsibility. It was like a mother who has been in a hectic career life, rushing here and there but a mother still ensures that her husband and children receive the best service from her. No matter how hard and how tiring it is, responsibility comes first because you are not working alone, you are in a team.


Discussing about the most unforgettable part we had been through was the afternoon “flash mob” exercise. It was great to see full commitment given by almost everyone in the class passionately walking together to the nearest cafeterias of other kuliyyah under the sun. We walked together while holding our banner, promoting the seminar and screaming “we love sports” until we managed to catch the eyes of IIUM student to stop and read up what was stated on the banner. Despite of feeling warmth as the sun heated off our skin and clothing, we enjoyed it well and I believe that was the team spirit which made us persevere to finish the “flash mob”. We know that we did it well because many of students came to our booth and say “we love sports” imitating what we had done and eager to register themselves. That was how teamwork really proves the effectiveness of the task given.


During the seminar, there were several things which can be pondered upon which are the speakers, the audience as well as the committees. The speakers were awesome with their proficiency of what they shared and focused on. The morning session was quite energetic as the audience being so responsive with lots of questions being asked to the speakers. Up to a certain extent, the Q&A session needed to stop due to time constraint where some of the questions given by the audience left unanswered. For my personal opinion, it might be quite disappointed for the audience who did not get the chance to share their questions with the speakers. Hence, for future improvement, I would prefer to shorten the duration of the talk given and prolong the Q&A session. For the second session, it was a forum. It was a great job by the respected speakers with their own inspirational stories which at times touched our hearts. However, due to the flat position of the conference room, the audience who were sitting at the back could not really enjoy the forum because they could not be able to see the faces of the speakers. They became restless and tried hard to stay focus while looking for chances to be seated in front.


Besides, manners in dealing with people are very crucial. Treat others as you want yourself to be treated. Respect others as you want yourself to be respected. We were tired, exhausted but it is not good to let our emotions control our anger. We are psychology students, if we could not handle our behaviour, how do we expect students from other kuliyyah to have a good picture of what we have learned (human behaviour and mental processes). Maturity is important. This is not an advice but rather a reminder for me in order to be a better person. I am grateful to have a team like you guys, I learned a lot and may Allah reward you guys greatly for the love and effort. Thanks for reading. Assalamua’alaikum.