Today was Monday. Every Monday after school, there was a games club lead by Darcy who was a volleyball coach for a volleyball company, 'Bring it On'. Darcy would teach the students new games and sports as being in charge of the Games Club.
Garnet was showing the members of the games club, Aria, Katie and Belinda a gold medal she won during a relay race in a sports competition yesterday. Aria told her that she is very fast at running and is very good at many sports while Katie and Belinda congratulated Garnet.
"Ha. Yeah. Winning a medal for a relay race is nothing. I bet I can easily win that medal." Aria said in a showing- off tone.
Garnet began to look upset.
"Don't show off, Aria." Katie said with a concerned look.
"You should be proud of her. She's your friend. If you told Garnet that you won a medal like that, I bet she wouldn't say something mean like that." Belinda said seriously.
But, Aria came up with an idea that they all have their mini sports competition within the games club. The rest of the friends agreed. So they told Darcy about the idea and began to organize the competition with three races: egg and spoon, sack race and a relay race. They decided that if they win they will get prizes.
Aria bragged again about being fast and was very determined that she will win ALL the races due to her fast speed and competitiveness. Alongside, there were the others who were feeling upset and uncomfortable with Aria's competitive behaviour.
The first race was the egg and spoon. The girls were at the starting line while Darcy was the judge. The race was about to finish. Belinda won, 2nd being Katie, 3rd being Garnet and Aria came 4th.
"Well done Belinda!" Darcy smiled, "here's your prize." It was a brown teddy bear.
"Great job Belinda!" Garnet and Katie said praising her with handshakes. However, Aria said that it does not matter because there are two more races.
The second race was the sack race. The girls were in their sacks at the starting line ready to hop. Darcy was judging for that race as well. Katie won, 2nd being Belinda, 3rd being Garnet and Aria came 4th again.
"Well done Katie!" Darcy smiled, "here's your prize." This time it was a polar teddy bear.
"Way to go Katie!" Garnet and Belinda said praising her with hi-fives. However, Aria grunted and said that Katie only won by luck. 'Being 4th again is so bad, but I will obviously come 1st in the next and final race.' Aria thought.
Last but not the least was the relay race. The girls had to run one lap around the school field which was 400m. Darcy judged the race again and off the girls ran. Nearly towards the finished line, Aria was in the lead but Garnet overtook her and won the race. This leads Aria being 2nd, Belinda being 3rd and Katie being 4th.
"Well done Garnet!" Darcy smiled, "here's your prize." It was now a panda teddy bear.
"Amazing job Garnet!" Katie and Belinda said praising her with a group hug. However, Aria moaned that she nearly won if only Garnet didn't overtake her. She said that Garnet was too fast for her.
Aria didn't win anything. She was very upset as she sat on the field bench on her own while the others were chatting and congratulating each other for winning the races.
Darcy went up and sat next to her.
"Aria, why are you so sad?" She questioned her,
"I didn't win anything." Aria replied with her mouth upside down.
"But you nearly won the relay race and this is not a competition club. This is a games club and in this club we play games and sports that are fun for everyone to enjoy not for any competition." Darcy smiled. "You also need to know Aria that it's not nice to be telling other people that you are better than them in things and bragging about being good at something. This may hurt other people's feelings."
Aria nodded and remembered what she did after each race. She didn't congratulate the winners and instead she only cared about herself not winning. Aria also knew that her behaviour before the races started was inappropriate and she was telling the others that she was very fast and could easily win a medal.
She slowly walked up to the other girls and apologized to them for her competitive behaviour. They all forgave Aria as she congratulated each of them for winning a race. The girls wanted to do something to make Aria feel better. Since Darcy was a volleyball coach, they all decided that they play volleyball against her. Now Aria was having fun.
Moral 1: Its' not nice to tell other people that you are better than them in anything as well as being very competitive.
Moral 2: No matter if you win or lose in a game or sport, you should still be having fun.
