The stopwatch had to be one of the hardest sports equipment to use. Ever!

I was roped in to help with the NAPFA test today. Before I continue, does anyone actual remembers what NAPFA stands for? It actual stands for National Physical Fitness Award! My goodness, it is actually an award. I wondered if the students who had to try for the award are even aware of it, especially those who receive a ‘fail’ grade regularly.

Anyway, I was assigned to help out at the shuttle run station. For almost 3.5 hours, I was having a personal battle with the stopwatch. You see, the timing for the shuttle run is recorded to the accuracy of 1 tenth of a second. Now, the question is, how long does it take from the time I shout ‘Go!’ to the student-helper pushing the button?

The standard derivation is simply too large for an accurate reading. I witness a student who ran faster than another actually getting a slower timing on the watch. And then I wonder… Award?

Had an urge to join my students in a game of basketball after school today. If I had not observations for the next three consecutive days, I might have just done that. It had been a long time since I last played the game. I remembered being a decent shooting guard/small forward once. Now? Erm… no comments.

B-ball anyone?