Thomson
Demystifying Discipline through the eyes of our Grade 11 Student- Andre Gabriel
Congratulations to Andre, Silver Medalist Sixty In Six hosted by Reactiv )
There is a common misconception that discipline in sport is something an athlete either has or does not, a kind of natural grit that shows up on race day, no different from raw speed or strength. As Grade 11 student Andre Decena is discovering through two years of training in track and field, that is not quite true.
“It’s an honesty within myself that I have to uphold, which also takes discipline — that’s the biggest value for me,” says Andre, who is studying in Heritage Academy’s ACE curriculum. For Andre, discipline in track is not something he simply has. It is something he practises, rep by rep, long before anyone is watching.
Finding the Passion
Andre started training in track and field back in 2024, but it took two years for him to fully realise what the sport meant to him. “I discovered my passion for track and field only recently, this year,” he shares. “Back then I did not train as often and as consistently as I do now.”
What changed was not the sport itself, but his understanding of what it could become. “I need to have this for the future,” he says, “and I realise the amount of potential that I have also in this sport.” Two years of quiet, inconsistent effort had, without him fully realising it, become the foundation for something he now trains for with intention.
"I discovered my passion for track and field only recently, this year,"
The Weight of the Schedule
Being a student athlete comes with a schedule that leaves little room for error. Training runs late into the day, and Andre often comes home tired with homework and advanced work still ahead of him. “It’s very challenging,” he admits.
Injuries add another layer of difficulty. “Injuries are unavoidable, in a way. It will definitely happen.” He explains. What Andre has learned, though, is that the inevitability of injury does not mean an athlete is powerless against it — the risk, he’s found, can always be managed, although it can never be fully removed.
A Team Behind the Runner
Andre is quick to point out that none of this is done alone. Inside the classroom, he credits his classmates and teachers for understanding his schedule and giving him the space to manage it. Outside the classroom, friendships carry just as much weight. “They’re also the people that help me go through what I need to,” he says.
His club coaches also play a significant role. Andre trains under two coaches- one who runs the club, and another who works hands-on with each athlete. “He’s the one who gives us the workouts and tells us what to do,” Andre says of his hands-on coach, “and guides us through our entire dream for our future.”
Discipline in the Details
When asked what discipline looks like day to day, Andre does not describe a mindset- he describes a specific choice. “[The coach] could give you a workout where you have to do five times, and I could say I did five, but I only did four or three,” he explains. “I think integrity plays a big role in that.”
It is a small, private decision that no scoreboard will ever record whether to report the honest number or round up. For Andre, that’s where discipline lives, long before it shows up as a result on the track.
Writing It Down
Balancing school and sport are still very much a work in progress for Andre, and he is honest about that too. Having just returned to school for a new term after a stretch of heavy training, he is re-learning how to be available for both. “School comes first. School is a priority,” he says, “and it’s something I’m having a bit of a challenging time to implement in my life.”
His method for managing it is simple: a notebook and a pen. Andre writes out his schedule for the day, the week, and the month, sorting it into categories — school, family, training, and time for himself and his social life. His advice to classmates trying to do the same is not to keep it all in their head. “There has to be people out there for support for you,” he says, “for supporting you and for giving you the time to listen to the things that you have a lot of struggles with.”
A Shared Journey
Andre is careful to close his story with gratitude, not just for himself. He speaks first of his faith: “Without God and all the prayers… I wouldn’t be where I am today.” He speaks next of Heritage, where a CCA several years ago gave him his first real introduction to the sport — “the moment where I realised that this is my sport, this is what I wanted to do.” He thanks his teachers for understanding how hard it is to balance both, his friends for their steady support, and his parents, who he says are “always there, always watching my competitions, always giving me the support that I need.”
Through the lens of Andre we see that Discipline, however private, is rarely built alone. Behind every honest rep is a coach who checks in, a teacher who makes room, a friend who listens, and a family in the stands.
Lives Transformed, Excellence-Driven.