Story by Colin Tung/Red Sports. Photos by Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports

Mission Foods Asian Netball Championships Singapore vs Hong Kong

The Singapore netball squad and coaching staff are introduced for the group game against Hong Kong. Mark Richmond, the creative director of the player introductions, said, “If you notice, the audience are all in the dark, so it’s really very much like a theatre show: here are your main actors, seven versus seven … and the drama is going to unfold in front of you in one-and-a-half hours.” (Photo 1 © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)

Sunday, September 14, 2014 — The arena was cloaked in darkness, with streaking triangles and circles of coloured and white lights across the spectator stands and the court, accompanied by the thump of upbeat music. But for a netball that rested within the centre circle hinting at the occasion, it would have been easy to think dance was making its way to the OCBC Arena at the Singapore Sports Hub.

The girls that came on court possessed footwork of a different ilk. As the announcer bellowed, “Ladies and gentlemen, let’s play netball!” plumes of fire shot from either side of the netball goal-posts on both ends of the court.

One team after the other, the announcer proceeded to introduce the starting seven with each member taking their place in individual squares of white light. The rest of the squad later joined the starting seven, with the individual squares of light merged into a strip, as they prepared to do battle for the next hour against those opposite them on court at the Mission Foods Asian Netball Championships.

The player introductions were a hit with both players and fans.

Melissa Teo (GA), who made her only start so far for Singapore’s last group game against India on Thursday, said, “It’s very, very grand. It’s a first for all of us to have such a grand entrance, so we’re enjoying it and it’s quite fun also. Compared to NSL (Netball Super League) and other leagues, it’s a whole new level here. When we first entered, we were like ‘wow!'”

Natalie Long (GS), who made her debut in the opener against Japan and a second start against India, expressed similar sentiments. She said, “The atmosphere here is very electrifying. We used to play at Toa Payoh Sports Hall, which was amazing, but this (OCBC Arena) is in a league of its own. It’s way better and we really feel like sporting icons.”

Watching the semi-final between Singapore and Malaysia on Saturday was Eileen Soh, 40, who had brought along her 10-year-old daughter. A former netballer herself, Eileen said, “It was good that they introduced the names of each player and their roles. It creates atmosphere.”

The man behind the idea of the player introductions was deputy director of sports entertainment at Sport Singapore, Mark Richmond. He said, “The vision was in my head. But … it will just live and die inside your head until someone actually comes and says, ‘I will help out.’ So I got this guy called Mac Chan (who previously worked on the 1998 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony and several National Day Parades) who is one of the best lighting designers in all of Asia.”

The vision that Mark wanted to realise through Mac’s light design expertise was, he explained, “I’ve always told my team, and I told Mac as well: a young girl coming to the venue for the first time, what I want her to do is to actually look up to her mum and say ‘I want to be a netballer, I want to be introduced this way too.'”

While Eileen’s daughter, Isabel Wong, did not quite say it so directly, her words, “So much cooler than other introductions! I love netball,” and those of 14-year-old Summer Lim indicate that Mark’s work is getting the desired results.

Summer, who was catching the semi-final between Singapore and Malaysia with her Commonwealth Secondary netball teammates, said shyly: “(I want to) train better so can play here.”

However, the installation of the lights — not just for the player introductions but also for the game-play — and the implementation of the idea were not without their difficulties. Mark recounted, “We came in last Tuesday (before the start of the tournament) and we were almost living in this venue for a few days because we had to adjust the lights, for the players were complaining that there was glare in their faces. Of course, that comes first; players always come first.

“We (Mark and Mac) had a lot of setbacks but he and I just kept working through it. We had a chat on Thursday. We said, ‘Should we give it up and put these lights (the default lighting of the OCBC Arena) on?’ I told Mac I would like to say, ‘Let’s give it up.’ But I think netball, unfortunately, isn’t one of these Olympic sports or a very high-profile sport so I would really want to see our Singapore players actually come out and given not just the screams, but I want to showcase the girls as superstars. So he said, ‘Let’s fight for it.’

“And he fought right through, right until the end when the competition manager from Australia came down and said, ‘No, use this (the light installations by Mac and Mark).’ These (installed) lights make it look international, but the white lights (the default lights of the OCBC Arena) people might say, ‘Might as well do it at Toa Payoh (Sports Hall).'”

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Singapore beat Vietnam 84–8 for second straight win
Singapore ease to 63–28 win over Hong Kong to virtually seal semi-final spot
Singapore’s 73–20 win over India sets up semi-final clash with Malaysia
Defending champions Singapore through to final with 46-39 win over Malaysia
Singapore retain title with 59–41 final win against Sri Lanka

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