“Sometimes, our training makes us want to cry…” – Singapore’s AYG basketball athletes get ready

Story by Koh Yizhe/Red Sports. Photos by Koh Yizhe/Red Sports and Vanessa Lim/Red Sports.

Eight youths will get an opportunity to bring glory to their country when they represent Singapore in the FIBA 33 basketball competition at the upcoming Asian Youth Games (AYG).

Jabez Su, Goh Kong Tat, Larry Liew and Russel Low are all familiar faces for those in sync with the local basketball scene and they have been chosen as Singapore's best for the boys.

Over at the girls side, Sharlene Huang, Hannah Ng, Tok Hui Min and Nicole Lau are the host nation's representatives.

"It is a great honour to be representing Singapore! We all feel a sense of pride," said boys captain Jabez Su.

Hannah Ng, a basketball player from Raffles Girls' School, echoed his comments, "I am very excited as not many 16 year olds get such a chance and this is a great opportunity to learn from the best."

However, this isn't the usual five versus five that the players are used to playing. Instead, it is a three-on-three (one substitute) competition played on only half the court.

FIBA 33 is played in three periods of five minutes each, with a one-minute break between the periods, and the winner is the team that scores the most points in that period.

But there's a twist: the winner can also be decided by the side that scores 33 points first.

"The FIBA 33 is definitely something new with new formations and new rules. But the foundations doesn't change much and after months of hard work and training, we are now comfortable with it," commented Jabez Su.

Red Sports caught up with the players at their training camp at Anglican High last weekend. Boys' team manager Mr Khoo explained the purpose of the camp.

"The main goal of this camp is to build team bonding between players. The players mostly see each other only in training so for them to live together build team dynamics. On top of that, they can get used to the court which has just been completed."

With an intensive training schedule which includes four training sessions per week as well as the long training camp, one might wonder how these 16 year olds can possibly cope with training and studies, especially since some of them are taking O levels this year.

"It is all about time management," said Russel Low, the towering 1.95 meter center from Presbyterian High School. "We have to sacrifice as we don't have extra time for our own stuff and things that we want to do like play DOTA. Yeah, you can say that there's a lack of social life. For now, it is only studies and basketball, but it is going to end soon."

Although the girls have an advantage, as they all come from schools with Integrated Program (IP), they still experience the same problem.

"We are very fortunate as we all come from schools with IP, but the only time for us to all meet for training is at night as our schools all end at different times," lamented captain Sharlene Huang.

"On top of that, waking up early for school the next morning is quite tough as we have to concentrate in class as well. Basically, we have to personally balance basketball and studies ourselves."

One factor that helped them through this period of intense training is the support from their teachers.

"But my teachers have been very supportive as they have given me the chance to hand in my homework late and allow me time to catch up so it is rather manageable, said Hannah Ng. “This allows me more time to focus on basketball. No skipping of school though, only for the actual tournament."

Nicole Lau agreed.

"It is about the same for me. We are free to ask for one-to-one tutoring if we need it."

While other youths spend the weekend going out to malls to go shopping, or to catch a movie, Singapore's best basketball players are hard at work in the courts.

When asked where their favourite hangout is, they replied, "Basketball Association of Singapore (BAS), if not it's the bubble tea shop near BAS! We don't really have time for other things. It isn't easy balancing work and play, as well as social life. For now, our hobbies have to be put aside as our priorities are basketball and studies."

With both sets of players sacrificing much to be representing Singapore, their expectations for the tournament are well justified.

"Although we would base our expectations on our performance, we hope to at least get out of the group stages to reach the last eight,” said Jabez. “Besides their height, we know nothing about them as we never met them or seen them. But they know nothing about us too, so it isn't a disadvantage."

"We have the second highest average height in the tournament so we are quite confident of reaching our goal."

The girls have a similar goal of reaching the quarter-final, but they are looking beyond the AYG and have the upcoming YOG in 2010 in mind.

"The AYG is like a step for us to improve ourselves and to gain important experience. We can also see how other countries train for big international competitions. It is something like trial and error: first we play with Asia, before playing with bigger nations like America."

“We have the shortest average height among the teams, but we hold an advantage which this training provides us as we get to know the court better than our opponents. Therefore, our goal would be achievable, I wouldn't say it would be an easy task of reaching this goal, but we stand a good chance of getting there."

Both the boys' and girls' draws have the host nation facing almost identical opponents with China and India featuring in both their groups. The boys will then have to take on Uzbekistan while the girls will also play Bahrain.

With their opponents no pushovers, it is no wonder that the Singapore girls' training is described as "tough, intense and sometimes, it makes us want to cry."

Despite this, they are all set to face their foes but with one aspect lacking.

"After months of training, we have gained sufficient technical ability and although we were a bit rusty when we first started training together, we are now gelled together,” said Sharlene and Hannah. “But the only thing we are lacking now is mental preparation. For now till the start of the games, we have to get into the right frame of mind and get ourselves ready for the actual competition."

Singapore will play their first match against China on July 1st at Anglican High. With their Chinese opponents boasting players with the tallest average height, they will need all the support they can get!