Nicole Wong in action for Bishan East CSC Team 1. Nicole bowled 245 in her third game, the second highest individual game score in the Bishan-Toa Payoh Cluster. (Photo 1 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Planet Bowl, Sunday, June 17, 2012 — Nicole Wong is not someone you miss easily at the bowling lanes. At 1.75m, she stands out, and when she bowls, you immediately notice another rarity — she’s a left-hander.
And, by the way, the lady can bowl too.
“You’re not going to report my scores, are you?” she said in mock horror at the start of her third game.
Having stopped bowling for two and half years up to that point, the ex-national bowler was understandably rusty, posting pinfalls of 156 and 170 for her first and second games on the day at the Bishan-Toa Payoh Cluster Community Games bowling tournament.
By the end of the third game, though, all her class came flooding back through her left hand as she posted 245, the second highest individual game score over two days of bowling.
Her Bishan East CSC Team 1 just missed out on qualifying for the Singapore National Games when they finished third behind winners Toa Payoh East and Bishan East CSC Team 2.
“It started out as a weekend outing with cousins. I started bowling in the club (Serangoon Gardens Country Club),” said Nicole, who is a Constituency Manager at Bishan East Constituency Office, where she runs a wellness programme for the elderly.
“One day, a club coach spotted me and asked me to join the club team. From there it kinda picked up. I got spotted by the national coach and he encouraged me to go for national selections, and ‘Ta dah!’ that’s how I ended up in the team,” said Nicole.
On hand to support Nicole, like countless times before, was her mother, Mdm Leong Wai Cheng, 52.
“Bowling brought her out of her shell. Made her more outspoken, more sociable. Nicole started bowling at 12, 13 years of age. It was once a week, bowling for fun at the club. She saw it and liked it, wanted a feel of it,” recalled Mdm Leong, who raised Nicole and a younger sister as a single parent.
“I’ve always been into sports. I played casual badminton, then moved to tennis. I’m a sports person, so it’s nice to see her grow, mastering the game [of bowling],” recalled Mdm Leong, whose uncle is the legendary badminton player, Wong Peng Soon.
“She was in the national setting for five to six years. She quit at the end of her second year of university. National training was five to six times a week, two to three hours each time,” said Mdm Leong, who not only drove her daughter to and from training, she also spent countless hours watching her train.
“I haven’t bowled in two and a half years. I’m happy bowling now because I just bowl when I want to at a leisure kind of pace. I’m fine with that,” said Nicole, who has a diploma in early childhood and a degree in business.
“After awhile, I had enough [of bowling in the national team]. It was time to move on. It was always about the performance and result. I didn’t like that,” recalled Nicole, who picked up a coaching certificate in bowling two years ago.
“My daughter is an introvert. She turned to coaching because her interest is still there. She loves the game,” said Mdm Leong.
Said Nicole: “Bowling itself taught me a lot about attitude and character in life. It was not so much about winning. It was about growing up. I grew up quite a bit being in the national team. I learned life skills — punctuality, attitude towards the whole game, the coaches. It was character building.”
“I may not have won a lot of trophies, medals, titles, fame, but I definitely gained more valuable and priceless life experiences during my bowling years in the team. Of course, that came with the price of sacrificing many things — time with family and friends being the biggest sacrifice.”
Nicole singled out two bowling coaches who made a great impact in her life — Thomas Fox and Henry Tan.
“Thomas Fox was the person with the biggest impact on my time in the national team. He’s been a very big influence on me and has been more than just a coach. He became a mentor, a friend to me. He shared his advice, experience, words of wisdom and helped me to grow from a young girl with little self belief and confidence in herself, to where and what I am today,” recalled Nicole.
“Thomas was a very fatherly figure to her,” said Mdm Leong. “When there were certain setbacks, he took the trouble to talk to her and give sound advice. We are so grateful to him.”
“For Henry Tan, he also saw in me what others may not have,” said Nicole. “He dedicated a lot of his time to try to bring out what he saw in me. Despite external difficulties which at times hindered our progress, he never gave up, and never wanted me to. He made sure he saw through what he had started and wanted to do.”
“Two different men, but with the same heart and dedication who have left their mark in my life,” summed up Nicole.
And if not bowling, what other sport would she have picked up?
“Honestly, I don’t know. I never really thought about it,” mused Nicole. “But I guess, based on what I’m involved in now, I would say, Ultimate Frisbee? Although it’s only at a recreational and social level, I have absolutely no regrets about picking up this sport after I stopped bowling!
“I had made an awesome group of friends who have brought new meaning to a new chapter in my life,” said Nicole.
Nicole (right) and her mother, Mdm Leong Wai Cheng (left). Mdm Leong spent countless hours not only shuttling her daughter to and from training, she also sat in and watched her daughter train. (Photo 2 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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