Story by Colin Tung/Red Sports. Photos by Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports
The Experience Tennis programme, introduced in conjunction with the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Finals, allowed members of the public, such as Nur Aisah (pictured), to take part in learn-to-play sessions under the tutelage of professional coaches without having to pay a single cent. (Photo 1 © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)
Singapore Sports Hub, Saturday, October 25, 2014 — Eyeing a lobbed ball, she attempted a smash with her tennis racquet. While her smash might not yet compare to those of the likes of Simona Halep, Serena Williams, Ana Ivanovic, and company battling for honours at the season-ending WTA Finals just a stone’s throw away at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, rookie tennis player Nur Aisah Mohd Saad also had not been playing the sport for years like the professionals have.
“This is my first time (playing tennis). I learnt the forehand, backhand, and how to serve,” said the 33-year-old, who was attending the Experience Sports Learn-to-Play tennis programme organised by the Singapore Sports Hub last Saturday.
When asked what drew her to sign up and participate in the session, Nur Aisah, who had previously picked up other sports under the Learn-to-Play programme such as fencing and netball, said, “I wanted to try out new sports.”
Aisah’s class, at 2pm last Saturday and lasting an hour, was the fourth and last for the day, all of which were conducted under the watchful eye of tennis coach, Syafiee Fidrishah.
“Our role is to … introduce tennis. It’s … to show them tennis is fun, make sure they play, learn, then stay in the game to continue learning the game,” said the 24-year-old Singapore Tennis Association-certified coach who has noted an increase in participants over four weekends of classes so far, as the WTA Finals drew nearer. “Most of them never played tennis before. The aim for them is to be able to play, rally, and score at the first lesson.”
Tennis was not the only activity going on on the day. On an adjacent outdoor court at the National Stadium, there was an inflatable court with integrated trampolines on each side of the net set up.
The participants bouncing around on the inflatable court (and trampolines) were engaging in a sport named bossaball, which combines elements of volleyball, football, and gymnastics, and is typically played with music in the background. The aim of the game is to score points by hitting the ball over the net into scoring zones within the opponents’ side of the court.
Web designer, Joanna Chia, was one of the participants.
“Bossaball is one of the new sports I have not tried. I’ve only seen it on YouTube. It’s pretty cool; you get to play volleyball, soccer, everything all in one,” said the 27-year-old who had found out about the activity through a booth that was set up at Kallang Wave Mall.
Mohamad Saifudin, 48, the founder of Bossaball Singapore said, “It’s more of outreach, to let people know that this sport exists. If they want to develop their skills further, then it’s up to them to contact us for training sessions.”
The bossaball session was the first at the Sports Hub, according to Saifudin. It will return one weekend (Saturday and Sunday) a month for the next three months. Interested participants can register online, at the information counter at Water Sports Centre (on weekdays), or at the Experience Sports Village located at a different Sports Hub location every week (on weekends). Find out more about the Experience Sports programme, which also has sessions catering to kids of various age groups, on the Sports Hub website.
More photos next page
Leave A Comment