Singapore Cagers all geared up for upcoming June competition

By Ian Chew

Vice Captain Desmond Oh, in foreground, leading his team in training. He is also one of three other players on a full-time contract, together with Goh Tai Liang and Hiu Guorong. (Photo © Ian Chew)

Unity Secondary School, Monday, 12 May 2008 – “We are going for the win!”

Despite being only one of three current players on a full-time contract, as well as the vice-captain of a young squad of under-23 players, Desmond Oh Wei Jie was nevertheless confident of his team’s chances against the other professional teams invited for the competition. The team’s training session held on Monday evening also included more than twenty other hopeful youths aiming for a place on the squad.

The four-team competition, which will be held from 27-29 June at the Jurong East Sports Hall, consists of a professional team from Indonesia and two teams from Malaysia. One of the Malaysian team will be their under-22 all star squad, which should provide a great match-up against the Cagers.

Said Desmond, who earns a four-figure salary as a professional player for the team: “We are especially looking forward to the match with the Malaysian youth squad, and we will settle for nothing less than a win against them!”

Yet the upcoming competition is by no means the only plan for the newly formed semi-professional outfit. In the works is a long-term participation in a professional Malaysian league from September to November, according to the team manager Mr Chan.

“We are looking to give international playing exposure to our local talented youths in order to raise our basketball standards. With this in mind, we are organising as well as participating in regional leagues to boost their level of play and confidence. We are also planning to send our most promising young players to Taiwan for an extended training exposure with their top professional team,” elaborated Mr Chan.

The thrice-weekly training sessions have proved very effective, at least for Russel Low, currently the youngest player in the squad at 14 years of age. Yet you wouldn’t be able to tell that at first glance, seeing that he stands at an impressive 1.92m in height.

“I feel that I have definitely improved a lot in terms of my basketball skills, training with my more skilful and experienced seniors. They not only take care of me in the area of basketball, but they also gave me a lot of good advice on how to conduct myself better,” said the affable youngster who is also currently in Secondary 3 at Presbyterian High School. He was a key member of his school team coming in second place at last year’s National C Division Championship and is a member of the current Under-16 Combined Schools’ squad.

To demonstrate the organisation’s commitment to developing the talented young basketball players in Singapore, the team is also looking to sign a contract with him as well. At the same time, 3-on-3 competitions ($50 per team for boys/girls aged 13-14 years) and 1-on-1 challenges ($20 for boy/girl aged 15-17 years) will also be organised during the June holidays to surface the latent youth basketball talents in Singapore. A Hip Hop Dance Contest (also at$50 per team) will also be held to spice up proceedings during the competition. All registration forms should be submitted and payment made to:

“Finesse Consulting Pte Ltd”
101 upper Cross St #07-02 People’s Park Centre S(058357).

Winning teams can look forward to a total prize purse of more than $1000 in cash and apparel vouchers.

The squad for the upcoming competition also boasts three Taiwanese professional basketball players, including celebrity Johnny Yan. Local Mediacorp artiste Felicia Chin will also be on hand to lend her support for the team. Tickets are sold at SISTIC outlets at $20 for a day pass. Block booking forms for schools and companies are also available here. Orders of more than 50 tickets by schools and companies enjoy a discount rate of 30%!

The team going through their paces three times a week at Unity Secondary School. The evening training session takes place from 7pm to 9pm. (Photo © Ian Chew)

The presence of other national youth players like Wong Wei Long and Lim Wai Sian makes the selection ultra-competitive. (Photo © Ian Chew)

The team trains under the watchful eyes of head coach Huang Jun Fang and assistant coach Raymond Oh. (Photo © Ian Chew)

Desmond’s parting shot: “My favorite player is…Chen Xing An of Yulong Basketball Team (Taiwan)!” (Photo © Ian Chew)