I've been involved in team sports such as soccer and rugby ever since I was a kid. After deciding to quit competitive rugby when the injuries (and medical bills) starting mounting, I meandered from sport to sport, but all of them had been individual sports where I could practice at my own time without the need for the participation of others. Sports also helped me keep the weight off, though not necessarily successful. And there's just one problem with doing a sport that doesn't require a team: you lose motivation easily.
I gotta admit that dragonboating wasn't initially my cup of tea. I'd always enjoyed rugby because it's a (frightful) combination of skills, different types of fitness, having to think constantly and quickly on my feet, and the rough and tumble. The first time I got involved in dragonboat was years ago when my then-colleague. Celine, asked me to be part of the staff dragonboat team which was then newly founded to participate in the Inter Statutory Board Games. I was still playing rugby then, and it meant taking the season off to train for dragonboat as there were a few other races which we had been signed up for. I remembered during the first training, while it was at time physically challenging especially considering that it was a whole new different sport, I thought to myself "I could get used to it!". It was refreshing because I just had to focus on rowing (I was one of the pacers, so everyone had to follow my pace!), without having to think too much on my feet (or in this case, my bum), and biggest factor of all, I could row with a peace of mind, knowing that no one is gonna come along and tackle me off the boat.
But apart from the technical aspects, what I really enjoyed about rowing was the feeling of being one as a team when everyone is in sync (which back in those days, when everyone was new to the sport, was pretty much a rarity), and the boat moving along smoothly on the water. Hearing the collective splash of the paddles, all in sync.. it was something that captivated me. The team had some good runs, including qualifying for the finals of the Public Service Games, which was held at the Singapore River. I remembered getting ready at the start line and the Police boat pulled up alongside and taking a second look at them: it was a boat full of Gurkhas! That was the last time I saw their faces, because all we saw of them subsequently was their backs! It was like their boat was motorised! Nonetheless, it was an achievement for a bunch of misfits who hardly trained and were mostly out of sync towards the end of races. I moved on to another job not long after, and that was the end of my dragonboating.
A couple of months ago, staff dragonboating once again came into my life when it was included in an event that was part of the Public Utility Board's (PUB) Singapore International Water Festival. It was supposed to be an inter-cluster event (several departments and academic faculties form a cluster), and right from the word "go!", it was competitive! Everyone was training hard although I'd missed out on several training sessions because I was in Manado diving. The cluster that I belonged too won, and by then, and I was hooked on dragonboating again.
Kat and I have a friend who's a member of a dragonboat team (Team Naga), and so I spoke to her about joining the team. Kheng is a dear friend of ours whom we got to know through scubadiving, and is a sweet and cool person.. until I started talking about dragonboating with her. She is also the team manager, so she was made very clear her expectations, and I was really surprised at this side of her. Upon hindsight, I could see that she is very passionate about the team and wanted members who are able to commit to the team, hence her demands.
We arrived at our first training an hour earlier because we were petrified of being late, and it was a good opportunity for us to check out the place and people. The varsity and school teams had been training in the morning, and so there were lots of fit young bodies around. We were starting to have the jitters!
When Kheng came, she rounded up a couple of other guys who were new to the team, and gave everyone a quick orientation, and then, we were off in the boat. The regular guys were in their cool race boat preparing for their coming race, while a couple others and the newcomers were in another boat. After some light paddling, we beached and Alvin along with a couple of the other seniors started working on our strokes as a we stood in waist deep water. We hopped back into the boat and started rowing again, and Sean the coach got onboard from the other boat and started working further on our strokes. I was really appreciative of him coming around to every rower to correct our techniques, rather than just standing from a distance and yelling out instructions. To top off the day's training, the team celebrated the birthday of one of the rowers by having him row both boats (held together by rowers in both boats).
I'm really glad that Kat jumped at the opportunity to join the team because it was another avenue of getting fit, and getting involved in a team sport. And more importantly, it was another activity in which we could do together. We had lots of fun and really appreciated the hospitality shown by the team. We're definitely looking forward to our next training!
On a side note, I would like to pay tribute my ex-student in NTU who was the staff team's de-facto coach. Although dragonboat was managed by my colleague, Celine, I got to know Stephen through his capacity as the NTU dragonboat team captain. We later found out that his younger brother was my team mate in the club where I played rugby. When the staff team was formed, we badgered Stephen into coaching us, and he kindly obliged, although we could see that he felt a little intimidated coaching the staff, but he was always encouraging while pushing us hard. At a personal level, Stephen was the nicest boy I've met, extremely polite and humble. I'd stop and chat with him whenever we ran into each other, and I was glad when he came back to NTU to pursue his postgraduate diploma in physical education. He had all the qualities of a good teacher, and I know that he would make a difference in the students' lives. I lost contact with Stephen when I left NTU. Then on November 2007, I heard news of the tragic drowning of the 5 members of the national dragonboat team when their boat capsized at Tonle Sap River in Cambodia, and I was shocked when his name was announced as one of the fatalities. I remembered clearly the next morning, flipping through the pages of the Sunday Times, seeing his face in the papers. I broke down, remembering the wonderful person that he was, and how the families of all the young men must be feeling.
Steph, if you were still around, I know you'd be glad and would be ever so encouraging if I'd told you that I'm starting dragonboating again. You will always be remembered!
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