SAA Track and Field Series 2

The SAA Track Series 2 was held at ITE Simei this time and it was overwhelmed by the superb support and participation of schools. Coaches and teachers were ready to expose their athletes to the local competitions in a bid to prepare for the coming National Schools Championship in April. These competitions serves as build up races to allow specific training preparation.

It was so exciting to see athletes competing and doing Personal Best already in February. On Day 1, Haikel from ACS(I), whom previously had a PB in the 100m of 11.7s, did 11.33s with the wind of 1.8+, finishing neck to neck with 3 other athletes whom were just a mere 0.01seconds away. He did a fantastic acceleration up to the 50m and was leading till the very last 5m when all 3 sprinter stick their neck out and tried to finish the race first.

Calvin Kang finished the race first with the time of 10.70s but with the aid of the tail wind of 2.8m/s+. However, the HCI boy Tan Zong Yang did a fantastic dash and finish right behind Calvin for the second spot and Izwan passed the tape as 3rd position. Hakeem was not training well for the pass few months due to his University commitments and therefore came in last in the heat with a time of 11.14secs.



We also witnessed the 400m race on the same day. The performance from Chin Hui of Raffles Institution JC was something to note. He did a personal best of 49.70secs finishing the race infront of teammate Seow Yeong Yang. I'm very optimistic that he will do very well in the National Schools and might have the chance to qualify for the 2011 World Youth Championships.



Nikita did a timing of 61.52secs for the Women 400m. I will have to increase the intensity of her training and hope she will do well and qualify for the World University Games in August.




The overwhelming participation of the Track Series 2 delayed the events by more than an hour on Day 1, and ended about 7 to 8pm. It was tough on the athletes to gauge the warm up time, and eventually they were too tired and unable to compete properly. Day 2 was much better, the organizer managed to follow closely to the time schedule. The competition finished off with a short get-together for the SEA games qualifying athletes. A short presentation was given by Mr Kunalan, and also by the German expert Mr Gunter Lange, who shared his experiences with the athletes and coaches. Mr Gunter was here for the past 2 weeks and gave an intensive workshop for periodization and also sprints training.

I will write more about what Mr Gunter shared in the sprints and planning workshop, in my next post.

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SAA Track and Field Series 1 and POLITE Games 2011

Happy Chinese New Year to all! Wishing all a prosperous, fruitful and lots of Personal Best in this Rabbit Year!

This was a busy year to start with. The Track and Field Series earlier this month and also the POLITE games are the first 2 competitions of the year. We were all excited about competing in the first SAA Track Series, previously called the All Comers Meet. I’ve also realized that there are quite a number of athletes I now work with, namely Reactiv guys, ACSi, Republic Polytechnic and our latest inclusion of Seng Kang Secondary.

SAA Track and Field Series 1 was held on 2 days, 16^th and 23^rd Jan 2011 at our very familiar Bukit Gombak Stadium. For the 2 Sundays, our guys tried sprinting and competing with their spikes after a long break from the conditioning phase.

ACS(i) was having a school overseas trip on the week of the track series and therefore only a handful of athletes took part in the competition. We had quite a good conditioning phase, doing reaction drills, speed drills, acceleration drills, working on the core muscles and body weight exercises. Not forgetting the dreadful endurance sessions to work on our aerobic and the anaerobic system. Below are the results of some of the boys who participated:

Let, Jian Jie

100m - 11.93s
200m - 24.06s

Muhammad, Hasif

100m - 12.75s

Ismail, Haikal

200m - 24.06s

We were also very anxious about the POLITE Games that was just a week after the Track Series. We were training 3 times a week but most of the time, not all could make it for the training. However, I felt that competition is the best training; therefore I encouraged all of them to participate in the track series. The results are as below:

Lee, Natalie

100m - 13.63s
200m - 28.37s

Muhd, Firdaus

100m - 12.03s

Kyser Tan

100m - 12.01s(H)

Sapari, Zaki

100m - 11.50s ,
200m - 23.27s

Tiang, Alicia

100m - 14.14s
100mHurdles - 18.61s(H), 20.79s(F)

Ross, Khalis

400m - 54.82s
200m - 24.30s.

The latest training group is from SengKang Secondary School. We started early January and worked mainly on drills, basic strength and fitness. Although it was only a few sessions, I can already feel the energy and passion from these youngsters. They signed up for the competition before I took over the team, and these are the results:

Nurpriska

100m - 14.55s

Lin, Iris

100m - 14.90s

Goh, Jio Yan

100m - 15.33s

Lee, Ryan

100m - 13.98s

Liew, Rachel

100m - 15.39s

Abdul, Halim

100m - 12.72s

Siti, Nuraishah

400m - 1.12.77min

Ng, Shirlene

200m - 31.90s

Ang, Chen Shan

200m - 29.19s

Lastly, these guys who train and raced the whole of last year, did the usual preparation and raced in this track series. To my surprise and worth mentioning is Hakeem. He did a time close to his PB (10.93s). Hakeem trains 3 times a week without my supervision, due to his work and academic commitments. It seems that this works better than 5 times with my supervision! Another worth mentioning is Calvin Kang, who did the total opposite of Hakeem. Calvin did 1s off his 200m PB! His 21.68s was done during 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou. And 2 months later he cruised through the 200m with a time far off his PB. Please see results of the guys below:

Melanie
100m - 13.04s
200m - 26.57s

Sharda, Nikita

200m - 26.54s

Abdul Hakeem
100m - 11.17s (H), 11.03s(F)

Amos Lim

100m - 11.88(H), 11.74s(F)
200m - 24.51s

Kyser Tan

100m - 12.01s(H)

Wong, Tsu Haw

100m - 12.37s(H)

Poon, Wayne

400m - 56.78s
200m - 26.01s

Kang, Calvin

200m - 22.68s

Photos: http://tinyurl.com/664llbr
Videos: http://tinyurl.com/67s8ylp

More updates coming up for the next few competitions!

Stay tuned and like our Facebook page!

Alfred here signing off

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Reactiv Annual BBQ - 2010

That marks the end of the year 2010! Its been a tradition since 2007 where Reactiv sprinters will gather for an annual BBQ. The previous BBQs were held at Conan's and Shalindran's place. This get-together is also the only time when all athletes gather and meet each other as one big family. Since many trained at different times of the day and do not meet each other too often. Apart from the local competitions, this is the only time where everyone sat and had a good chat together.

having a chat while waiting for the food.

our 1st round of cooks

2010's BBQ this time was at Sin Ming Walk, The Gardens Condo. We were blessed with good weather though it started to drizzle alittle just before starting the fire. The program for that night was BBQ, gift exchange and games. It took us 2 long hours to set the fire and realized it was because of the charcoal (It was my fault..). Our poor athletes had to rely on the chips and salads (I realized many do not take vegetables..).

veg is good

Just when the pit was at its optimum heat, we were left with about an hour to BBQ with so much food uncooked.. but none of the food was wasted thanks to our big eaters.

everyone started to help. or they queuing for the food?

It so happened that it was also Alicia's birthday (30th Dec) and we surprised her with a birthday cake!
birthday girl

So anyway, we did our usual yet unique gift exchange session. The explanation is as follows:
1. The gift must be something that you own and do not need it anymore.
2. Gift cannot be bought just for the sake of the exchange.
3. It must be useful to others but no more useful to you.
4. It must be in working condition (e.g. no used bottles, half used shampoo, expired diary etc.)
5. No money spent on the preparation of the gift (wrapping it up with newspaper or used magazine)


roadside gift exchange was cool

We had our gift exchange at the pit but were asked to leave because our booking time was up! In the end, we continued our gift exchange outside the condo. My big apology to all athletes for making them stand in the drizzle to do the exchange!

hakeem got a new pair of spikes from khalis

But at least, some guys managed to get some nice gift. Alicia got her nice pink fluffy Hello Kitty blanket!

"IT'S SO FLUFFYYYYY"

Happy coach.

Well, hope that we have a blasting 2011 after this BBQ, especially SEA Games is end of this year!

So Let's Go For It Guys!


REACTIV 2010

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Reactiv would like to wish you a Merry Christmas

We hope that your Christmas would be enjoyable and may the essence of Christmas remains always with you and your family.

Take care.

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16th Asian Games in Guangzhou City, China

The 2010 Asian Games was a multi-sports event in Guangzhou, China. The Game began on 12 November and finished on 27 November 2010. Calvin Kang from Reactiv gave us his insights on the Games. Have a read.


[Photo from http://www.teamsingapore.com.sg/content/teamsingapore/en/News/latest_news/2010/mixed_day.html]

16th Asian Games 2010 Guangzhou, China

The 16^th Asian Games in Guangzhou had the hopes of the incredible success of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. As China were well prepared and ready to take on the Asian Games, it was a success. I would say that my stay in Guangzhou was great. Firstly, the very smooth traffic conditions, to the very courteous volunteers ready to greet you at every corner at any time of the day. And the high level of competition at the games. Track and field was scheduled in the later part of the games thus, we had been exposed by the media on how the Asian Games was going and I can remember that I was waiting patiently but eagerly to participate in the games. I was going there for one goal which is the 4x100m relay. There were daily times on the sports on the newspaper given to us every morning in our apartments, there was this interview and the girl said that the experience at the Asian Games were better than that at the YOG simply because the service was so good. The Chinese people had to pride of their country and thus giving their best in their area of volunteering. However, we cannot compare to China mainly because of the people to area ratio. There were hardly any hiccups, bus timings were very consistent, the reporting times and race times were smack on the dot.

On the race day of the 4x100m, I was charged up to run the race of my life as it was the last competition for me for the year. Equipping my mind mentally and staying relax helped me to feel good. The weather was cool and definitely dry, and it did not struck me that I may have been dehydrated. 30mins before reporting I had a major calf cramp. Thankfully, a masseur (sathi) was there to attend to me, shaking and stretching my calf. Downing 2 full bottles immediately helped me to recover. We had our spirits lifted up and were ready to give our best. Our heat had strong competitors like Japan, China, Saudi Arabia. I was at the 4^th runner position counting my steps, feeling the cheer of the crowd for china was daunting and having Japan (Olympics bronze medalist) team on the outside of me gave a slight anxiety. But I knew that the Singapore team had trained well and we had the camaraderie and we were ready for this meet.

On your marks! Set, Go! Gun went off. Gary did a great start not letting the Japanese Eruguchi to pull away. Stepping on the mark, Elfi took off, accelerating down the straight. Shouting for ‘ Up!’ Elfi’s Hand went up, Gary aiming to place the baton in his hand. First time, it missed and slip, trying the second time made Gary over stretch and lose his running momentum only leaving elfi pulling further away and out of the exchange zone. There the relay time for the Singapore Team had ended. Leaving Amir and me to watch and observe the other runners zooming past us. We did not know what to do at that moment. In the minds of Gary and Elfi it was a shocker and in my mind, I guess the race was over and it was the end of my season. However, the relay is a team event and we took the result as a team.

Thankfully, they managed to squeeze me in the 200m. I was very fired up to run in the 200m. Usually, I did not have a clear race plan but this time round. I really had a plan from the blocks, coming out fast the first 30m mainly opening up my strides. Coming into the straight at the 80m to engage the frequency and powering and maintaining down to the finish line. In most races, the last 20m would kill me. But having a good race plan and being confident helped me to stick with the pack and finishing with a personal best of 21.68s . I was happy with my timing as I was aiming a personal best. And there I finished my 2010 season on a high. In the 100m having a season’s best of 10.61s and in the 4x100m in 40.14.

Thank you Calvin for sharing your wonderful experience in the Asian Games.

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I personally feel that there were too much pressure on the boys, hoping for a new national record. Having said that, there were also lots of indirect stress on the runners. For example, the new relay coordinator Mr Melvin Tan, took over Coach Hamkah for the responsibility of the 4 x 100m. For the past 4 years when Coach Hamkah and Mr Tang Ngai Kin took control over the relay team, there were resistance from personal coaches, uncertainties and even fights within the team and the coaches. However, the ex SAA had a team of experts to conquer these problems. These people include: Ralph (TD), Veera (Chief Coordinator), Hosni (Head Coach Sprints), Sharon (Video Analysis) and myself (Assistant Coach Sprint). We had a huge team to work closely together. However for this incident in Guangzhou, I would say Mr Melvin Tan is fighting this battle alone. I will not regard this as a failure, and Mr Melvin Tan should face it and come back stronger.

I also feel that nobody should be penalized for the baton passing. Accidents do occur and it happens to be during a major game. In fact, these boys should make full use of the chance to observe and learn from the Asia's best athletes and share it with our local athletes and coaches, and eventually improve our sporting culture in Singapore.

I can't wait for the new season to start and to look out for more young talents and potential athletes from Singapore school's system.

This is Alfred Sim signing off.

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