The End & Memories

Yesterday marked the end of the Nationals for the team. The past 2 weeks have been hectic, with the past 3 days being the most hectic of all.

I'd say that every player has played her part well and has contributed to the team coming in 4th. All of them deserve a treat from me, which will take place on 26 July, Wednesday. I will give more details soon.

As for yesterday's matches, the players did well too, but not well enough to clinch the 3rd place. It was quite a waste... nevertheless, they have all done their best. Sometimes, the best just ain't good enough... but I guess its alright, so long as everyone is happy.

Personally, I made some important realisations in the course of the week. I realised that I had 'wronged' JM and S. They are not stubborn. Neither did they intend to 'defy' advice that I gave them. Its just that they tried but were not able to do it due to nervousness. For example, they may have intended to serve a short ball but it ended up being 'long' because the hand stiffened up(one's muscles tend to contract when one is nervous) during the game and lacked control. They had intended to serve to the right but somehow it still ended up on the left. All these made me discover that when it comes to table tennis, I may have the 'hardware', but I still lack the 'heartware' at times. =S Anyway, this realisation made me feel bad about having those negative thoughts the previous week but hey, I have discarded those thoughts already! Started to find S very likeable too... I like her character because it does remind me a lot of myself when I was young, like how stubborn I could be towards certain people and how I can't be bothered with what they have to tell me. Plus the kind of 'look' I'd give them when they talked to me and how I pretended to be listening when I was totally not. Hehe I'm so proud of her... she's really a reflection of myself(when I was young) in the mirror, though I was probably not as 'cute' as she is now. (At least she smiles more than I did and has 2 cute ponytails)

Maybe I should elaborate a bit more. Even though I was really terribly stubborn towards those coaches/people, they were completely helpless about it and still tried to be nice to me. Why? Because I was still able to produce exceptionally good result, hence they just had to shut their mouths and bear with my stubbornness and perhaps even rudeness because their rice bowls kinda depended on the results that I produced. When I was young, I didn't really know what was their intention of trying to 'teach' me (the wrong things) but as I grew older, I realised that it was because they wanted to 'claim credit' for my achievements and they had falsely believed what they have taught to be correct and the best. Oh well... too bad for them. Everyone knew and still knows who was responsible for my decent achievements and in my heart, I am still extremely grateful to them. They had the right attitude towards 'educating' me... especially a coach with the initials LSH. He totally couldn't be bothered about 'claiming credit' for my achievements even though he was really totally responsible for all my major achievements. All he really bothered about was that I improved under him and that he passed his skills, techniques and knowledge down to me. He would patiently explain to me all the theories behind this and that technique and why it should be done in the particular way, what are the advantages and disadvantages of doing it this way, etc. Very comprehensive and logical, such that till date i still remember most of what he had told me then. All that helped me to appreciate table tennis much much better on a micro level rather than on a macro level. It is towards coaches like him that I have utmost respect for. I remember him being the first person I would call after every important match to tell him how I fared(luckily my parents didn't know that else they would probably be jealous). I realise I have digressed a lot... once I start talking about my beloved coach LSH, I would just go on and on... simply because he has a special place in my heart even till date.

I am suddenly also reminded by what was mentioned by a principal at the sharing session at MOE yesterday and how it struck a chord with me. "Most students only remember 2 kinds of teachers - the very good, and the very bad." I would say the same goes for coaches. I remember fondly my 'good coaches' like LSH who really did me good and helped me improve, as well as the lousy coaches who taught me all the 'wrong things' that caused me to waste time trying to correct them later on. And wait... one more category of coaches that I remember - the clowns. =P Anyway, that sentence which the principal said made me ask myself once again, what kind of teacher would I want to be, and what kind of coach would I want to be? Do I want to become a 'I believe I know everything and I know best' kind of teacher? Or do I want to be a realistic and down to earth teacher who learns together with the students? When it comes to things that I myself am not proficient at, do I falsely believe to know it best, or will I get others who are more proficient at it to guide the students? It really got me thinking...

I am amazed by how a few simple realisations made me think so much and how they raked up my memories of the past. Our mind is indeed so fascinating that I can't help but wonder how it managed to link up so many things. Or I guess I'm just tired, so off to bed I go!