They See Me Ballin' at the SNG

Caught a cold last Monday on presentation day but copious amounts of hot tea and fluids have kept me bouncing right back up just in time for the final round up of the Singapore National Games’ sepaktakraw matches. A 7am shift might sound like a daily routine to others but for me, it was a slightly uncomfortable take on Sunday Morning rain is falling. You might want to sing along to Maroon 5 for that. Let it be known that I am not a morning person. A quick breakfast stuffing of assorted muffins and buns and I was ready to rumble.

While the Bedok Indoor Stadium lacked a certain amount of spectators one might expect at a national sporting event, it more than made up for the close-knit atmosphere of bright purple donning volunteers who with their blown-up batons cheered with playful glee for the playing teams. Granted, we were pretty much team-blind as in we supported all the teams. A point for team B - cheer! A point for team A - cheer! Clearly, more publicity needs to be made about sepaktakraw. Bicycle kicks, crotch shots and balls flying everywhere. What’s not to love?

I had chosen to be a media relations assistant in the marketing, sponsorship and communications division. Clearly, you can’t separate me from all things media and marketing. We had a table set up at a cornered off Media Section - super exclusive. All our quotes were overseen by Fulford PR who were amazing, amazing folk. My role was simple. Interview the athletes, coaches, and VIPs for quotes and their take on the SNG. Just a couple of attention grabbing food for thought. A mini journalist if you will. In baby food portions.

I spoke to winners. The losers. The sportsmen. Their coaches. Asked them about their motivations. Why sepaktakraw? Who supported them? What were their sacrifices? How did they train? What more could they improve on? All that fun nosey-parker stuff. I do have the license to poke and prod afterall.

Denise and meself featuring Inflated Community Support at our media table

Me in action, getting the deets.

Swag and street cred up for grabs.

Here’s the 411 on sepaktakraw. Kick volleyball. Sepak means “kick” in Malay and takraw translates to “rattan ball” in Thai. No hands. Just feet, chest, head bumps and expertly timed martial art jumping. A predominantly Malay-Thai traditional sport played between two teams of three. Best out of three games over a total of 15 (in the case of SNG) or 17 points wins.

Volunteering work has been more enjoyable than I initially presumed. I made new friends. Dealt with having to wear an unflattering aubergine but comfortable shirt for long hours. Drank water like a boss. Interviewed like Amanpour. Spoke Malay and impressed the athletes with my linguistic prowess. Sure, there's always that element of giving up my free time to participate in an event that has absolutely nothing to do with me. However, that isn't true at all. It's how one can make it the occasion work and matter on a personal level rather than waiting for things to happen. I for one hate sitting around waiting and doing nothing. I'd rather make my waiting time should there be any, count.