All about speed, agility, strength & team bonding
Our three National Age Groups, 14/U, 17/U & 19/U along with their Team Officials braved the early morning start on Sunday June 27th for the combined National Age Group Training Camp held at the Singapore Sports School. The day was all about putting our athletes through their paces but most of all providing an opportunity for our Age Groups to work together, hear from two accomplished National Athletes and to have some quality team bonding time with one another.
The day started with two concurrent specialist sessions with players from each age group in each session. The Footwork, Agility Skills & Dynamic Movement Patterns session was conducted by Jason Gregory, SSP Strength & Conditioning Coach, and provided an energetic court workout for the players with some quick decision making fused in. The second session, Developing lower leg strength & stability to improve performance and reduce the risk of injury, was presented by Gabriel Choong Chee Wei, SSP Assistant Physiologist and JSA Multi Sport Coach. Gabriel had the players working hard in the gym, performing lots of strenuous lower leg and core exercises. Great to see some of the coaches getting involved in this session too J. These sessions were also open to our Advanced Coaches to attend as a development opportunity, with over 10 coaches benefiting.
The players then had a chance to relax and enjoy a fun interactive session and address by Chen Huifen and Nurul Baizura, experienced National Open Players, who gave up their time on a Sunday to give back to our Age Groups. They played some fun, ice breaker games with the players and addressed them about their respective journeys to reaching National Opens level and the hard work and dedication required to this end.
After lunching together in the SSP Dining Hall, the 14’s & 17’s undertook a training session with their coaches whilst the 19’s headed home to study for mid-year exams.
A special acknowledgement and a big thank-you to the Singapore Sports School, which provided its venue and facilities free of charge for the National Age Group Camp as part of the NS-SSP collaboration. Also thanks to SSP coaches Joanne Loo and Noraida Binte Abdul Malik who provided assistance and coordination on the day itself.
Below are some quotes and thoughts from the Team Officials and Team Captains about what the Training Camp achieved for them and some photos of the players and officials in action during the day. All 3 Teams are in final preparation mode for the annual Kuala Lumpur Tour on
“Jason & Gabriel’s sessions were very insightful and provided us with lots of pointers to focus on for our training sessions. Jason’s conditioning techniques allowed us to explore conditioning without the usage of equipment. He provided some feedback on how to correct the postures during their conditioning, which is beneficial for us as coaches to learn. Gabriel’s method of encouraging, together with his choice of words to push the players to work harder was interesting. Definitely something that we could bring back to use during our training sessions”. – Saadiah Khamis, 14/U Coach
“The girls thoroughly enjoyed being able to interact with our National Opens Players in Huifen and Baizura. Their insights and encouragement would definitely go a long way for the U14 team. The Q&A session was particularly useful for the girls to know what it is like to be in the Opens team”. – Cheong Long Xin, 14/U Assistant Coach
“This training camp is a good platform for all the 3 different age group squads to get to know each other as they train separately and do not have much interaction with one another. It is also a good platform for the U14 girls to bond together in a different way and to go through different types of training that benefits them not only physically but also cognitively. Although the girls are quite worn out from the specialist sessions, their spirit was still high up till the end of the camp as they enjoyed themselves very much”. – Hu Xueling Olivia, 14/U Manager
“The training camp was very fun and I think it was a great experience for all of us. It was great to be able to have the specialist training sessions and I think we learnt a lot and definitely benefited from them. It was also nice to be able to hear from the 2 national players and to hear their insights on being on the Singapore Team. We also bonded a lot as a team and I feel it would be great and beneficial if we could have another one of these training camps again.” – Alexandra Mei Tan, 14/U Captain
“ … Some players were hesitant and shy at the start of Fen & Bai’s session. But when they started the games and played with them, it was fantastic to see the players started to warm up and interact with them. Overall it’s a great experience and hopefully an inspirational one for them. – Boey Qi Jun, 17/U Assistant Coach
“The training camp was really a productive and helpful session. We were able to understand how the trainings would be like if we were in the opens team. Also, the sharing from the National team players was helpful and insightful as they were able to share with us their journey with Netball and inspired us to continue doing our best! All in all, it definitely was a great bonding session between all the age group members and I’m sure through the camp, we have learnt many things and become more bonded as a team”. – Angelina Lim Xue Ning, 17/U Captain
“The camp, however short it was, definitely strengthened our bond as a team. Through the hour-long fitness programme with Mr Jason, not only did our agility improve, we also became more encouraging towards each other, going up to our teammates instead of being shy. As our aim is to become National players eventually, the gym session by Mr Gabriel allowed us to familiarise ourselves with the various convenient strength exercises that we can do whenever possible. Being with the U14s and U19s to listen to the experiences of National Players, Huifen and Baizura, inspired me to dream big, adding fuel to the flame in me. Overall, the camp was a physically-demanding camp but it was through this camp that we came closer together as a team”. – Laura Low Shu Yi, 17/U Captain
“The training camp has opened an avenue for the girls from different Age Groups to interact with one another during the training and gym sessions respectively. The activities challenges the girls in such a way that it helped to develop them physically and mentally, thus required them to look out for each other and be more encouraging towards one another. This helped to create a stronger and closer bond within the team”. – Nursheela Bte Rustamaji, 17/U Manager
“Gabriel provided a beneficial session for the players. Corrected the wrong techniques players have been doing when they are doing their strength programme. Provided useful resources for them to practise at the own time. Jason provided coaches with ways to keep fitness training interesting and at a high intensity”. – Zhang Rongzhen, 19/U Coach
“The session with the National Opens players was inspiring and insightful. The open players shared about their journey from being an age-group player to where they are right now, the challenges and the joy they faced along the way. It motivates the younger players to train harder and inspire them to reach their dream and convince them that nothing is impossible with hard work”. – Liyana Noordin, 19/U Assistant Coach
“I thought that this training camp helps with building good team rapport and dynamics for the U19 girls- observed how the girls interact, encourage and had fun together. The activities were useful and the intensity was sufficient to push them to step out of their comfort zone and hence bond them together as a team.” – Aow Ci Hui, 19/U Team Manager
“Through this netball camp, although it was short but we feel that we got to bond and know and understand each other better. This camp is enjoyable and useful. At the start when we were doing Gabriel’s (PT) session, it was nice to see everyone encouraging each other and smiling the exhaustion away. The sharing session from the National athletes also helped us gain a better understanding of the demands of being a professional netballer. The sharing also got us to understand the personal experiences during SEA games. Overall, it was a fun and fruitful camp. We learned a lot- esp. Gabriel’s session.” – Eyu Yan Yan, 19/U Captain
“Just wanted to thank you for the great workshop last Saturday. I totally forgotten until I was reminded by my phone in the morning itself! I’m so glad I attended and totally enjoyed the session by Mr Jason Gregory. Loved his intensity and drills that he introduced. I had a training session yesterday and tried out a few of his drills on my 13 year olds and they had so much fun! Please extend my gratitude to him and I hope to attend more of such courses.” – Mr Justin Teh, Director & Head Coach, Crossroad Sports Pte Ltd
