An Inspirational Story of the two Mainstream schools.
David and Goliath Story
In the area of National Schools' Cross Country Championships, usually the autonomous and independent schools are the ones to win the races and emerge top 6 in the team event, annually. This can be seen even in this year's result as well.
However, taking up the challenge of the independent and autonomous schools, there are two mainstream schools which have come out bravely from nowhere and have established itself as the top 6 secondary school in the National Schools Cross Country Championships 2010.
Bendemeer Sec not only came in top 16 in B Division (Under 17) Boys and Girls, but they also clinched the 5th position in the Nat Sch Cross-Country Championships (Under 14) Boys, just one position away from Raffles Institution. Back from 24th position, Broadrick Secondary, emerged 6th position in the Nat Sch Cross Country Championships 2010. It is the hope that other mainstream schools could draw inspiration from these schools and follow their footsteps to success that this article is written.
The interview is with Bendemeer School comprising Mr Benjamin Kwok - Vice- Principal, Mr Lee Chen Siang - Teacher in-charge and Captains of Under 17 for Girls (Marissa Sng) and Boys (Vikram Selvam) and Broadrick Secondary School's dynamic Teacher in-charge cum coach, Norshida Ibrahim.
Bendemeer Sec - 5th Position in the Nat Sch Cross Country 2010.
An interview with Mr Benjamin Kwok, Vice Principal of Bendemeer Sec Sch
How did you get the idea to start cross country in the school?
Cross country as a sport provides opportunity for Bendemeer Secondary School to excel in it. Why I say excel is because it provides a level playing field in terms of skill requirement as well as facilities. The school that trains hard and has a good system and training processes in place should be able to do well. With the support of our Principal Mrs Wong Mee Mee and a team of dedicated teachers and coaches, I believe we have the ingredients for success and it’s a matter of time before we bring our students up to a level where they will be able to compete successfully with the other schools.
But beyond just running, we believe that the dedication and discipline required to train for the sport is invaluable and provides for our students life skills as well as knowledge to lead a healthy and active life. Of course winning will be a bonus, but more importantly, the opportunities to teach values and sportsmanship will prove to be the difference when the students graduate and become useful citizens for the nation.
What other CCAs are doing well in the school?
The school has a strong sepak takraw team. We came in champion for the C division south zone competition and third for the B division competition.
There is greater emphasis and focus during training and the students are very enthusiastic about the sport. This has even rub off on some of the girls. They want to play the game too.
Overall the sports scene in our school is looking positive with training moving up a gear.
Traditionally, the school has been strong in the area of uniformed groups as well as the performing arts. We have achieved sustained achievement awards for the 2 areas and we are very proud of this.
How are your feelings on the results of the cross country team?
The school came in 5th in the C division Boys team and one of our students Ivan came in at 19th position in the C division boys individual competition. Of course I’m very happy with the results. The team was only formed in 2008 and to achieve these results is really the effort of the teachers and coaches. The teachers have shown dedication and commitment. This has complemented the efforts and professionalism of our coaches. Together, they are a high performing team. Furthermore, one of the teachers Ms Aw also initiated a talent development fund for our sports students who come from financially weak background to receive extra support in the form of nutrition and equipment. We have expanded this to include students from the other school sports. Besides this initiative, the school also cover all student athletes with extra insurance protection in the event of injuries during training or competitions. Coming back to the cross country achievement, it is really an excellent result and I am very proud of all the students in the team. But I believe the best is yet to come as the students are still improving and the motivation is high.
Interview to Vikram Selvam (Under 17 Captain of Bendemeer Sec Sch)
Can you name me individually the other students who took part in the Under 14 team?
Rahul Rai (Captain)
Alex Tan (Vice-Captain)
Ivan Hong
Thinesh
Han Hui
Zhi Guang
Can you name me individually the students who took part in the Under 17 team, Boys and Girls, who came in team top 16 position?
Under 17 Boys Under 17 Girls
Vicram Selvam Marissa Sng
Satish Kumar Jolene Chew
Aashiq Mohd Iman Izzati
Surinder Doreen Lim
Fun Hao Wen Nurul Nathasha
Mohd Shameer Crystal Tan
How do you find the Under 17 Boys result ?
We could have done better. Since, we were not seeded, our four runners were disadvantaged by running behind the top 16 schools. Hence, without this constraint, we believe we could have done better. We believe that we will do well the next time since we are now seeded as one of the top 16 school to stand in front of unseeded schools.
What is the team's aim next year?
Possible, for next year, we are aiming for top 4 position in the B Division. We will work very hard for it. We believe that we can do it.
Interview to Marissa Sng - (Captain of Bendemeer Sec Sch - Under 17 Girls)
How did the team performed for the Under 17 Girls?
They came in top 16. However, we could have done well if there was heats and finals for this race. Since there was only finals, our team was behind 16schools, at least, and we were blocked throughout the race. Logically, I think we are top 10 in the team race. That is how we feel. We were disadvantaged. The good news is that next year we will be seeded and so we will be in front to compete on the same platform with the top schools.
How did you performed individually?
I was the best runner in my team. I am supposed to come in top 20, maybe even top 10. When I started running, accidentally or not, a girl from one of the top schools kept running in front of me fast and stop suddenly. This went on until the end of the race. Hence, I was not able to do well. I could have done the same thing to this girl by running and stopping in front of her while running, all the way. However, my coach and I feel that this is what a coward will do in order to win, to do the short cut, block a person and win by unfair means rather than taking the courageous and bold front of winning in a fair manner. My coach told me that it was a moral victory for me.
I hope that the opponent school's teacher or coach is aware of this and inform her to be mindful of other people's safety and compete fairly with other schools. I am happy that our coach has taught the right values in life through being a good sportsperson by winning in a fair manner. Else, it can become not sports but law of the jungle. I am thankful and appreciative of my coach because of this.
What do you think about the overall school performance?
We were disappointed earlier on with the Under 17 Girls result. We believe that we are able to produce better result. Anyway, the Under 14 Boys' excellent result, led by Captain Rahul Rai and Vice-Captain Alex Tan, made us to feel very happy and excited as a school team. We were overjoyed. Sure, this has rubbed on to us.
Why is this so?
We felt very bonded by this result. We became more united as a team. Now that the Under 17 boys have done it, it is going to our turn to do well for the next year's race. You mark my word, we want to do well.
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