Emelyne Teo Jia Wei - An Intrinsically Motivated Athlete
Emelyne Teo and Sheryl Loh - Champions for Duo Category of Women Open (50km)
Emelyne's Potential
Emelyne Teo Jia Wei was formerly from Nanyang Girls School. She came to see Daniel Ling and I for joining cross-country as a CCA. As Daniel Ling was a teacher in-charge of Tahan Trip and Outdoor Club, having difficulty in managing everything, I was roped in to help in this. When I saw Emelyne's physique, immediately, I told myself that I have never seen an athlete having this kind of physique, which can make a person come in as a champion in the long run in distance running, especially the 10km, half-marathon and marathon. She is capable of winning top 3 in the SEA GAMES in future. She was found to be slim and having a flexible, well balanced and proportionate body.
Support from Parents
Thanks must go to the parents as during her formative years they must have made her involved in physical activities which could have improved her motor skills, namely, coordination, spatial awareness, dexterity, etc. These are the necessary ingredients to have and it can be developed from the playground when we are young. My coaching experience also shows that people with good motor skills can go a step further in running. People with poor motor skills will, at one point for another, stagnate. It will be useless for coaches to do much as the crucial formative years are of paramount importance between the ages 8 and 14.
Being an Independent Person
Coming back to the story, we found out in the year 2007, from questioning her that she had not join any athletics club in the past and in the past she did not do any form of formal training. The only thing we knew about her was that she sometimes goes for a jog. She also told me that she was living at Skudai, Johore, which was near Singapore. Immediately, joining us, I gave her a running program so that she can follow. I also thought, from experience, after meeting several Asean scholars, that ninety-nine percent definitely won't train. That was always the case. Knowing this fact, nevertheless, Daniel an I gave her the barest minimum training program. We gave her less as possible fearing that she might leave the CCA upon her arrival from Malaysia after her November and December holidays in 2007. It was the year that Daniel Ling, won the Standard Chartered Marathon 2007 in a time of 2hrs 46min and I was second.
An Asean Scholar with Commitment to Sports
When Emelyne came back to Singapore, I did not ask her much about whether she did train in Malaysia or not. The reason is because of the disappointment that I had gone through in the past on the Asean scholars. I had expected her not to train and hence I did not ask her. I also do not want to blame the Asean scholars for this as they have to meet certain academic targets if they want to stay in Hwa Chong Institution (college section). This applies in nearly to all scholarships holders in Singapore.
Performance in the Year 2007
As time progressed, and somewhere around a month before the National Schools' Cross Country 2007, there was a sudden surge in performance in Emelyne. Immediately, I had asked her whether she really did her training at Skudai. I was utterly shocked to find out that she did really trained in Malaysia. That was against the norm of all scholars, I thought. This instance showed that Emelyne was a very independent person.
Having a Passion to Learn
Over time, she kept coming to me for knowledge on running and pep talk constantly, asking where she had gone wrong in time trials and workouts. I can say that she was a meticulous person. She was usually one of the first to do a reflection on a race with me and get feedback as to how to correct the mistake and improve in running. The real mistake that she was always doing was to run very fast and then run steady and come back. Earlier, she was running well because of this but was not able to take full advantage of the race timing. From reflections, I told her to go slower during the earlier part of the race and then start speeding up and explained to her on lactate threshold and its working in the body, at the blood plasma level. Emelyne was also a very keen in understanding physiology. In person, the best part of her was the attention she paid to me when I was explaining. She has a good listening ear, ever wanting to learn. I found that she is one of the most patient person I have ever come across in my life.
Intrinsically Motivated Person
In her first year, she did not do any leadership roles. I used to frequently call her at night to discuss on how to improve on running. She took special interest in this. I usually do this to people who desire more to improve and are ready to make changes. They must be the intrinsic motivation type. They must be the receptive type and are able to listen patiently. Emelyne was also the sort who cannot be distracted easily by external events and distractions that are trying to cause distuptions to training. She had this attitude of focusing on running and studying, She was putting her study plan around running. She made everything revolve around running. Hence, she did not miss any form of training and she usually do not succumb to pressure of test, assignment, project work and what not. Also, never in her running training sessions or race has she disappointed me once.
A Good Role Model
When I met her lecturers, for the past two years, having worries that she may not be doing well because of the very intense training that she was undergoing, they told me that Emelyne was a very bright girl and not once they had any form of problem with her work. They also extolled her good behaviour to me. They told me that she excels in her work. The lecturers had no complaints on her very intensive training and they were surprised to know that she was also training very hard. Hence, with difficulty she was able to manage her time very well in a very challenging way. From my perspective, I feel that she is an example of taking life as a tight rope situation. Anytime, a person on tight rope can fall down. The person, hence, has to be very alert and has to keep balancing all the way, throughout in life. Emelyne lived life to the maximum, from my perspective.
Sacrifices of Emelyne
During 2008, between November and December, Emelyne sacrificed nearly her school holidays in order to train with the team. Her family was very good to her by coming all the way to Singapore to support her sport. They also came to Singapore in a way that the timing do not clash with the training. For this kind of arrangement, Daniel and I have gratitude and appreciation to her parents. Her mother Khor Siew Hwa and father Teo King Hoon should be very proud to have a great daughter who has contributed her services to Hwa Chong Institution (College Section) immensely. We also know that even in Malaysia, Emelyne did not slack in her running training. Her parents werebehind her every success. I think that we can learn from their parents to support the interest that their children have in any chosen sports.
Expectation Reduces Joy
Having said about her intrinsic motivation to training, she learned things fast. She was able to absorb facts very easily. The year 2007, nobody expected Emelyne to come in top 6, maybe not even top 10 in the National Schools' Cross Country, as she was the 5th fastest of our running group. During that period, it is worth mentioning that Daniel Ling was also the teacher in-charge in taking good care of the girls' team welfare and training. I was just overseeing the training. Sometimes I had to intervene to tone down on her expectations on herself so as she does not get herself disappointed.
Team Champions in the Year 2007
In the year 2008, when the National Schools' Cross Country race began, Emelyne followed the plan by taking it easy at the start. During the race she felt strong. Because of the B Division's earlier race 10mins before the A Div Girls' race, I could not know what was going on in the race at CCAB, Bukit Timah (3.5km race). Even Emelyne did not know her position. The race finished with a big group of slow runners of B Division Girls finishing with the A Div Girls faster runners. Many did not know who finished first to tenth. However, when the results was out, we found that Emelyne came in second with Zakiyah, Samantha Koh, Louisa Chiew, Claire Soon and Patricia Chia coming in third, fouth, sixth, twelfth and seventeen. Hence, our school, Hwa Chong Institution (College Section) came in as a champion team on the Nat Sch Cross Country for the A Div Girls finals at CCAB. We also came in champions in the Great Eastern 10km Team for the Women Open category. Emelyne's contribution was that she did 45min 40sec.
Making the Best of the Worst Situation
On the second year, Year 2008, Emelyne went through a very rough, tumultous and tough period of getting injuries easily. Emelyne had to shoulder the captain's post also and she was doing an excellent job in that. However, she was nearly injured for a period of three months. She had problems at the ITB area. However, not losing hope, with great enthusiasm despite feelings of losing hope, Emelyne kept doing her cross training so that the ITB was not affected. The greatest thing about her was she had great faith and hope in Daniel and I. We thought that she will not be able to run in the National Schools' Cross Country 2009. Despite all odds, she was triumphant by coming in 6th best individual in the A Division Girls' race. The very good thing about her is that she did not lose any form of hope. I feel that many could draw inspiration from her never giving up attitude. She made the best of the worse situation.
Great Potential to be Tapped
Over time, Emelyne, with resilience, did a 5km time trial at CCAB with us. She did a time of 19min 53sec which was a phenomenal according to my view. This performance was few weeks before the GCE 'A' Levels. At that period, I also found out that a 5km race was held in Singapore and the winning time of the 5km race was 19min 53sec for women junior. Hence, I believe that Emelyne was a capable of becoming a champion in running in future. Only time will tell this. Anyway, in the recent PASSION RUN running with her partner, Sheryl Loh, who is another alumni of Hwa Chong Institution (College Section), she ran in the Duo Category Women 50km, each running 25km each. Both ran in a time of 2hr 10min, getting a time of 4hr 20min. Both came in as champions. This is actually a very good piece of news for Hwa Chong Institution (College Section).
Hopes of the Future
As soon as Emelyne had finished her GCE 'A' Levels, with the parents support, she trained and did some internship in Singapore and kept training until. This is a very encouraging sign and for me as a coach, I would like to wish her all the best in all her endeavours, both running and medicine that she is going to pursue in the future. As a coach, both Daniel Ling and myself feel proud to have such a student as our athlete. Hwa Chong Institution will always be indepted to the athlete and the parents.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment