29 January 2010
SFS Ultimate 2010 and Beyond
As the year 2009 closes, it’s time to reflect on how the year has gone for SFS. It has been another fruitful year for SFS. As always, SFS was kept busy with conducting Frisbee Introduction Programs (FIP) at various primary and secondary schools. This year 25 schools, youth group and private organisations took up FIP with an estimated total of 3,000 students learning the basics and playing the game of Ultimate Frisbee. Having conducted the FIP for one level, many schools have engaged SFS to conduct FIP among another level of students. In the first half of 2009, SFS was engaged to conduct an FIP among the Primary 4 students at Mee Toh Primary in Punggol. After a successful run with the Primary 4 students, the school asked Singapore Frisbeesports (SFS) team to return to conduct our FIP with the Primary 5 students. These schools recognize that the FIP not only introduces their students to Ultimate Frisbee as an organized sport, it also serves as a fun and accessible way for children to enjoy PE classes.
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| SFS guest coach Wayne giving Mee Toh School kids some tips | SFS Coach Bryan Goh briefing participants |
Typically, the FIP leads up to a mini tournament in which students form teams to compete against each other. This gives the students a goal to work towards during the FIP sessions. Students are better motivated to work on their throws and team-work. As a coach, it is immensely rewarding to see how far the students have come. Before the FIP, many of these kids had never taken or held a Frisbee in their life. Yet by time FIP is over, these same kids are confidently executing accurate forehand or throwing deep into the end-zone. The mini tournaments have also been a great way for Team SFS to highlight the importance of sportsmanship, or Spirit of the Game as known by Ultimate Frisbee players. Without an external referee, Ultimate Frisbee depends on the integrity, fair-play and goodwill of all its players. Before and after games, students are told to shake hand with players from the opponent team; no bad blood is left on the field. Undoubtedly, this does not always get through to the kids. However as ambassadors of Ultimate Frisbee, we feel it necessary for us to promote sportsmanship among students. This gives the students an alternative to the win-at-all costs mentality that is prevalent in other sports.
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| Kids having some fun during FIP | SFS Uncle Ra correcting FIP participants their throwing technique |
Apart from our usual FIP with schools, SFS has been busy with other events throughout the year. In March, the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) held a road-show at the IMM to promote sports among our young. Team SFS participated in this road show to represent Ultimate Frisbee among the many other sports that were present. In the March and June school holidays, SFS conducted 1 day Ultimate camps in conjunction with IKEA and SSC. These camps catered to students who are interested in playing Ultimate Frisbee but lacked an avenue to learn or their schools did not offer SFS- Frisbeesports Introduction Program. On top of that, a regular Saturday morning Youth training session was held during the year-end schools holidays. These training sessions catered to students age 12 – 18 interested in playing Ultimate Frisbee at a higher level. Conducted on a voluntary basis by SFS head-coach Uncle Rahim, the team of 40 youths are training hard to send a strong team up to Kuala Lumpur hopefully sometime in March or June 2010 school holidays to compete with the youth team there.
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| Uncle Ra giving teachers some throwing tips | SFS East Zone Teachers Ultimate Instructor Course participants |
In the year 2009, SFS also completed its first SFS - Teachers Ultimate Frisbee Beginners Coaching Course. 30 teachers from the East Zone attended this course which aimed to introduce PE teachers to Ultimate and to train them with the necessary skills to teach the basic Ultimate Frisbee skills to their students. This allows schools to introduce Ultimate Frisbee to their own schools at their time and schedule. SFS will still be involved providing technical support and as consultants.
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SFS Head Coach Uncle Ra giving East Zone Teachers Ultimate
Instructor Course participants the course session plan | East Zone Teachers going through SFS Ultimate
Instructor Course training |
2009 has also seen an increase in the number of corporate clients. SFS offers corporate clients a fun way to promote team-building and leadership development skills within their organizations. By the end of a session, participants have learnt basic throws and are able to take part in a simple game of Frisbee. Regardless of age or physical fitness, Frisbee presents an excellent exercise in working together as a team. It encourages teamwork as it is impossible for any individual player to carry a team through to victory. Corporate organizations see the game as a way to break the ice between traditional hierarchies and to promote unity and team work within their organization. On top of that, it also encourages employees to lead an active and healthy lifestyle. In November 2009, SFS took part in the NUS Healthy Lifestyle event aimed at its staff. More than 100 staff attended this event and had a whimsical time learning how to throw a disc around!
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| SFS Youth all ears listening to SFS Coach Cliff Tham Ultimate tips | SFS Youth and Coaches at Muhamadiyah Welfare Home
playing Ultimate with the residence |
The highlight for 2009 was the SFS organised Youth Ultimate Challenge held in May at the Jurong. Co-organised with Jurong Green C.C., the event saw 28 teams take part with a total of 300 youth players from all over Singapore. With the overwhelming number of participants, the tournament had be held at two venues: Jurong West Stadium and Jurong Junior College, with the finals held at the Jurong West Stadium. There were two divisions at this year’s YUC: the school division with 20 teams and the open division with 8 teams. Four years ago, there were only 4 schools participating in our first tournament. This shows dramatic growth of Ultimate among youth! The increased awareness among youth can be seen compared to last years Street Ultimate Challenge which saw a total of 160 participants in 160 teams. This years YUC saw nearly twice the number of participants!
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| SFS Youth going through individual skills training over the school holiday | SFS Youth perfecting the forehand throws |
SFS is looking towards greater things for 2010! Many schools have already engaged SFS to conduct FIP during the coming school term. Furthermore, SFS has confirmed a Beginners Coaching Course for the 140 teachers in the East Zone! As the teachers take Ultimate Frisbee back to their schools, this is bound to have compound the awareness of Ultimate within schools in Singapore. SFS also commits to organizing more tournaments, including the annual Juniors and Youth Ultimate Challenge. As with any other sport, passion needs to be met with achievement. These tournaments aim to give the juniors and youth goals to work towards and also to increase the awareness and recognition of Ultimate Frisbee as a sport.
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| SFS Youth working on their defense and throwing skills | SFS Youth |
Contributed by,
Wayne Thong
Sydney, Australia
