STAR BLOGGERS

As the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG) draw ever closer, and preparations around the country reach fever pitch, I recently began to wonder just what the enduring legacy of the event will be.

While I am a former national athlete, with the emphasis on former, and most certainly do not qualify for youth competitions of any kind, I am still closely involved with sports through my work as the head of two national sports associations (NSAs).

My team of volunteer officials and coaches in the respective NSAs and I have spent much of the past few months preparing our fencers and pentathletes to take on the best young athletes from around the world.

This has involved planning training schedules that enable studies to be balanced with sporting dreams, as well as travelling for competitions and training camps as chaperones for our young charges, all for little or no pay.
But the work has been rewarding as we see young aspiring Olympians prepare themselves to do Singapore proud on home soil.

And with about a week to go till the first ever YOG, all the hard work will hopefully be transformed into inspiring performances and feats of excellence that will enthrall the nation and the world.

At the same time, it’s hoped that the event will celebrate the spirit of Olympism and try to inculcate sporting principles among young athletes who would otherwise think that sport is only about sponsorship dollars and semi-celebrity.

We’ve been told that sporting performances will not take centrestage; rather it will be bonds of friendship, sharing of culture and education in issues like the environment and sustainability, which will be the lasting memories of the YOG.

In credit to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which set forth the mandate for the Youth Olympics, there is something to be said for not exposing our young athletes to the cutthroat world that top-level international sporting competition can sometimes be.

Already, my athletes have had to learn early on one of the harsh truths of sport: competition can be cruel.

Before even stepping on to the field of play, some have had to face the reality that, despite having committed themselves for more than a year to training and competing in the hopes of doing Singapore proud, they will not be selected due to the limited number of slots allocated to each country, including us as hosts.

In a bid to keep costs from escalating out of hand, the IOC has limited each country to around 70 slots for all 26 sports.

In an ironic twist of fate, Singapore is not able to take advantage of the host-nation slots granted to each individual sport due to this limit on our total participation numbers. So despite being the best in their class or category in Singapore, not all young athletes will be able to compete.

In spite of this, I hope that the Olympic journey has imparted some enduring lessons among the squads of athletes who have chosen to pursue their dreams, regardless of whether they realize those dreams or not.
The beauty of sports is that every participant can learn something that will help them in life, be it the value of sportsmanship, grace under pressure or just sheer dedication to a specified goal.

I hope all of us can remember this, even as we gnash our teeth over the inconveniences inherent in organizing a major event, such as increased traffic congestion and being tail-gated by YOG-branded vehicles with giant signs screaming “GIVE WAY” on them. I know I will be.

Nicholas was on the national fencing team from 1997-2009. During that period, he held the title of #1 fencer for 4 years. Since he currently heads two NSAs, he’s living proof that the saying ”those who can’t, teach” isn’t true.