2021 was undoubtedly the worst season of track and field I experienced during my time as a student athlete. The dire COVID-19 situation never seemed to end and NSG was once again cancelled for the second successive year. This brought my journey as a track and field athlete back to shaky grounds, one that was filled with uncertainty. Before I knew it, I started to subconsciously give up on myself as an athlete and I was only attending half the school training sessions. Demoralised by the lack of improvements over the past few years, I mentally told myself, “Maybe my time as a track and field athlete has come to an end”.

2022 rolled around. It was only in February that it hit me - NSG was going to happen this year. I started panicking, realising that I had missed a whole entire year’s worth of training sessions. I returned back to training with timings that were dismal to say the least, putting me back into that demoralised state. Except this time, there was no running away. I had a team to work with, to support one another with, to run together with. I knew I did not have much time left, and school training alone would be insufficient. And that was exactly when the first miracle happened.

I had two teammates who were a part of FWCC at that time. Seeing that I was desperate to look for external training, they introduced me to the club and Coach Fabian. I still remember the first time I did a workout from Coach Fabian - it was immediately after my school training had ended and he gave us additional endurance intervals. The runs were tiring, but it was years since I last felt this satisfied with myself in track. Before long, I was joining the club in their training sessions, making friends with every session that I went to. It was the place that I forged many memories and friendships which I hold dearly to me. And that is the story of how I entered FWCC...

Fast forward to NSG 2021, the feeling of uncertainty was back. Having been out of competitions for the past two years, I completely lost touch of the pre-competition nervousness. That was when Coach Fabian told me to just go in and do my best, regardless of outcome, all will be fine. With this added confidence boost, I went for my first race. Not saying that the pre-race jitters were completely gone, but at least I felt much better about myself. The first race exceeded expectations, by quite a big margin actually, managing to break my personal best timing by over a second after 3 years. And it proved to be no fluke as the rest of NSG went by exceeding expectations.

The main point of the story is not the fact that FWCC has made a faster person on track. While that is definitely one of the most important purposes of joining the club, I think I came to realise being a good athlete is not just about having the best timings. Instead, our mindsets and attitudes towards working hard as an athlete are superior. Going through NSG 2021 together with Coach Fabian and FWCC, it taught me to have good mental strength and give my all in the work I do.

Even after eight months, my love for this club never seems to falter. I continue training under the club about three times a week. Remember the “first miracle” I mentioned earlier about being introduced to FWCC? That was only the first of many. Whenever I started to feel tired about training or the feeling of giving up started to kick in, Coach Fabian would, almost like a miracle, give a motivational talk that encouraged me to continue working hard. And these miracles kept happening at the perfect timings. His ability to connect with us athletes and understand our needs is what kept my passion for the sport going. Not to forget the other coaches who always do their best to prioritise the athletes. Like Coach Kabi who would come by the gym everyday to train us, or Coach Dillon who would be constantly looking out for us on the track.

Through the unwavering support of these coaches, I managed to find myself embracing the sport again, together with its highs and lows. My journey in FWCC may not be the longest, but I must say it has been incredibly fulfilling.

• 400m 7TH PLACE - 2019 C Division Secondary School National School Games Track & Field Championships

• 800m 6TH PLACE - 2019 C Division Secondary School National School Games Track & Field Championships

• 400m 5TH PLACE - 2022 A Division National School Games Track & Field Championships

• 800m 7TH PLACE - 2022 A Division National School Games Track & Field Championships