NTU IHCC 2018/2019

Long overdue Inter-Hall Cheerleading Competition (IHCC) 2018/19!

Aaah... the annual hall cheerleading competition where all halls compete annually and takes place around early Jan or late Feb (And also, yes, that is how long I owe this post.. >.<).

Royals 2018/ 19.

This season was very different because I wasn't the head coach for Hall 8 Royals. I had too many things on my plate - what with my Masters and my work obligations that never seem to end. However, I was the co-coach and came for perhaps 1 out of the 3 training days that we have. I helped out in whatever way that I possibly can, particularly with correcting flyers' positioning on stunts and to help them have breakthroughs in their stunt progression. One thing's for sure though, I wasn't as attached to this season's team as the previous years. Nevertheless, it was the last season for many of the seniors and I intend to keep my promise of ensuring that I was there for the seniors who were with me since the start of my coaching journey with Royals (P.S. Royals was not the first team I coached but the team was the longest one that I have been with). Glad that we pulled through in the end! :DDD

With some of the seniors that I started my Royals coaching journey with.

This year's theme for Royals was Ben 10.

We didn't manage to win anything because our team was small and bigger teams often have a higher chance of winning. In addition, many of our team members were new to cheer. The coaching team this year was also new to coaching, in particular the head coach. As such, the team dynamics was not strong. We still pulled through in the end, thankfully.

Royals flyers from Season 2018/ 19.

This would probably be my last season that I am so actively involved with Royals as a new head coach comes in for the upcoming 2019/ 20 season. I would probably come back to help out once in a while but I do believe that once it is time to let go, it IS time to let go, with the caveat that it is handed over to someone else in good hands. I do have high hopes for the new head coach and co-coach next season (I play more of an advisor role now hahaa...) and I will assist them in anyway that I can but of course, many of the decisions and training matters will be down to them to make the final call. 

Thankful for the coaching team this season. And a HUGE thank you for the Hubs, Ian who helped out with crafting the dance routine even though he was highly reluctant at the start. <3

Guojun (bottom middle) will be the head coach in charge for next season 2019/ 20. Shangyang (bottom left) was the head coach in charge for this season 2018/ 19.

Jupeng (bottom right) was the music guy that helped out with our routine :DDD

Many people often ask me these questions: "Am I quitting cheer?" "You still coaching cheer?" and my answer to them is that I am in 'semi-retirement' mode and laugh it off casually. I believe it is difficult to let go of something that you are truly passionate about and after spending many years honing the craft, it seems as if our efforts will go waste if we just simply let go. I likened it to a relationship. We spend so much time and effort to cultivate a good relationship and when it reaches a stalemate, we find ourselves in a similar position of 'not wanting to let go' because - same reasons - we have spent too much time for it to 'go to waste' and then we just keep holding on... 

I believe the answer to finding the right time to 'let go' varies for each individual. It could be when one enters the next phase of life and realised their goals have changed and they divert more of their attention and time to these new goals and their previous passion, in this scenario - cheer, takes a backseat. But 'letting go' could also be about a reset of expectations in terms of our passion, where instead of being a competitive player, we change it to being a coach to train competitive players and guide the future generations. 'Letting go' could also be seen as a personal mission, to which I fall into this bracket, where I believe that before I can officially 'let go', it is my mission to ensure that the hand-over/ transition process is smooth and that the team I guided is in good hands before I leave. 

Having lots of fun post-IHCC! :DDD

The hubs (then boyfiee) looking very comfortable on top while Cindy and I at the bottom practically dying. Thank God for Guojun hahaha :DDD

Post-IHCC pictures with some of Royals bases: With Zhihao who trained with me and Royals for 2 seasons (practically his entire cheer journey). 

Post-IHCC pictures with some of Royals bases: With Hanzu who trained with me and Royals for 2 seasons but quit in between as he trained with Aces and was on exchange. He was also an ex-captain and we had a lot of chit-chat about mindset shift when it comes to cheer training and hall cheer. 

 Post-IHCC pictures with some of Royals bases: With Bryan who trained with Royals for 2 seasons. Very talented but super inconsistent. Still a very good team player. Previously trained with SP Gusto in SP for a while before taking a break due to injury. 

 

 Post-IHCC pictures with some of Royals bases: With Guojun. Trained with Royals and our incoming new coach! 

Post-IHCC pictures: With Chinxian. Trained with me for a short while during a combined showcase performance with Hall 1 and we stunted together on-off ever since. Still close even up to this date. He is also my Psychology junior! :DDD

With Isaac again! Qupie heel stretch! Still got it! :DDD

Some say it's better to do it 'cold turkey' and just totally avoid cheer in order to successfully 'let go'. That is because they see it as a form of addiction, like a drug that is highly addictive. Indeed, on an individual level, cheer can be addictive because you are riding on the 'highs' of personal achievement. However, on a macro level, cheer is ultimately a social sport where it involves people and teams and as such, having a thriving team dynamics is ever so important and this boils down to the coach and captain i.e., effective leadership and team management. And so, I see it as more of  'letting go' in stages. Finding people to take over, ensuring they are right for the job, guiding them where necessary and slowly give them the independence and autonomy to make decisions and grow the team that they are leading. Now that to me entails 'letting go' - with a peace of mind. 

This is still an ongoing process. And so to answer the question of whether I am 'quitting' cheer. No, I am not. But slowly and surely, I am learning to let go and eventually move on to something else in my life. 

Just food for thought.

With the hubs, Ian <3

Lastly, wishing everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR!! May 2020 be a fruitful and blessed one! :)

xx
Loves,
Nices