Winning Formula for Bowls Mentorship 12

Arman at 9 years old with Edmund during the SportCares clinic in December 2020.

Edmund Lin of the Lawn Bowls Section introduced Arman to the game through a SportCares Program. Ever since then his interest has never wavered. He loves a challenge and is keen in developing his abilities and potential. His concentration and his understanding of the game has improved tremendously. He is persistent and hardworking. He has matured into a confident young man in the last year. He is comfortable playing in teams with older players and is always open to advice on his game. He wants to represent Singapore in future competitions and knows what he has to do to achieve his goal.

Training and mentoring young players are important for the transition of the younger players to replace the older players who eventually retire. The young are physically and mentally very alert and pick the skills of the game fast. Training them can promote personal and professional development and high performance. Mentoring can help youngsters go through challenging life transitions. It creates trusted relationships and realistic goals. They can be taught good behaviour, both social and emotional and positive attitudes. The results after the training are most encouraging and very rewarding as a coach. In addition to the playing techniques, what do you think Bowlers learn from the game?

Bowlers learn a skill, positive attitude, discipline, mental toughness, teamwork, and fitness. The enjoyment from the game is derived from social interaction and is a great way for players to bond and form many lasting friendships.

What was the training program planned for Arman? I first met Arman on 4 December 2020 when he came as part of a group from SportCares to try out Bowls at SCC. At the end of the session, he informed the person in-charge of his group that he had a good time playing Bowls, and she informed us. I was then the Convenor of the SCC Bowls Section and Edmund was the Captain. Together, we followed up to get him to sign up as a Junior Section Member (JSM) of the SCC Bowls Section. For years, the Section has been trying to get younger ones to pick up the sport of Bowls, with little success. So when Arman showed interest, we were not going to let it slip. For various reasons, it took a while, but he was eventually registered as a Bowls Section JSM on 7 June 2021. Rosemary was initially tasked to coach him, and she started with him in July 2021. Training programme: Because of his school timings, curriculum schedule and other commitments, he could only come down on Thursday afternoons. The training time was set for 5pm – 7 pm. Training for beginners in bowls basically involves getting the line and weight correct. For a 10 year old like Arman, it was important to let him enjoy playing and not get bored. As Rosemary had laid a good foundation for him, I basically continued to get him to be more consistent with his line and weight control, to see that he is not bored and has some fun while playing.

Between July to September 2021, there were more newcomers joining the SCC Bowls Section and Rosemary had more newbies under her wings to coach. I offered to help her to coach Arman. The day and time generally suited me. I started to coach Arman on 9 September 2021. We bonded quite easily as he knew me from earlier. The main reason I wanted to be involved was that he was the first youngster in many years who showed interest in Bowls. We needed younger players, at the Club and at the national level. So when he showed interest, I was happy to be involved in his training and development in the sport.

What have been the challenges and rewards for you mentoring Arman? Challenges: The attention span of children in his age group is limited. They need to take breaks, take time to understand instructions, take their time to do things, and they can get distracted etc. Arman was a typical 10 year old. Those are the challenging parts. Fortunately, Rosemary kept an eye on us and reminded me to cut him some slack while at the same time be firm with him. Given his young age and that he was coming to SCC after school, I understood the limitations, and basically just tried to get him to enjoy the sport. Over the past year, he is now more disciplined. Rewards: I could see that he was trying, and most important was that he continues to be interested in the sport. This inspired me to come down regularly to coach / play with him. And it gave me a sense of satisfaction to be playing a part in grooming one of the next generation of Bowls players. To keep him engaged in the sport, I partnered Arman in the National Pairs (Men’s) competition in April this year. We won two games, drew one game and lost 2 games and finished third out of five teams in the group. Not surprisingly, he was happy when we won and upset when we lost. But he understood that this was just a start. And now with the National Triples (Men’s) competition, Edmund together with Bryan has given Arman another experience in playing competitive bowls. It has come to a nice circle because it was Edmund who was Arman’s first coach during that day on 4 December 2020! And we hope this circle will continue and I’ll continue to be a part of his development in bowls.

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