Reflections 3: Event 1

A decision I made 10 years ago. I have plans to undo it now. I quit NPCC to join volleyball. It was a great decision. Now I'm deciding my retirement. I'm over my prime, my drive is gone, my purpose of playing competitive volleyball is mostly lost.

Mr. Xu Wen Xing. I doubt he will ever see or understand this, because he is from Mainland China. We were too lousy for him to do much. Thats not the topic of this entry, but this is. I will never challenge his volleyball competence, but that only makes me wonder why and what did he see in me to bestow such an important role on me - setter.

Your decisions affect other people. Mr. Xu did. He affected mine, a lot. Given the sacred role on the court, I spent my days on the court sweating and training, through school days and holidays. Because my position is much sorted after, even though I am not that great, I get to play. Honestly, its a very pressuring position. Its not that I really love to spike, but its because I really hate to be in the pressure zone. A setter has no room for error. Whether the spiker can spike a good ball depends quite a lot on the setter, though its not the only element. A bad setter can bring down any good spiker. I have proven this many a times...

Tired from all the pressure and expectations. I cannot keep up. I have not trained plays for more than 6 months, the 1st time being in NUS-IVP, under Micheal Ong. I have tried, and I'm sorry for not living up to the standards. I do not feel fit to be called a setter of my age group. Fatigue, physically, mentally...

Jeffery, next time then I will describe how you 'conned' me into the volleyball team, hahaha...

For non-volleyballers, setter is the player that sets the ball to the spiker after it is being received by another player for the spike. If you still do not know, but is interested, find me in person then, hehe...