Sports Minutes: From Asia to the World, Singapore Netball is on the rise...but are we meeting them halfway?

SPEAKER_1 (0:01)

Sports Minutes with Zia-ul Raushan on MoneyFM 89.3.

Zia-ul Raushan (0:06)

MoneyFM 89.3, it's time for Sports Minutes with me, Zia-ul Raushan. Back-to-back Asian Championship crowns, check. Ticket to the World Cup, check. Flying our flag, loud and proud, check. But enough Singaporeans paying attention to the Vandas. This team has delivered time and again on court, but are we delivering as fans?

Well, to answer that and also talk about the team's successes, the challenges ahead and why we should all be paying more attention to the sport of netball in Singapore, I'm joined by head coach Tara Steel and a Vanda herself, Angelina Lim. Ladies, welcome to the show. Thank you for joining me. How are you doing?

Tara Steel (0:44)

Thank you for having us. Yeah, we're great.

Zia-ul Raushan (0:46)

Good to have the both of you. Only fair I start with the head coach. Firstly, congratulations about a month or so since the Vandas retained their Asian crown. A hero's welcome at Changi Airport must have been quite special.

Tara Steel (0:58)

Yeah, it was very special. And I think for us to retain the crown, extremely special for our group. We did have a lot of changes to our team, some retirements from last year and some injuries as well. So a new group after our SEA Games defeat.

But everyone going to the Asian Champs knew that we were there to try and defend the title that was won two years ago. And World Cup qualification happens every four years. So it's not every Asian Championships that's a qualifying event. So super happy that we were able to not only achieve that, but perform particularly in the final games when it counted.

Zia-ul Raushan (1:33)

Tara, when you set the scene like that in terms of player retirements, having to bring in new players, World Cup qualification at stake, that's a lot of pressure. How do you deal with such a pressure cooker of an environment?

Tara Steel (1:46)

Yeah, it is a lot of pressure. And that's something we didn't shy away from for this preparation. And for me as a coach, the message to our group is we need to learn how to play under pressure and to embrace the pressure. And going into next year, what is now a World Cup year, a SEA Games year where we get to face our rivals Malaysia on Malaysian home soil, the pressure still will remain. So I think the greatest pressure for us though is performing to our own expectations and the things that we're trying to achieve. So that's the fun of coaching.

We had moments throughout the week where we were tested and failed at times, but the most important thing was that we learned from that really quickly and were able to adapt and cope with that pressure and create the atmosphere that we needed as a team to get the best out of ourselves and deliver in the finals.

Zia-ul Raushan (2:37)

Thanks for bringing up the failures. We're talking about the successes, but the failures will come up later in this conversation. I'm just glad you didn't say pressure is a privilege. The football fans will realize exactly what I'm talking about. Angelina, to bring you into this conversation, you can see Coach Tara beaming with pride, looking back on that experience, right? For you, it's a bit of a, I don't know how to put it, painful yet pride, right? Tell me in your own words, that journey that you had to go through in the lead up to the tournament.

Angelina Lim (3:07)

I think it was really bittersweet.

Zia-ul Raushan (3:09)

I think that's the word bittersweet.

Angelina Lim (3:11)

I mean, it was challenging to be able to, I guess, accept the loss of even grief in the process. But I think just really pride, I mean, a lot of pride and very proud of the girls for really just putting their best out there and really seeing how the years work that we all put together really came to fruition. And I think, yeah, that's why it was bittersweet because to be able to witness that, but also feel like not there, yeah. But just proud to be able to be present with them.

Zia-ul Raushan (3:40)

We'll talk about the sweet, I promise, but I have to talk about the bitter first, right? I know any athlete's worst nightmare is injury, and then you throw in the timing of the injury. Do you remember when the diagnosis was told to you and you realized, ah, I'm not going to make this tournament that I really want to be a part of?

Angelina Lim (3:57)

Yeah, so we were at the Spirit Series one month before this ANC, right? And during the first game, that's where I had the injury. So I kind of knew the diagnosis one month prior, but I think for us, we were trying to get back as fast as we could. It needed, I think, at least six weeks to heal properly, but we had four weeks, so it was a race against time. Yeah, but I think with Tara's support, she really opened the door to say like, we will make everything possible until the last minute, then we will make that cut. So I think we were all really hoping and doing our best. And just with the support of the doctor, the physios and everything, really everyone did their best and like no regrets.