He was quite nervous. He had all of one shot put training session on Monday, with zero prior experience, so he likened it to going for prelims without doing papers, hahahaha! Ah well, he seemed to have thrown decently well based on the video the coach sent Sito.
Sito has been in contact with the coach but he hurt his foot during a jog on Tuesday. So I brought Yang to the meet. It was at Home of Athletics. Due to Circle Line works, we took three trains via Botanic Gardens and Promenade to get to Stadium station. Yang did his maths - time spent on trains was shorter than if we had taken the Circle Line all the way to Stadium. Even after factoring in transfers and waiting time, it was still a shorter commute.
Anyway, our first time there. Took me a while to find the place. We were early. Stood in the shade outside the changing room while waiting for instructions via WhatsApp. The place was nice and clean, a far cry from the grimy sports days I remember from my school days.
Eventually we found Yang's trainer, a Sec 4 boy wearing an Oldham Athletics tee, who took him for warm-up at the sheltered bus stop. A coach - not his shot put coach - came by later and gave him his bib.
It was very hot!
He reported to the call room - a tent, really - while I waited at the spectator area nearest the tent since it was out of bounds to non-athletes. Then the group was led to the shot put area, rather far from me. I saw three or four parents going in but I refused to show my kid such 臭款 behaviour!
I didn't have time to take a photo of Yang before he had to report for his event. So when he came out for a pee break, I tried to get him but he said he gotta go.
So I got this sweet 回眸一笑
The shot put area is on the right edge of the photo. Really far. There were two other boys in yellow tee but they were smaller in built :p Yang was one of the largest boys there.
They had a few practice throws before the actual throws. I sat near the call room until it was time for shot put and went to the front just behind the barrier. It was quite crowded by then as heats for 80m dash were ongoing but those were very quick so parents kept moving.
I totally missed his first throw as I was fumbling with the video zoom while managing my umbrella! So pissed at myself that I closed the brolly totally and waited under the blazing sun for his next two throws! Yes, kena minor sunburn on my neck but thankfully only there as the sun was behind me.
I managed to take videos of his next two shots! But his second throw was a foul as he stepped over the line. So he was cautious in his third throw and did an anyhow throw instead of his usual stance.
And he throws!
At first, Yang thought he came in last. But turned out that he heard his distance wrongly! His first throw was the best at 5.04m vs. third at 4.10m. He came in 18 of of 21. Not last, woohoo!
Sito said his throw was at about the 60th percentile of 2025 NSG. And he did this with one training session and his natural advantage in built. So with some training, he can surely improve! We bought a 3kg shot put ball which arrived last night. It is small but feels really heavy. My baby is very strong!
Finally a shot before he changed!
We left after he changed his pants - he feels like he's not wearing anything in his PE pants, haha! - and bade goodbye to his trainer. I gave him a sausage bun on our way back to the train station. It was already four hours since lunch!
We chatted while walking. Earlier, when I told him that many kids would be competing for the first time, I meant it in general. Now he told me many of the shot put boys had practised for months on end. Big oops...
Anyway, we took the train to Clementi via Promenade and Bugis to meet the rest of the family. He got very tired and leaned on me for much of the way... But he was alert again at the library! Even told us about the story of Eighteen Chefs and we eventually went there for dinner.
After the meet, he still thought it was stressful to compete, with so many people looking at him. But I think after this first experience, he realised only his fellow competitors would see him up close. Spectators were far away and parents all looked at their own child. In fact, I wanted to cheer for him (but he told me not to) but couldn't as he was so far away...
Finally, last night before he went to bed, he told me that now that he thought about it, he felt quite good about the competition. So happy to hear him say that! :)
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