By Donovan Lim (19S03Q), Captain
Few CCAs in JC provide play, laughter and joy. Fewer CCAs in JC allow you to develop your own skills at your own leisurely pace, while providing you with the resources and the opportunity to do so without any pressure to win any trophies or meet any targets except the ones you set for yourself (other than 70% attendance of course). Even fewer CCAs have a rather large member base, allowing you to get to know many different individuals of various backgrounds. But only one such CCAs is a sports CCA.
Hint: Recreational Badminton.
Every Wednesday from 1.30pm to 3.30pm, members meet up to get in a good workout with their friends. The nature of the CCA means that you decide what your training that day is going to look like. If you are having a great week and feel adrenaline coursing through your veins that day, you can choose to single-handedly face a doubles pair, pushing yourself to your bodily limits while working on your skills at the same time. Some might even foolishly decide to face the immortals in the PE department, although they rarely return with their ego or self-worth intact. On the other hand, if you are having a terrible week because you have a term paper due that week or a lecture test the next day, you can always choose to take it easy and give yourself frequent breaks in-between for a more leisurely paced game, while working on your lifts or smashes with a friend of yours.
And that’s the best part. This self-directed learning means that you will be able to create a programme and set targets for yourself without the fear of not making the team for the A divisions or disappointing your coach. You set your own priorities. You have the autonomy to decide what you want to do and how you want to do it within the protected time and space that the CCA provides, free of judgement or pressure.
While every individual has their own targets and own goals to accomplish at the end of the journey, there will be wonderful teammates with you every step of the way. Be it giving you feedback on your strokes, playing a friendly match with or against you, or even going out for a quick snack after training – you will bond with your batchmates over sweat, not so much tears and blood (hopefully). In JC where subject combinations determine your classmates, it is an unfortunate fact that certain personalities, genders and ethnicities are under-represented in some classes and over-represented in others. Hence, our CCA is an avenue to truly get to meet people of various interests, personalities and backgrounds. With our large membership base, you are sure to find someone here you’ll click with!
Wednesday trainings aside, we have things like VIA activities and friendly matches with other schools, as well as exciting events like batch camps being planned. These activities will allow you to form enduring bonds with your seniors and your batchmates, while hopefully accomplishing something meaningful. The bottom-up approach that the CCA takes towards leadership means that the Exco is more than willing to listen to your ideas and implement any new ones that you might have in mind, if you are able to convince them.
If what you read interests you, grab a racquet and sign up!