Sports & Studies - Finding the perfect balance: The story of Yiwen

Article by SG Basketball Coach PK Ong

Zhang Yiwen, 10 Years Old, Tier 3 Champion

Yiwen started playing basketball in late 2017, when she was only 8 years old then. We remember that she was shy and soft spoken, and did not seem like your typical "sporty girl". After a year as an SG Basketball trainee on our Unlimited Package, Yiwen is not only representing her school for the Junior Girls competition, she is also more confident and outspoken. In fact, she is the only girl who is representing our SGBasketball U10 team. In a recent game, she scored a buzzer beater to help the U10 team win by 1!

In her daily life, Yiwen is a model student who has won numerous academic and sports awards in school. She is consistently a Top 3 student in class and has won the Model Pupil award on more than one occasion. Her hard work and effort in school and on court are paying off as she continues to grow and excel in these areas, defying old school thinking that you can’t excel in both sports and school at the same time.

Incidentally, Yiwen‘s younger brother Xurui, also trains with SG Basketball Academy and is a valued member of our U9 team.

Yiwen’s mum, Kate fondly recalls a story about her children, “On the Sunday before their exams, I told the kids that they should stay home to revise. Yiwen replied saying that she should go to SG Basketball for training, as basketball helped her release tension and be in a relaxed mood to face the exams.

Xurui enthusiastically chipped in and said he wanted to go as well. I teased that he could stay home and play with the iPad instead. He surprised me by replying that he wants to go for basketball as he loves the game, the coaches, and playing with friends is far more interesting than playing with the iPad.

That was our conversation that evening. When we first sent them for training, all we wanted is for them to become more physically fit but in the year here, both sister and brother have found deeper meaning in basketball and we think it’s really great!”

Keep up the excellent work and we will see you at the top, Yiwen!

Heartfelt words from Yiwen’s mum:

“ Yiwen, 明天考试了， 我们今天哪也不去， 就在家好好复习。”
“ 妈妈， 那我今天去SG Basketball 训练一下吧！ 明天考试了， 我必须要去训练下， 打打篮球可以让我缓解压力， 放松心情迎接明天考试！ ”
“ 妈妈！ 我今天也要跟姐姐去训练！”一旁的弟弟也跟着要求到。 
“ 今天拜天你可以玩iPad 哦， 你还要去训练吗？ ”
“ 要去！ 我喜欢打篮球，跟教练还有朋友玩篮球比玩iPad 更有趣！”
这是周末那天我们的对话， 最初送他们去打篮球的初衷只是为了让他们锻炼身体， 但在 SG Basketball 的这一年里， 姐弟俩却找到了更深一层的篮球意义！