Jealousy

 

... or too old ... 

The ancient Greek dramatist Aeschylus wrote: "It is in the character of very few men to honor without envy a friend who has prospered."

Today, I experienced this first-hand and from a least-expected "friend".

Another memorable team outing

We held another team outing today and watched Dr. Seuss' The Lorax. At first I thought it was going to be another kiddy movie, but the quote at the end of the movie did prove meaningful to me:

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better.
It's not. -- Dr. Seuss”

Ironic that this quote applies to my current predicament.

Some pics:

Arielle multi-tasking: 1) trying to block my shot, 2) texting, and 3) eating.

Sean and John at Sushi King.

The rest of the group at Sushi King.

Team photo before we departed for home (Arielle had left already).

This will be our last team outing for a very, very long time. But I had an awesome time with everyone today.

Puff the Magic Dragon

When I started coaching, I never thought it would be a full-time career for me. But today it is. I initially started off as a music teacher. But circumstances forced me to abandon that field.

Two things that both my music and swimming careers share in common are teaching and children. I enjoy teaching kids, and I enjoy imparting my knowledge to children.

I have coached many swimmers in my 12+ years career in swimming. I started off with the SRK Batu Lanchang school team in year 2000 with Cikgu Lee Sim, then joined Chinese Swimming Club as an assistant coach in 2001, then coached the swimmers of Kristal Golf Resort at PISA, before forming my own swimming team at PISA in 2004.

In 2009, I was sent to Perth, Australia on a coaching attachment program with the City of Perth Swim Team. When I returned from Perth in 2010, I reached the pinnacle of my career when I was appointed National Coach and posted at Bukit Jalil. Family matters forced me to resign and today, I am the coach for Trident Swim Team based at Permata Sports Complex. Trident is a new team, but we have already made our presence felt during our recent participation in the 2012 PASA Meet.

I have been the coach of many swimmers and many teams. I've even worked with the National Squad and coached national swimmers. I have even worked with foreign coaches and international swimmers. So what have I learned? I have learned many things, amd the experiences that I've gained during these years have been invaluable.

But one thing I've seen that most coaches don't want to acknowledge is that swimmers come, and swimmers go.

Nobody will stay with your coaching program forever. Swimmers move on -- on to better programs, on to better prospects, and regretfully, on to better offers.

It's interesting to note that to date, only a handful of swimmers from my original PISA team remain. None remain from the original 2004 group. The most senior to date joined in 2006, while the others have moved on to other teams, sports, hobbies and interests.

So has it come time for me to move on?

The song's lyrics:

Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
  And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee

Little Jackie Paper loved that rascal Puff,
and brought him strings and sealing wax and other fancy stuff. Oh!

  Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
  And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee
  Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
  And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee

Together they would travel on a boat with billowed sail
Jackie kept a lookout perched on Puff's gigantic tail,
Noble kings and princes would bow whene'er they came,
Pirate ships would lower their flags when Puff roared out his name. Oh!

  Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
  And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee
  Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
  And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee

A dragon lives forever but not so little boys
Painted wings and giant rings make way for other toys.
One grey night it happened, Jackie Paper came no more
And Puff that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar.

His head was bent in sorrow, green scales fell like rain,
Puff no longer went to play along the cherry lane.
Without his life-long friend, Puff could not be brave,
So Puff that mighty dragon sadly slipped into his cave. Oh!

  Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
  And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee
  Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
  And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee

This song hauntingly reminds me that little boys and little girls eventually grow up and move on to other interests and hobbies. I feel like "Puff" in this instance, and "Jackie Paper" represents my swimmers.

When little Jackie moves on to other interests and hobbies, where will I be when that happens? It has happened before; so many of my swimmers have moved on to other interests and hobbies. Has the time come for me to move on or consider other options and its possibilities?

A busy day

Yesterday, 10th March was a busy day for some of us at Trident Swim Team.

We started the day off at Tanjung Bungah Beach Hotel to attend the PASA Annual Awards Luncheon. It was a proud moment for the team when one of our swimmers, 8-year-old Jess Lee, won the award for Best Girl in the Group 5 category.

 

Jess (front row, second from left) with her trophy.

Apparently, one of us was more interested in other things rather than the day's proceedings:

At the end of the luncheon, we took a group photo:

Then we adjourned to Gurney Plaza for a walk about and some Starbucks.

We then watched "John Carter" before having our dinner at Nando's. Of course, the day's outing couldn't end with some arcade games:

Or supper:

We set for home after 11 PM, with some of us reaching home at nearly 12 AM. I'd say the day had been seized!