This is the third of a series of posts where we will catch up with our ex-ballers who have graduated and gone onto further studies or have started work. We will hear snippets about their life in Raffles back then and how they are currently faring as well.
Hope these posts will continue to inspire our young Raffles Ballers as they seek to bring glory to the school and look forward to a bright future ahead!
For today, we will be catching up with Chean Shaojie (Batch of 2016) who has finished his service to the nation and is awaiting to start his next phase of life in university.
Griffles: Hi Shaojie, thanks for taking time out of your busy study schedule to share with us how your time at Raffles and Raffles Basketball was like.
How was Basketball training like for you and your teammates?
Shao: Training during my times in RJ Basketball was not the most technical nor intensive training in my long career as a basketballer. However, training in RJ was the most exciting and fun training I've experienced. As JC life is very stressful, basketball training at the end of a school day was sort of an escape from my academic responsibilities. I get to play and have fun with not only my seniors but also my batch mates as well. It's very fortunate that my batch mates all decided to continue pursuing basketball as their CCA in JC. That really kept us together and made training so much more enjoyable. The technical part of training included normal basketball drills as well as conditioning training. There was always something different to do in each conditioning training and it's just fun to try different things when given the opportunity to.
Griffles: It is true that having your batchmates whom you have trained with for many years is a great big plus in JC.
What do you treasure most of your basketball days in Raffles?
Shao: Definitely the overseas training trip!! I don't know much about Hong Kong but i was lucky enough to go to Taiwan 2 years in a row with the team. In Taiwan, we ate, shopped, chilled and did everything together as though it was an ordinary trip with friends. The basketball matches and training with the Taiwan teams on the other hand was so enriching and eye opening as well. The trip just bonded us more together as a team, no doubt about that. To me, it was just a very special feeling that makes me want to go back to JC days again.
Griffles: That is great to hear. Yes, the overseas training trip is often the highlight of our basketball player's experience in JC.
What life lessons did you learn through playing Basketball such that it made a difference in your life later on?
Shao: I learnt to work hard for things that i want, to have a strong, positive mindset, to always treat others with care and respect and most importantly to keep my cool at all times. These are the things that basketball really taught me and i treasure these values/lessons up till today.
Any significant basketball game that you recall best?
Shao: My most memorable game would be back in sec 4 when we won the South Zone Championship against ACS Barker. It was the First Title i won with my team and also the title where i lost the title of MVP by a hairline to Justin. It was so memorable because we actually lost to Barker in the group stages and when we matched up against them in the finals, it felt like an underdog situation for us. However we pulled through and I'm really so grateful to be able to win that title with my batch. It means so much.
What are you doing now after graduating from Raffles?
Shao: I have ORDed!!!!! (which means finished his 2 years service to our nation)
Griffles: Pink IC!!
How was life in the army?
Shao: Army gave me a bit of the camaraderie feels i felt during school days when playing basketball, but the feeling is different of course.
Finally, what advice or words of encouragement would you like to provide to the current Raffles Basketballers?
Shao: To always improve and advance together as a team, never leave anyone behind nor exclude anyone and most importantly, have fun and respect the game.
Griffles: Thank you so much Shao jie for taking time out to answer our questions and to update us on how you are doing post army. It's great to see our ballers graduate and continue to do well in whichever areas they have entered into. All the best for your studies in University and hope to see you further your basketball journey in university. See you back on our Homecourt during Gryphon's Cup 2019 which your batch will be organising!!
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