Coaches are the ones constantly providing advice, life lessons and imparting priceless experience acquired through their own journey. They shy away from the limelight, allowing their athletes to bask in the glory and achievements and truly are the unsung heroes.

In the spirit of Coach Appreciation month, Singapore Gymnastics (SG) would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to all the coaches who have worked tirelessly with their athletes in their pursuit of sporting excellence. In particular, we wish to feature and honour four coaches who not only do their best working with athletes, they have also stepped up to take lead in the development of coaching excellence in their own sporting disciplines. We reached out to these coach developers to share a couple words which would hopefully inspire more coaches to becoming community leaders.

Let us join in the effort to salute these amazing people for their tireless contribution, passion and commitment in shaping our athletes as well as coaches for the future, and ultimately, shaping a sporting Singapore! #cheer4coaches 

Jeanette Tan

Jeanette is a FIG Level 2 Trampoline Coach as well as a FIG Brevet 4 Judge. Her love for trampolining started when she was in Secondary school. Initially she was assisting her school coach after graduation. Now she is a full-time coach with Singapore Trampoline Academy, managing Team X, which focuses on building local talents in the sport to bring them to the international stages.

In addition to coaching full-time, she is member of Singapore Gymnastics Trampoline Technical Advisory Council as the Coaching Co-ordinator and was instrumental in putting together the curriculum for the Intermediate Coaching Course for the Trampoline. In her role as a coach developer, Jeanette assumes the role of a Learning Facilitator where she conducts the Intermediate Coaching Course as well as a Coach Mentor, working with upcoming young coaches to nurture the next generation of athletes.

Besides Trampoline, Jeanette has great interest in human anatomy having worked as a chiropractor’s assistant, and was previously into springboard diving and dragonboating as hobby sports.

Q: From when you first started coaching till now, how do you think your coaching has evolved? 
JT: In my younger days, my coaching style used to be quite results-oriented and that did not really work as I ended up losing athletes more often that I thought. When I  stepped back and reflected on my coaching practices, I shifted from results-oriented to process-oriented and became much more athlete-centered, and focused on life skills. Trampoline training can impact one socially and emotionally, as well as physically. What we teach in class goes beyond technical skills, as coaches we can teach the athletes many valuable life skills to prepare them not just for competitions but for society. 

Q: As a coach developer, what is one thing you wish more coaches would know about?
JT: The fact that if we can enable and empower more coaches to realise how much of an impact we have on young lives, more coaches can then guide more athletes to make better choices in life, which can enable them to live a fulfilling life the rest of their lives!

Q: In the spirit of coach appreciation and to all fellow coaches out there, what would you like to say to them?
JT: Coaches are not just teachers who impart technical skills and knowledge, coaches can help change lives for the better through sports. Just as coach-to-athlete support is important, coaches can help support one another by coming together more often to share experiences as a community. I would love to meet new people, maybe grab a bubble tea sometime and just get to know one another better. So let's get connecting!
 

Everyone is welcomed to join us in expressing appreciation to your coaches with the #SGThankYouCoach and #cheer4Coaches campaign, by nominating an inspiring coach for us to feature them, with a 100-word write-up and a picture of the coach in action. Email it to sgoffice@singaporegymnastics.org.sg. The deadline for submission is on 10 September 2021.