For Primary 6 students Mandy Ng, Ashrielle Chan, Brayden Tan and Isaac Ang, rope skipping can be summed up in one word: fun.
It is why these students from Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Primary School look forward to their CCA sessions every week – despite rope skipping not being a CCA that they knew much about back then. Mandy shares, “Every week I look forward to CCA time the most. I have a lot of fun trying out new tricks that our coach has in store for us.”
Hopping to make friends
In a sport with team events like the Double Dutch, friendships play an important role to these students’ rope skipping experience. Brayden shares, “My favourite part about rope skipping is that I can meet my friends and we can Double Dutch together.”
He and Mandy share that they had been good friends since Primary 1 and were happy when they both found out that they had gotten into the same CCA. “It made me feel less alone,” says Mandy.
Although Ashrielle had joined the CCA on her own, she quickly made friends in the CCA and became good friends with Mandy as well. They comforted one another through the challenges they faced at this year’s National School Games (NSG) competition: Ashrielle had dropped her rope during her Double Dutch event and was disappointed in herself, while Mandy was crying from the stress of the competition.
The bonds are so strong within the CCA that Mandy shares, “It feels like we’re more a family than a CCA group because everyone is so comfortable with each other.”
These bonds stretch beyond levels for these Primary 6 students too. Two of Isaac’s close friends from the CCA are in Primary 5, so he looks forward to interacting with them at training as he rarely gets to see them during class or recess time.
Jumping together builds teamwork and leadership
For Brayden, Mandy and Ashrielle, holding leadership positions in the CCA has helped them grow in their teamwork and leadership skills.
As Primary 6 students, they also train the Primary 3s who have just joined the CCA. Ashrielle, who is Vice-Captain of the CCA, shares that this has taught her to be patient with her younger teammates. “Sometimes I get annoyed when I’m training the Primary 3s, but then I remind myself that nobody can get it right straightaway. I think about my own difficulty mastering the Double Under when I was younger, and that helps to train my patience.”
For Mandy, who is Captain of the CCA, she has learnt how to “get everybody to work together as one, and make sure to never leave anyone behind especially if her teammates are facing any challenges”.
Leapin’ lizards, that wasn’t easy!
The students all share the view that mastering their skills took lots of time and practice.
“I must admit it was hard when I first joined rope skipping,” says Mandy. “I had trouble keeping up. But I had really patient seniors who continued to teach and encourage me. That made me persevere and continue trying.”
Brayden came close to quitting when he was in Primary 4. “I felt like I couldn’t do much because of my size so I wanted to quit. But my teachers and coaches encouraged me to stay since I had already gotten so far.” He decided to stay on, practise harder, and eventually, he came in first that year at the NSG Double Dutch event.
The students all attest that they would not have gotten this far without the support and encouragement of their CCA teachers and coaches.
“I was feeling stressed at the NSG competition this year, and was worried that I wouldn’t be able to live up to my own expectations,” says Mandy. “But my teachers and coaches told me to just enjoy the experience and not focus on the results. As long as I work hard and do my best, it doesn’t matter whether I win or lose.”
