August's Featured Player: Seth Lee

Article by SG Basketball Coach PK Ong

Seth’s first contact with the game of basketball took place when he tried out at SG Basketball Academy in September 2015. At 8 years old then, Seth was one of the younger trainees who started off in the academy as a fresh beginner to the game.

A memorable moment for Seth at his first training was when he played a game of Dribble Knockout during training. He was scared initially as many people were all over trying to knock his basketball out and it was tough controlling the ball and moving around with it at first. However, Seth soon got the hang of it and came close to first place in the game, and he was exhilarated about the result. He fell in love with the game ever since.

Seth’s first basketball match saw him representing SG Basketball in a game with Nanyang Primary School in March 2016, which his team won by a wide margin. Since then, Seth has always been diligently attending training and finding ways to improve his game at the academy. Seth shared that he felt that training with different people during SG Basketball training allowed him to have much fun and make new friends, and he learnt the value of resilience from our coaches.

Seth attends both Skills and Team Training sessions at SG Basketball Academy where he learns different skill sets for his overall game. He may not be the biggest or strongest player out there, but Seth holds his own over other players with sound ball-handling skills, hustle play and relentless defence.

Seth is a steady contributor on his team of U11 boys where he is one of the team’s scorers and defender. His unselfish style of play has helped his team in getting easy points through the season. He has already played 2 seasons with his current U11 team in a local youth league and continues to grow his game with each passing day. To date, Seth’s team finished second in the previous season of the league and is hunting for a championship next season.

Coach Ow Yu Jie who has been coaching Seth and his team, quips, “Seth is a reliable player who never fails to give 100 percent on the court. But what impressed me the most about Seth is his leadership ability and responsibility off the court.”

We had a conversation with Seth and found out more about his goals and what he hopes to achieve in basketball in time to come.

Editor: What’s the most memorable moment for you in basketball so far?
Seth: Actually I have two, the first is beating Coach D in Dribble Knockout and the second is beating Coach Shengyu in Shooting Knockout.
E: LOL

E: What’s your biggest accomplishment in basketball to date?

S: Getting second place in the youth league. I felt happy that we accomplished this and hope to do better next season.

E: What do you think is your role on the silver medal team you played for?

S: Playing the point and distributing the ball for my teammates to score. I hope to contribute more in terms of scoring next season. I am working hard on my shots and layups.

E: What do you feel are your biggest strengths and weaknesses as a player?

S: My strength is dribbling and my weakness is shooting.

E: How do you think you can overcome your weakness?

S: Training to take shots from different spots on court.

E: What’s your personal impression of your coach’s guidance in your team?

S: I feel that he teaches well and emphasizes discipline during training. He will challenge us to do many layups. In terms of mentality, I learnt not to get angry or shout.

E: It is important to keep a cool head and focus on the game.

S: Yes.

E: I understand that your parents are very supportive of you in basketball and your mum was the one who encouraged you to pick up the sport. Here’s your chance to say some words of appreciation to them, so go on!

S: I want to thank them for their support and letting me join SG Basketball/ Mum and dad are both my biggest fans!

E: So, what is your biggest dream in basketball?

S: To become a basketball coach.

E:  Wow, that is really cool. We look forward to welcoming you into our coaching ranks in future.

E:  Why do you want to become a basketball coach?

S: So I can teach others what my coaches here have taught me through the years.

E:  Finally, what’s the first thing you would teach your trainees when you become a basketball coach?

S: I would teach them how to dribble the ball.

E:  Nice!