Dennis Leong: From National athlete to Coach | Beyond the Dream
Dennis Leong, an ex-national fencer who represented Singapore in the SEA Games in 2003, 2005, and 2007, has since transitioned to a coaching career. In this video, he takes us through his journey from an athlete to a coach, shedding light on common misconceptions and discussing the level of support for the sporting industry on a national scale.
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00:00I tried to train with my injury, but it was too painful.
00:09And I had to make this hard decision to stop training in the national team professionally.
00:20Hi, I'm Dennis Leong. I'm a fencing coach. I was a national fencer.
00:25I started watching fencing in SEA Games in 1993 at Camden Sports Hall.
00:30I thought it was interesting and exciting, so I thought I wanted to join fencing.
00:36In the secondary school, fencing was offered as one of the CCAs.
00:40So I jumped right in and I joined the sports.
00:44And two years later in 1996, I got into the national team and it was fencing from then on.
00:50After I joined the national team, the first major games I took part in was the SEA Games in 2003 in Vietnam.
00:59Followed by 2005 SEA Games in the Philippines and 2007 SEA Games in Thailand.
01:08In the beginning of 2008, I got into an injury with my ligament on my foot.
01:13I tried to train with my injury, but it was too painful.
01:17And I had to make this hard decision to actually stop training in the national team professionally.
01:26After I stopped national training, I went to look for a job.
01:31And I managed to get a job as a sound engineer and also in sales.
01:37But I also wanted to fence as well.
01:41So I didn't really like the 8 to 5 job and I decided to look into something else.
01:50At the time, I went back to recreational fencing and then I started coaching my juniors as well.
01:56At the same time, I went to Fencing Singapore and worked as the marketing and communication officer.
02:02That is also part of getting into the sports.
02:05When I started coaching my juniors, there was no textbook to follow.
02:11It's all just based on what I've learned as a national fencer.
02:15And then in 2011, I started my club, Sporty Wild Fencing.
02:19I just realised that it's not just coaching that I have to emphasise on.
02:24I also have to think of the business part of the club, you know, so to keep it sustainable.
02:30As a coach, I believe a fencer needs to have their issues in their life resolved
02:37so they can focus on their technical aspects of fencing.
02:41That's why I'm here as their coach, a mentor, to give them the technical aspects of fencing
02:48but also to give them advice whenever they need.
02:52As a coach, during the weekdays, usually I come in the studio to make plans for the training.
03:00Usually at about the afternoon timing, I will be down at the schools for CCAs.
03:06When I come back to the studio to train the more competitive fencers for competition,
03:12usually I end about 10 o'clock in the evening.
03:17Then on the weekends, we have kids' classes, group classes for the youth.
03:23And then we start about 10 o'clock and then we end usually about 7, 8 o'clock in the evenings.
03:32The most memorable or even rewarding aspect of my coaching is that I am able to coach a student
03:41who is a beginner and then a few many years later, getting into the national team.
03:48And also coaching the CCAs in schools and getting gold in the NSG.
03:55It's proud for me, I mean, when they manage to attain what they at once thought is not possible.
04:04And this is purely because of teamwork.
04:08They work together, they don't just fence for themselves, they fence for the whole team.
04:14The team has to be united, even though fencing is an individual sport.
04:18So the teamwork starts from us being as a family.
04:23We work together very closely, we know each other very well.
04:28As a coach, I mean, seeing this team building being formed,
04:32I mean, gives me a lot of sense of achievement and satisfaction.
04:35It is quite rewarding.
04:37But setbacks bound to happen.
04:39For example, seeing athletes, I mean, going for competition and they're not doing well
04:44or even for them to reach a plateau that they're not progressing further.
04:50And then I will ask myself, is there something I've not done or something I could have done more for them.
04:57Sometimes they perform well, sometimes they don't, but it's just sports.
05:02It depends on their form, they're good or not, their state of mind when they go for the competition.
05:08At the end of the day, it's not just their results that is important,
05:13it's how they transform themselves as a fencer, as a person.
05:18And it satisfies me as a coach.
05:24In recent years, there is an increase of facilities for sports.
05:29Also, we see many major competitions coming to Singapore and also international competitions.
05:35In 2029, we have the SEA Games coming in Singapore.
05:39It does excite the local community, especially the aspiring athletes who actually attend such competitions.
05:48Just like how I get into coaching or even fencing.
05:54Nowadays, we have the scholarships from the government
05:58and also sponsorship from the corporates and other organizations.
06:03And it does allow the athletes to focus on their training.
06:09So when people think of sports, they think of the athletes.
06:13It takes more than just the athlete and the coach alone for the athlete to excel.
06:19You also have the other people such as the physiotherapists, the nutritionists and the psychologists
06:27to actually work hand-in-hand together to make this happen for the athlete.
06:35The often misconception I got is from parents who actually come to me and say that,
06:40oh, we thought being a sports coach is just a part-time kind of job.
06:45I will say this is not true. Coaches are also full-timers.
06:49In fact, being a coach is more viable now, especially now that the sports industry is booming.
06:55There are more opportunities for the coaches and more support for courses for the coaches.
07:02I believe that being a coach, you need to have the passion for coaching to teach and educate an athlete.
07:12So I have been in the industry for nearly 30 years.
07:15I won a medal in defence in an international competition locally.
07:21And me being a coach, watching them perform, that's my dream.