Teachers, Please Help SPI To Become A Sports Icon Again

Today's Star Metro carried a story titled "Bringing back glory to SPI"

Read the story by copying the link at

http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2009/10/7/central/4824202&sec=central

Being an Old Paulian myself, of course I would read this story first because when you go to a school like St Paul's Instituition (SPI), the spirit remains with you forever, even way after you leave school.

Coming back to this story, the days when SPI was famous for hockey has long gone - now it's school in Tampin and Gemencheh that hogs the limelight in Negeri Sembilan (NS). Why and whatever happened?

I think at the end of the day, its down to dedicated teachers. Yes, the late Ashvin Patel (remembered he taught me Sejarah back in the days) was the inspiration behind the glory hockey days in SPI. Well, for the life of me, I am no hockey player and I hated hockey but when I went to The Sun in the sports desk, Menon, my then Boss and Sports Editor, made hockey as one of my beat when he heard I hated hockey in my interview.

I think I started liking hockey after that - a) because easy to get stories from that beat b) easy to cover the matches even though the national junior league and even the senior league matches was a big yawn, because all the sports writers covering the match will share information on how the goal was scored even though most of us will be chit chatting about matters not related to hockey!

Ok, enough of digressing. To put the short and the long together, teachers play an important role in nurturing our future stars. Today, I think there is not enough of them out there. I don't hear SPI's name anymore excelling in sports. Is it because teachers are more interested to conduct tuition after school? Or pupils are not interested in sports?

It is like the chicken and egg conundrum - blame the teacher or the student?

I think its more the teachers than the students as they are 'supposed' to nurture and impress good values onto the students be it in studies or sports.

So teachers, you better get ya butts moving and put SPI back at where it belongs - the peak of sporting excellence. No excuses, because it is not to say that SPI is producing straight As students who appears on the front pages of the local media come announcement of exam results time!