Written by: Kam Keng Han
Edited by: Chen Kexin and Lydia Ong
Photos by: SMC Publicity
Sue Bird, Lebron James, Valeria Chua, Bryan Beh, Kobe Bryant. Together, these 5 players amount to a whopping 9 NBA titles, 4 WNBA titles, 8 Olympic golds and 5 MVP awards. Impressive is an understatement. Within that talented pool of players, we have had the privilege of interviewing both Valeria and Bryan to find out more about them and to get to know them better.
These 2 players began their bball journey at the young age of 10 for Valerie and 13 for Bryan. The wealth of experience combined here is immensely, amounting to close to 20 years. While both have ultimately ended up playing bball for EH, their journey here is rather different.
Valerie played bball as she wanted to grow taller. (whether she achieved this or not was something that I avoided asking ha) On the contrary, it was just something Bryan somewhat chanced upon. Initially, he was a tennis player but being ‘fat as ****’ was convinced by the coach to make the swap to bball. I guess being fat has its blessings! Perhaps we can ask both of them if they grew taller or became slimmer due to basketball. I’ll leave that work to you guys. 👉👈
Despite their differences, it’s safe to say that both players appreciate bball not just for the game but more importantly for the values and friendships that you pick up along the way. Valerie credits Bball for shaping her to become more disciplined, resilient, patient and responsible. The brother and sisterhood forged with their teammates is lifelong and the camaraderie formed is something they hold close to their heart and appreciate. Sometimes, the sport is bigger than the game itself.
In fact, when asked for her final words, Valerie had much to say and requested to have a photo of the team. This speaks volumes of her appreciation of EHBB and her teammates and I decided that it was best to quote it fully to do her appreciation justice. Here it is in its purest and untouched form:
‘Hmmm I would say the eusoff basketball girls team is really like a family! We all have different personalities and humour but we complement well with one another. Though everyone is damn good at basketball, all of us attend training with humility and respect for one another. I hope that we will continue hustling and cheering for one another for the remaining training and upcoming IHG! Cherish one another and the playing time... and most importantly, 打球要开心!’
Their devotion to the sport and team is respectable and sometimes off the roof. Bryan shared that during his A division competition, he was unfortunately injured but wanted to contribute to this team’s success and mustered up his courage to play through the pain. Unfortunately for himself and the team, within a game, he injured his other ankle and his season ended there and then. Valerie herself is no stranger to the grueling pains of bball, with countless episodes of running until ‘legs and brain jelly’. Such is the effort our seniors put in to bring glory to our hall, they are truly our role models.
Of course, every interview should allow people to show a bit of their silly side. When posed the question of Peng Hao vs himself, Bryan answered, ‘If I tie both hands and legs, maybe he can score 1 point.’ On the flip side Peng Hao declined to comment when posed with the same question. I guess there’s only one way to solve this, there has to be a 1v1. With so much pride on the line, who will rise up to the occasion? Will they even agree to such a match or will someone pussy out? One thing I know for sure is that, Bryan will definitely take this challenge in stride for he lives and die by his philosophy:
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take’.
I’m sure this quote is something perhaps many might find familiar and even guilty of saying to friends who are simping for others but ya the logic does check out soooooo…
So there we have it, 2 inspiring seniors from EH basketball team that have kindly graced SMC’s interview despite their busy schedule. If you did not know the 5 names that I mentioned at the start of this article, then surely now you know the names of Bryan Beh and Valerie Chua. Remember them.
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