Where our hopes and dreams come true
Tonight, I am prouder of my club than I have ever been.
I am unspeakably proud over what we’ve achieved over the last few years. How we’ve rebuilt ourselves, to become better and stronger. How we gutted ourselves from the inside out to re-establish ourselves on the shooting scene, to show everyone that we were a force to be reckoned with. How we endured the torturous training sessions to be back on top again.
Today, we showed everyone that Hwa Chong is back.
If I am hyperbolic, it is because what we’ve done in the past few days has defied imagination.
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C’Div Boys Rifle – Gold
C’Div Boys Pistol – Bronze
B’Div Boys Rifle – Bronze
B’Div Boys Pistol – Silver
A’Div Boys Rifle – Gold
A’Div Boys Pistol – Bronze
A’Div Girls Rifle – Gold
A’Div Girls Pistol – 9th
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Of these, the A’Div Boys Pistol medal and the A’Div Girls Pistol placing means the most to me. We’ve waited so long for this day. We promised ourselves that one day, it would be our time in the limelight, that the promised day would come. And it finally did. Words fail me. I can only say this – that I was utterly glad and nostalgic that that I was there to witness this.
Their medal win will undoubtedly mean a lot to the shooters, but for my batch of pistol shooters, this carries another meaning altogether. It is the sum total of all our efforts to mould this club and make the pistol division a viable one, when from the get-go it was merely a bastard child. By laying the groundwork for this team, by pushing for everything we could, by fighting for attention in training, we did all we could to make sure this team would grow. Our contribution to this club did not lie in our medal wins, however meagre they were. Too, they did not lie in our mentorship and guidance of our juniors, I admit. No, they lie merely in the setting of that critical first step. So this day, is the ultimate vindication of our efforts and faith in them.
This day, history has been made. They have not failed us. This day has been a long time coming, but it has come. And there will be many days just like it to come.
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Though they will never read this, I wish I was capable of elegant and grandiose prose to immortalize what they’ve done. To the juniors:
You’ve made everything we’ve worked for possible. You’ve showed everyone that we can make this work, if only we try hard enough. You’ve realized our dreams, beyond our wildest imaginations.
And for that, I can only offer you this: thank you.
