Alumni compete in Inter-College Games

For Yale-the annual Inter-College Games (ICGs) are the exciting climax of the sporting season where they play against other National University of Singapore (NUS) residential colleges. This year 16 participating Yale-NUS sports teams achieved eight Golds, five Silvers and three Bronzes, enabling the College to rank second in the ICGs. What made this year’s ICGs particularly special, however, was that Yale-NUS alumni were invited back to participate.

Several of the College’s sports teams, including Floorball and Netball, welcomed the opportunity to invite alumni members back to share their valuable experience and mentorship. These alumni included Joy Heng (Class of 2022) and Ngoc Duong Pham (Class of 2021) who were previously part of the College Netball and Floorball teams respectively.

With the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions, the event allowed for full court games and live spectators. “While playing in the games this year was a great experience in itself, with the energy of live games just like before COVID-19, it was also particularly special because we were able to celebrate our goals with our friends courtside as well without any restrictions,” said Duong.

The Yale-NUS alumni shared that participating in trainings and competitions as an alumnus came with its own challenges and quirks. “Coming back to participate as an alumnus certainly felt different and having games until midnight is definitely a challenge for me now considering work commitments,” Joy explained. Duong recounted humorous moments such as “being asked by the organisers to submit my Employment Pass instead of my student card for verification or recognised by a few players of the opposing teams asking me if I hadn’t graduated already.”

Despite work and graduate school commitments, a number of alumni decided to return to participate in sports at Yale-NUS as they felt connected to the community. For Joy, “the familial culture of the Netball team made everything worth it – with alumni coming back to support the team and even our juniors who were overseas for exchange joining us via video call to give us an extra boost of support!”

Duong described how the Floorball team “has always been excellent at balancing the competitiveness nature of sports and the community or team spirit”, giving their all during competitions while encouraging and including newer players.

Commenting on her time at Yale-NUS, Joy shared, “The memories that I hold close to my heart are always about the moments when the team came together for bonding events or participated in matches. I would always remember our team members looking out for each other and prioritising one another’s safety and the team’s overall mentality over the results of the games. After playing team sports with multiple teams in different institutions, I can safely say that the culture in Yale-NUS Netball is one-of-a-kind.”

Duong expanded on his sporting journey. “Floorball was one of my favourite activities when I was still in Yale-NUS and was also the place where I met most of the friends who I still keep in touch with till this day. Besides the competitions or the sport itself, I have very fond memories of some very intense but fun game nights with my teammates or cooking dinner together in one of the butteries,” he said.

It was deeply important to both Joy and Duong to remain connected with the College community to preserve these precious memories. “Floorball has been a great avenue for me to stay connected with the College after graduation. I have been able to enjoy the sport and keep in touch with my friends who are still in school, and also get to catch up with other alumni who come back for trainings,” Duong explained.

Ultimately, this year’s ICGs was not so much a competition, but a demonstration of how the College’s community and legacy continues to evolve. As Joy put it, “I felt an increasing and undying spirit of community on campus during my last semester and still feel it even now when I come back for such events. Wanting to be a part of the legacy that Yale-NUS is building as we hit the finishing line, perhaps that is what motivates me to stay in touch with the Yale-NUS community and give back with what I have.”