My Professional Growth

I began my teaching career in 1995 (with training in 93-94 to become a PE teacher). During this time, most school sports were coached by teachers. In Victoria Junior College (VJC), only basketball and track and field (T&F) were coached by external coaches. Before joining VJC, I had already been coaching VJC hurdlers (T&F) and the cross-country teams. In 1994, the cross-country boys' team emerged as champions in the National Schools Games (NSG) ‘A’ Division Boys Cross-country Championships. The joy exhibited by the boys and the college at the end of the race and prize presentation remains vivid in my memory. This joy motivates me to continue coaching, along with the desire to help students realise their potential.

In 1995-2000, VJC cross-country boys’ and girls’ teams continued to achieve success in the NSG ‘A’ Division. The VJC cross-country boys' team won the NSG A Division title from 1996-2000, while the girls' team secured victories in 1995 & 1996 and in 2000. At the end of 1996, I was tasked to take over the VJC football team, which had just experienced a season of significant defeats. They faced scorelines like 12-0 and other substantial margins. Despite my passion for football, I was aware of the uphill task, as football was not a niche sport in VJC. Despite obstacles and opposition, I was determined to see how I would fare in coaching football.

In 1996, with strong teams like the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) in the NSG,  VJC managed to reach the National first round, although we did not advance. For the next two years, VJC was knocked out in the 1st round despite the absence of ITE. This was discouraging, considering the effort put into coaching the boys. I contemplated giving up on football, but my wife encouraged me to give it another chance. I felt a sense of responsibility for the boys who trained six days a week, and yet we couldn't progress beyond the 1st round, despite playing better football.

The turning point came in 2000, when the team reached the finals. Although VJC lost, the hard work paid off. Despite a less strong team in 2001, the determination of the players kick-started VJC's success in football. VJC won the 1st NSG A Division Boys Football Championships, and David Beckham visited VJC that year.

In addition to coaching cross-country teams and the football boys’ team, I coached middle-distance to distance runners of VJC T&F teams. While fulfilling, helping everyone was challenging. Although cross-country and T&F were doing well, I cannot say that I put in more effort into helping them than the football team.

The cross-country girls' team won in 2007 with help from another teacher. VJC cross-country teams consistently performed well in NSG ‘A’ Division, always securing a top-four position. In 2015, with the assistance of two more teachers, VJC cross-country teams won NSG ‘A’ Division Girls Cross-country Championships, with the boys being the runners-up. This marked another milestone for VJC, with committed teachers, Mrs. Lin Ye Hong and Mr. Russell Woo, assisting me. Additionally, we discovered two very talented runners, Vanessa Lee and Nicole Low, who currently represent Singapore in distance running. Vanessa, the more talented of the two, has gone on to win many races in Singapore.

In the 2023, Faith Ford, our top girl runner, broke the National A division 1500m and 3000m records, the latter being an impressive 24-year-old record held since 1999. She also led the cross-country girls’ team to win NSG A Division Girls Cross-country Championships. This kick started of winning NSG A Division Girls Cross-country Championships for 3 years in a row (2023-2025). This year we also won the NSG A Division Boys Cross-country Championships for the first time since 2000.

In 2005, VJC started A division girls’ football. Azrulnizam Shah Sohaimi, my football boy in 2001-2, took up the task of coaching them, and the rest is history. The football girls trained hard, and in 2006, they won a football tournament among the junior colleges and Pre-U center organised by FAS. In 2008, this tournament was recognised by the Singapore Schools Sports Council and was included in the National Schools calendar. VJC football girls went on to win from 2008 to 2011, lost in 2012, and won from 2013 till 2024 (2020 & 2021 COVID). I was the teacher in charge from 2011 till now. Currently, Mr. Lawrence Lee has been the coach of the VJC girls’ team since 2012. As for the football boys’ team, we have won NSG A Division Boys Football Championships ten times and were in the final 19 times since 2000.

Contributed by

 Mr Tan Yew Hwee, Recipient of the 2023 OTCA Winner (Merit). He is the Head of Department (PE/CCA) at Victoria Junior College. Catch his feature by The Straits Times here. 

Return to content page.