CG: 13/09
Sports Covered: Athletics, Swimming and Beach Volleyball
Venue: Bishan Stadium, Singapore Sports School and Sentosa Siloso Beach
I was a reporter for the official Asian Youth Games website, in which I had to watch events, interview athletes and write articles for the website. The whole experience has been extremely enriching. It was definitely an eye-opener for me and I enjoyed every single moment of it. Although the games only lasted for one and a half weeks, it was a roller coaster ride from the beginning to the end.
From the start of the June holidays, the reporters and I had gruesome articles to write, so as to prepare us for the actual games. One thing I learnt immediately was that writing an article is actually not as easy as it seems. The research alone was extremely tiring. We were required to source for our own topics, get our own quotes and read up on facts that we were not sure of. As a reporter, we had to sound like we knew everything there were about the topic, even when the given information was minimal. It was also extremely important that we do not misunderstand anything, which will greatly affect our credibility as a reporter. Next comes the planning on presentation. In an article, the most important or interesting information would always comes first. The following paragraphs should be sufficient to keep the reader’s interest before ending with a short summary. The paragraphs too should be kept short (only 2-3 lines)! With such limitations, it was a challenge to write with your own style and angle for a particular story. However, with the help of my liaison, Mic, I manage to grasp the concept of article writing in time for the AYG.
Being a part of this event also allowed us (reporters) to attend the organising committee’s meetings. Through these meetings, I got to experience how it was like to organise a large-scale event. I got to observe how heads discuss their ideas and how they evaluate their plan to ensure everything will be smooth sailing. This was an eye-opener for me and I believe that this experience will help me in the future when I am required in any sort of large-scale planning.
Once the games started, I felt as if I was sucked into the whole event. My days were packed with reports as well as research and catching up with the current happenings for the AYG. For most days, I had to travel down to Bishan Stadium, where the athletic events were held.
At Bishan Stadium, I joined a small group of photographers and reporters who were also helping out for the official website. I had to work closely with most of them, especially the photographers to get my photos for my articles. Many of them were older than me, some from polytechnics and others from universities. Hence, working with them was a great experience. I learnt a lot about writing, taking photos as well as their personal experience in such fields. Through the whole event, we fostered a great friendship with each other and that is something I cherish the most.
While writing the articles for the events, the reporters were required to interview the athletes. That was an area in which I faced the most difficulty. One problem was due to the language barrier. Only a few athletes could speak fluent English. There were many who did not understand the language or could express themselves well. There was also another problem with getting the athlete’s attention as there were many other reporters from different media sources present. Hence the media zone was rather packed. It was difficult to pose questions to the athlete with so many others fighting for his attention. I was also at first quite shy in fighting for an interview these athletes. However, I definitely learnt and grew from this experience. Firstly, I gained more confidence in myself and managed to speak out and ensure an interview with the athletes. I too learnt on how to work together with others reporters to share the information we gathered. Lastly, I also learnt the importance of Chinese and am more determined to master it to my advantage.
I also manage to mingle with some of the athletes after duty. It was a really interesting experience and I found them really polite and friendly. I was really glad to have taken photos with them too!
I also helped out in other sports event such as swimming and volleyball. The management at each venue were slightly different due to the nature of the sport, thus I feel working there was enriching and it gave me a better understanding of the individual sports. I too manage to make more friends with other reporters and athletes!
All in all, I totally enjoyed myself and I treasure every moment spent during this AYG. This is a once in a life time experience and I am so glad that I got the opportunity to help out. The lessons learnt are extremely applicable to me life now and I am sure that this experience has changed me as a person. I now understand much more about reporting, organising events as well as the different sporting events. I truly treasure the friendships I have shared with many others during this journey.
No comments:
Post a Comment