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Head Coach of
Squash Academy of Penang,
Former National Squash Player, |
2nd Mar. 2003 |
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Allan Soyza
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by Tricia Chuah |
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Craving for an ice blend, I managed to con the web master,
Gumps, and Allan to Coffee Bean, Bangsar, with this interview as
an excuse. Ok, I admit, for the cakes too but.......anyway, I’ve
known Allan since I was 12. A player then, he represented the
country in numerous level of tournaments, and was always known as
a loyal, trustworthy, reliable and......pretty chatty friend.
Presently involve in coaching, he’s still the Allan I knew 8 years
ago but of course, now wiser and more enthusiastic than ever, to
achieve his current goals. A great coach, on and off court, he has
brought up several junior players in Penang to compete in national
and international events. Recognised as
the hard task master in coaching, and nicknamed ‘Sergeant Allan’
by his students, and also Gumps, he tells us about Squash Academy
of Penang. |
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Hey, how
did you get involve in coaching? |
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Allan
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Ok, er......basically,
when I was a player, we didn’t have a good system of coaching. We had
training but not much coaching, and when I had my first actual
session of coaching with one......ah, I'm not gonna name any names
here, ok? |
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It’s ok, Allan. |
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Allan
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When I
first had my real session of coaching, I understood then what coaching
was all about! Also because of my injury, I decided to stop training
after that, and to help improve the standard of Malaysian squash. |
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Good thinking!
Let’s talk about the new squash academy. What is it called? |
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Allan
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It’s
Squash Academy of Penang, SAP. We actually wanted to use Penang Squash
Academy, but the acronym PSA, has been registered. The logo for SAP
was designed by one of our kids, Sara Lim......with the help of her
father, of course. The logo defines a lot of things; the racket
represents squash, the colours reflect the state’s, this and
that......it's a complete thing. She even put the sponsor’s logo there
for them! |
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Whoa, sounds
serious! Didn’t seek advise from a feng shui master? Like getting the
racket to point somewhere for luck? Haha. |
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Allan
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Ha. Nah,
no feng shui. But the
colour
of the acronym, SAP, also represents something, you know....... |
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Ok, so, when and
how did the idea of SAP emerge? |
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Allan
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Ok, the idea was mooted out during the World Junior Girls 2001 in
Penang, and although it took a |
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while to be established, it is now running. The academy currently is
basically on it’s first year. We started our operation 1st of January.
Er....to date it’s only three months and two days old. But the idea
actually came up over a drink with Col. Wong ( Executive Director of
SRAM )......at night. |
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Continue |
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