Dear Malaysia 🇲🇾,
This is Jian Shen , and I am writing this letter to our SEA Games representatives, and to everyone else who has committed to two full years of NTP.
First of all, I feel extremely honoured and humbled to be part of this historic moment for the Ultimate scene in Malaysia. The trust from Director Thong and Bernard, as well as Head Coach Greg, is the main reason I am able to be part of this journey.
Two years, three campaigns. I wrote about part 1 Worlds Ultimate Championship 2024 — One More Step Forward and part 2 A Letter to Tapirs ,
and this letter is about the last part of the trilogy — the SEA Games.
Goal setting for this campaign was easier than ever: secure at least 3rd place and fight for a chance at finals. Did we achieve it? Kinda. We achieved our baseline goal but remained very far from our stretch goal.
Truth is, after SEA Games, this goal feels both closest than ever and furthest than ever. For many years, beating our brothers from the same roots has been my obsession. I watched many of their games and spoke to many of their players and coaches. For once, on the soil of Thailand, I felt that we are no longer tactically inferior to SGX. For the longest time we had no idea how to break their zone, but we finally knew how at SEA Games. This is “closest than ever.”
“Furthest than ever” is where I see how much time their athletes put into training for excellence, and how well Singapore’s Ultimate scene produces athletes across generations, again and again. Compared to Malaysia, our programmes have lacked continuity across terms of power, and the community has been pretty siloed and disconnected.
For the first time, and finally, I admit defeat. But this doesn’t mean the loss of hope—it is actually the polar opposite. The NTP has managed to unite players from different clubs and different regions together. Seen across all four divisions, we are able to achieve great things and push Malaysia’s skill level higher. My experience in this SEA Games campaign further cemented this belief: if we gather people with the right mindset, the team can go far in achieving great things. Only this time, the team is not any club, but Team Malaysia.
Speaking about the ” right mindset ,” I am very delighted with the choices of players and the sportsmanship that each of us showcased. Aside from ultimate skills, there was a hidden criterion and value that I held dearly when selecting the final squad: contribution. Over the last years, some of us were willing to contribute more than others. In an environment where we are already lacking resources, Team Malaysia needs to be a team of contributors. And I can proudly say, every one of you deserved the medal—not just from field performances, but from the culture we showcased and the values we upheld.
About field performance: objectively speaking, we performed averagely, and on some games, below average. There were quite a few fundamental execution errors in both the Thailand game and the Singapore game. In our game vs Philippines, there were good moments—the superb score from Amrita in the opening points, the layout D from Pojan, the turn we got from play “Ulti Zone,” and the one break we got from Philippines. Overall, I would rate it as a game where we performed well. The other three, not so much. The game vs Indonesia was a cruise—so credit to us for staying calm and playing up to our standard.
A short campaign is definitely one main reason we did not perform up to everyone’s expectations. Many of us whispered to each other: “If only we had a full year.” I, too, agreed with this sentiment. Coming out from AOUGC, as a coach, I felt quite overwhelmed with the need to rebuild a team from scratch. It took us 8 months for Tapirs, 2 years for Hornbills and Hibiscus, and we had to do it in 2 months. I had to make choices and cut many corners to make us functional within four training camps. If there is something as a programme to reflect on: PHX and SGX anticipated SEA Games and made choices to form their teams early. Maybe we could have too.
On the other hand, I want us to acknowledge the fact that we are still far behind compared to Philippines and Singapore. In all aspects. Period. Coaches’ maturity, players’ skillsets, mental performance, youth pipelines, club systems, association maturity. However, I hope that this programme has inspired every one of you—especially the 18 medal carriers—to give back to the Ultimate community in your own way. And perhaps, finally, we should stop thinking about our opponents anymore, and focus on what we ourselves can do to make our scene better. Sam shared a very profound thread on how Malaysia’s mindset in this SEA Games allowed the country collectively to achieve way more than we originally expect. https://www.threads.com/@drseanthum/post/DSf2teLkz3R?xmt=AQF0jYJ_4DoYzPr2EExxcAI_o65j6cq-PFS8FR22xGIn4_ZLLtmtDgVqelSGI-mhbWPR6eU&source_surface=35&slof=1
You may ask: ” What’s the point? ”
My answer: In competitive sports, it was never about chasing medals, and it was never about beating Singapore or Philippines. In the pursuit of excellence, we learn how to be a better version of ourselves. In enduring hardships, we train our minds to be resilient to life’s challenges. In team sports, we learn to juggle and navigate complex social dynamics found nowhere else in life. And in the magic of Ultimate, we create brotherhoods, sisterhoods, and love that lasts a lifetime.
Ultimate is a gift 🎁. A gift that was given to us by our predecessors, and now we have the power to replicate this gift and echo it to a bigger audience. And for once last time, I want to say: “To be able to truly receive is to be able to truly give.”
Yours Truly -