If I have to use 2 words to describe my experience at the Contiki Beach Netball Competition, they would be “BURNNING” & “FUN”. Weird that these two words would go together right? Haha..

The weather was seriously torturous; I swear it was 40 degrees Celsius on Sunday. Just stand under the sun for 5mins, and you will feel your skin sizzling & screaming for shelter. Apparently the thunderstorm on Saturday squeezed the sky dry of its moisture, cos there was ABSOLUTELY ZERO clouds in the sky on Sunday. Scorching is an understatement to describe the intense heat at the beach. The worst part was the heated sand burning the soles of your feet, it was so bad that majority of the participants at the event had to wear socks to run on the sand. Alas, thanks to the merciless Planet Sun, my back is imprinted with the cropped top we had to wear for the competition – I look like I wearing a cream-coloured sports bra all the time now!

Nevertheless, I had truckloads of fun. It’s been a very long time since my last trip to Sentosa. Missed the sun & the tanning but definitely not the sunburnt part. We combined with some folks from ESS Starsports to form our team “E-Citi” & our teammates are Andy (Captain), George, Francis, Hui Ee, Sharmin & myself. Winning wasn’t on our minds that day, it was the experience that mattered. We were also asked to do a short TV interview on SLING HD (which I have no idea what channel that is)..

Oh ya, thanks to Tzeling, Chin, Apper, Audrey, Chek, etc. for coming down to give us moral support too..

Here are some pictures from the event (the rest are in my Facebook album.. go check it out) :

Just about a week before the event, when everyone realized that all female participants had to wear only the cropped top provided (which is actually a sports bra), there was quite a hoo-ha created over this issue. Some girls complained to the organizer & asked if they could wear a top over the cropped top or if there is any way the organizer could compromise on the attire. The organizer was very firm on the attire requirement & did not allow any form of compromise – nothing was to be worn over the cropped top & even if you were to wear something underneath it, the garment cannot protrude more than one inch below the band of the cropped top.

According to an article in My Paper, this attire made some former national players decide against taking part. The words used against the organizer were “sexist”, “exploitative” & “trying to popularize the sport by making use of women’s sex appeal”. One netball coach felt that it was uncomfortable & exposed to play in a sports bra. Some of my friends felt that by setting such a requirement, the organizer was in fact reaching out to ladies with slim/trim figures (flat tummies).

In my opinion, these people are making a mountain out of a molehill. In the first place, this is a BEACH Netball competition, i.e. it is to be played on the beach. And what do you wear to the beach? What do you do at the beach? Wear bikinis to suntan & play beach volleyball right? So what’s the issue of wearing a sports bra to play netball on the beach? I mean, we should all feel comfortable in our own skins. Oh ya, I also think the organizer should be fair to both sexes. If they want the female participants to wear cropped tops to attract crowds, then the male participants should be asked to wear only board shorts or, better still, swimming trunks. Haha.. And the weather is going to be so hot, you will be grateful you are asked to wear sports bras & not jerseys.

Anyway, yesterday at the event, I’m glad to see many girls who are able to feel comfortable & confident in their own skins. And honestly, the games themselves were so engaging that you wouldn’t have time to notice the players’ figures.

In a nutshell the Contiki Beach Netball competition was a success. It’s a perfect combination of the two things I enjoy so much – Netball & Beach. If there’s a Contiki Beach Netball 2010, you’ll be sure to see me there, armed with lots of sunscreen & aloe vera gel! Until the next competition then!