This episode, we chat with Team Singapore member Hui Fang. Co-hosted by Tulsa Douglas and Luisa Neves.
This episode, we talk with Hui Fang. Fang tells us about how she started playing for Singapore right after she started playing ultimate, and her experience playing against the best teams in the world as a new, inexperienced player. She talks about how the women's ultimate scene in Singapore has developed since she began playing, as well as where she hopes it will go in the future. We also learn about her experiences organizing the Pan Asia Women's Cup in Singapore, as well as the Asian Oceanic All Star Tour.
This is the first episode of Season 2 of Share the Air. To listen to previous guests, check out our Season 1 episodes wherever you get your podcasts. If you want to hear even more of us, check out our Patreon page, where you can listen to bonus content every two weeks, as well as access other cool benefits! We already have a number of bonus episode out, filled with new interviews, thoughtful discussions, great stories, and extra content that we couldn't fit into the original episodes. Also, if you want to rep some sweet Share the Air gear, check out our new store, courtesy of VC Ultimate!
Share the Air is hosted by Tulsa Douglas and Luisa Neves. It is planned, edited, and produced by Tulsa Douglas, Luisa Neves, and Tim Bobrowski. Share the Air's music is by Grey Devlin and Christopher Hernandez. Share the Air is sponsored by the National Ultimate Training Camp, VC Ultimate, and the Centre for Applied Neuroscience.
Tulsa: Hello everyone. Welcome back to season two. We're super excited to bring you the second episode of the.
Luisa: Yeah. Our first episode was a lot of fun to record and put out and see the response to it. We got a lot of. A lot of responses on social media, which was one really cool to see too a little bit overwhelming to keep up with. But, um, there were some really cool, tweets that we got from some of our listeners.
Tulsa: And one of them, we, we really appreciate it and we thought it was fun. And we also want to respond to so. The tweet is from Anthony Nuñez. And Anthony says, "If I were to do a podcast, what topics should I do slash cover. Before you say frisbee, know that I can't compete against @sharetheairpod. And if you think I can, you haven't been listening. Now tell me my genre." So that's very kind and we love it. And, Lu, what should Anthony do? A podcast?
Luisa: Oh, I'm not, I'm not gonna lie. I was like, I probably listen to Anthony's frisbee podcast.
Tulsa: Yeah, I…
Luisa: Someone suggested it.
Tulsa: I know somebody said frisbee and I was like, does that mean you haven't been listening to Share the Air? Yeah. I think that Nuñez should do a Share the Air fan podcast. So each week, he talks with a new fan, Share the Air fan about that week's podcast. And they talk about their favorite parts and just respond to it.
Luisa: I know we're, we're always asking people to rate and review us, on Apple Podcasts. And this is, it seems like kind of the ultimate review.
Tulsa: Yeah. I’m…
Luisa: A whole podcast meant for reviewing.
Tulsa: I think I'm inspired by, um, part of our conversation with Amy that will be on a bonus episode that didn't get in the full episode is that we talked about her love for Taylor Swift and a little bit about the podcasts that she listens to. That's like people talking about each Taylor Swift album. So that's what I think where I, my inspiration comes from for Nuñez's new podcast Share the Air fan podcast. I think he needs a better name though.
Luisa: Yeah, we give, we give creative liberty to come up with your own name.
Tulsa: Sweet. Well, thank you. Keep tweeting at us. It's fun. And maybe we'll talk about your tweet in one of our podcast episodes. So in brainstorming topics to talk about in this introduction, I put down hobbies and we're talking about it because Lu and our producer, Tim are curious to see what I mean by hobbies, I guess. Is that, is that
Luisa: It's just so general. Yeah. What hobbies do you partake in?
Tulsa: Okay. Yeah. That's uh, that's what I was going to ask you, but I'll answer your first, one of my big hobbies, which may tell you that I'm an old soul is that my plant collection is growing like crazy. And I have some plants now that have given me their own offshoots and I've replanted them. So I have like six snake plants. Now my spider plants are going crazy. I have some succulents that have like replanted and now the little they're growing again. So yeah.
Luisa: Oh, my God.
Tulsa: I checked them every day.
Luisa: Can I talk to you about, so I just moved into a new place and I'm starting to try to fill it with plants…
Tulsa: You need plants.
Luisa: I need, I desperately need plants. I have two plants. I got one plant the other day from, a plant store in Kingston. And when the woman was selling me the plant, she said to me that, the plant gets anxiety. If you move it around too much. So I have to pick a spot. I had to pick a spot, to keep the plant. I can't move him. And I had to move in the other day because I was moving furniture. And I was just whispering “sorry” to him the whole time.
Tulsa: What kind of plant?
Luisa: I don't remember the name of it, but the stem is a bunch of pieces kind of twisted together and then it has a bunch of leaves kind of in a pompom shape at the top. I'll send you a picture.
Tulsa: Okay. Yeah, there's an app you can get where you can identify your plants.
Luisa: Oh wait. I’m…okay. Wait, I’ll get that.
Tulsa: I'll send the name to you.
Luisa: Great. But yeah, I need, I need plants to fill. My mom has a spider plant that I got when I was in second grade and it's enormous now. So I was thinking about taking a piece of that, but yes, I need, I need, I need more plants.
Tulsa: Okay, well, I have a million, so.
Luisa: Incredible.
Tulsa: Yeah. Yeah. We've had to build different new shelves and systems to hold the plants.
Luisa: Oh, that's awesome. That must be so lovely.
Tulsa: It's nice in the winter. Yeah. Um, That's one of my hobbies. Yep. We've also talked about pickleball in the past now that I'm not playing frisbee a ton. I've been upping my pickleball game.
Luisa: You're going next week, right? To play pickleball.
Tulsa: Yep. What about you?
Luisa: Gosh, my hobbies are many and countless things that I'm currently doing, taking up the most of my time right now is moving. So, uh, it's not a hobby, but it's, it's getting in…
Tulsa: Yeah. I love to move every few months. I just move.
Luisa: No, I, so I bring it up because I'm unpacking all my junk that's been packed up since m id 2020. And one of the things that I unpacked was a 3d printer that someone gave to me as a gift.
Tulsa: Whoa.
Luisa: So I just set it up. It's a super small compact one and it doesn't do anything too, too fancy, but I'm super excited to try to mess around with it. There's a couple of things I want to print. This is my actual hobby, is, um, I love playing D&D and I love playing role-playing games. And I love having a miniatures, which are essentially your characters as tiny little figures. And some people get really into it and paint them and stuff. But I'm super excited to like try to print one of my own characters, but D&D is it's been like a really fun way to connect with people, especially in COVID when we couldn't really be in person. It's also just really fun. I just love all sorts of games in general.
Tulsa: Do you play with the same group for D&D?
Luisa: There's one group that I played with at some of the same people. But I guess, I dunno if this is a plug or what, but if anybody is listening and wants to play D&D with me just DM me, cause I'm constantly trying to find more groups to play with. I both like to play and I also like to DM and I need more groups to, to be playing with. So if you're listening and you also like D&D or any other tabletop role-playing system, let me know.
Tulsa: Sweet.
Luisa: Help me do my hobby.
Tulsa: Okay. That was hobbies. Yeah.
Luisa: Those are hobbies. Those are hobbies. Cool.
Tulsa: This week we're bringing on our first non us guests and we're super excited to be talking to Hui Fang from Singapore.
Luisa: This was a really eye-opening conversation for Tulsa and I, in terms of what ultimate could look like outside of the U S. So we hope that our listeners also gain a new perspective on ultimate in Singapore, and we hope you enjoy.
Tulsa: Joining us today is Hui Fang. Fang began playing ultimate in 2011 and almost immediately began to compete on the world stage. In 2012, Fang competed with Team Singapore at WUGC and then with Japan's Mixed Masters team at the 2017 WCBU. Fang has done a lot of work in her communities to create and maintain playing opportunities for women. In 2017, Fang helped organize the 2017 Pan Asia Women's Cup in Singapore. And then in 2018, Fang managed the Asian Oceanic All-Star Tour as they traveled across the U.S., playing against some of the country's top women's club teams. Fang also coaches and was a coach with Singapore's women's beach national team in 2019 at AOBUC. In 2017, Fang helped start Havoc, the first women's club team in Singapore. Currently, Fang works as both an art and English teacher in Singapore. Fang, welcome to Share the Air.
Hui Fang: Hi, thanks for having me.
Tulsa: Yeah, thanks for joining us
Luisa: So in putting together your bio, Fang, one of the most interesting things is that you started playing ultimate in 2011 and the following year, you represented team Singapore at the world ultimate tournament. So can you tell us a little bit about what that first year was like, how did you get started playing and how did you start playing for team Singapore?
Hui Fang: So I think it's a reflection of how Singapore was really, really short on woman back then, which is why like, as super rookie, like me, cause like you said, I've only started playing barely less than a year. And that's how someone like me who was really, really fresh? Like I had no big tournament experience. Yeah, so that was my first international debut. And that's because there weren't many women who were playing at at time. And so I think they were more open to taking beginners to give players like me a chance to experience what it's like to play on the world stage. So I remember vaguely now that I was so raw, like, the only thing that I knew how to do was to run to the end zone and catch the disc. would, yeah. And I would panic, every single time I got the disc I would panic in like, oh no, how am I going to pass this thing off to somebody else? I think we trained for like about six months. And I think that experience was very precious and very important to me because I felt totally helpless.
There were many times that I felt like I was the weakest link on the team because there's just so many things that I didn't know how to do. But there were also so many people helping us and I was on a team with people from various clubs and with various playing experiences.
So during the lead up during the six months or so I experienced a roller coaster, Sort of feeling. Like from being totally lost to feeling thankful. Everything was new to me. Like every throw, every drill was new to me. So it was actually quite an exciting time trying to absorb everything in.
And then when we arrived in Japan at a competition or my God, it was like another roller coaster. Right. Cause like I think this is the reason why I became active in, in trying to create opportunities because I understand what it's like to be completely lost.
Like you really want to contribute, but you don't know how to, or you don't feel like you're well equipped to, so I was, I was there for the longest time. I felt like that. And so, yes. So when we went to Japan, oh my goodness. It was like being in a, in a, in a completely different world. Like I remember we were playing USA, right?
And our goal was to break the bagel and you know, it such a different It's such a world of disparity in terms of expectations like us, it was probably going in thinking, oh, we're going to get number one. And my thing was going in thinking, oh, we're going to get one point. You know, so yeah, that was, that was how how I felt back then, but also through that experience, it wasn't just team USA or so, so the other teams like Japan, Colombia when we played against them, even there, there was such a big difference, a huge gap in terms of the, the depth of the squad in terms of the experience. We never once felt they were condescending or they look down on us. In fact they were very welcoming and they played their best. They didn't play on first gear, but we could feel that they were really playing their best and like really challenged us. And I think that's what the experience really stuck. And it made us feel like.
Oh, it's so fun. Like this game is really fun. Like the competition is really hard, to get that one point is really difficult. But it's so fun and we want to get there, like we want to make ourselves better so that, you know, we're there to win the game and not just to break the bagel. So I think that for me that experience was, what made me decide to become really active, because to be honest if I were in any other country at a time, I probably would not have gotten on the team. Yeah. I've probably wouldn't have gotten onto the national team. So I think that's where I, since then we realized that it's, it's also really fun to train together on a women's team because like, we're all by ourselves. we had to play every role, so we're no longer just cutters, while we also have to be handlers. So that forced as to step out of our comfort zones.
Luisa: So was the, the team that you played with the, team Singapore in 2012, was that a women's team or a mixed…
Hui Fang: Women's team.
Luisa: Okay.
Hui Fang: Was a women's team. Yeah. So we had some really good players on the team. Most of them have retired by now. They've stopped playing. but it was a really good experience because we had no one else to depend on except ourselves and because you're only as strong as your weakest link.
Right. So everyone I mean, there, there was some lights hitting problems in the beginning, but eventually we got into the same page and for me, it was almost exhilarating because I never imagined that would be on the same team as these other players, because prior to that, we have only been competitors.
So to come to that point was, was kinda amazing. And after that, that group of us, I think there were about 20 of us, maybe we've been pushing for like, gender tournaments. And that's how each club then started to split into gender trainings. So our calendar is such that in April and May, there's the gender tournament. And after that in July and August, it will be the next tournament. So
Tulsa: So everyone, plays both.
Hui Fang: Everybody plays both. Yeah. So then at least for a good two to three months a year we would have women's training within our own clubs. So I think that's what happened after 2012.
Luisa: Cool. So prior to that 2012 experience, really, the only sort of ultimate in Singapore was mixed ultimate.
Hui Fang: Yeah. The focus was, was largely on me. Yeah.
Luisa: I think that's like a really incredible thing that everyone can kind of get to play both in a gender division and play mixed in the same year. That's not what happens in the U.S. You pick your team and you're kind of like locked into that team. And that division. So whether it's open women's or mixed you're locked into that team. You, definitely don't get to play both. So that's really cool.
Tulsa: Since that split in 2012, when people started playing both, have you seen changes in either on-field play or leadership or yeah, like what have you seen? What has changed?
Hui Fang: The very first thing that stood out in my mind was speaking up, learning to speak up. I was training with a mixed team. And for example, during a drill right we had this male player, whenever he sees that the next person that he's going to trow through is a female.
He would actually ask to not throw, edit, turn, you know, like he, he was asked to throw at the next turn or after that, when he's actually shoring to a male player. So he wants to skate over the golf. So that was kind of like, the environment that I, I wouldn't even say grew up, but that was the environment I started.
Yes. I started, training in, yeah, where it's not subtle at all. Light is super in your face. So, that Dan, we would, we would just let it be. But then a couple of us started talking about it after the training and, we spoke about how uncomfortable we feel I mean, we try to be understanding to understand why he would do that.
But we feel that for the benefit of the team, this shouldn't happen at all, discrimination aside, you know, agenda does conditions like, this shouldn't happen at all. Like you shouldn't be picky or choosy when it comes to drill that you should be able. Even if you are a better player or especially either a better player, you should be open or invested, in, serving to the ones who are not as skilled as you so that they can become better.
Yeah, so that, that was how, my initial experience was. And so after the 2012, we decided that if we can change things, within the club itself or within the mix setting itself, we can start creating other platforms. Yeah. So, what happened was then we started having like a women's only take up. And it was great because I think what, what struck us most, like I shared earlier was that, when we played women's at, walls 2012, we realized that, we had to take on more roles, and we had to pick up more skills. And unfortunately, when you're training with.
Hui Fang: A competitive club that is training with the purpose of winning in a tournament. You have, your skill level has to be off a certain level before people actually start to take you seriously. So at that time, at that point in time, it was difficult for us to change that mindset. So then what we did was that, in addition to that, to that mix training, we got together, and started training amongst ourselves.
That when we were competing, we were still actually, competing as a mixed team, that, like I share, after that in Singapore itself, we started to have, gender tournaments. I remember one year it had to be canceled because there was not enough women's teams, but eventually we got past debt.
And what happened was the women I think felt really not sure why they right. What is, liberate at? No, I don't know. it was just a really different feeling from training with a mixed team when you're, when you're training, under women's team, we allot one in order to make this. Yeah, I think that was, that was a big difference.
Tulsa: More of a, I would say, a growth environment.
Hui Fang: Yes, it was definitely a growth environment. Like we feel less like we're here to prove ourselves and it was more like I'm here to be a better player.
Luisa: Totally.
Hui Fang: Yeah. That shouldn't that be the case no matter where you play. Yeah. But anyway, so, so like the sense of girl was very strong and very empowering. And we actually started having more and more players saying that you know, we really enjoy the women's game. So, that's how eventually we started to have more teams at the gender tournaments, but still, as a club because of the nature of, the competition at tertiary level, at university level college level. It was even now it's still mixed tournaments. We don't have gender based on this. only adults have, have had the experience of having different gender or single gender teams. Yeah. But, the college students who join clubs, who, uh, also concurrently training with clubs, they would have the full experience. But if you are a college student, only playing at the college level, you're not playing at a club level then very likely you're only playing and training in a mixed environment.
Luisa: Gotcha.
Share the Air will be right back, but first here's a quick word from our sponsors.
Tulsa: Share the Air is sponsored by the National Ultimate Training Camp. Located in Western Massachusetts. NUTC is the longest running ultimate sleepover camp in the country. It has also gone international, hosting camps and teaching clinics all over the globe. With the most talented coaches in the world, NUTC is teaching ultimate for the next generation. Learn from the best at NUTC.
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So that group of 20 or so women starting those conversations about wanting single gender competition, I mean, just in what you described, it's pretty clear that that's done a lot for folks as growth especially, especially for women. Because it sounds like there weren't a ton of spaces for growth prior to that. In 2017 you helped to organize the pan Asia women's cup in Singapore. Can you talk a little bit about that?
Hui Fang: I think that was one of the best things that happened so far in terms of what we did for a Singapore ultimate. So how it started was that Mitch from Australia Maui from Japan and myself, we got connected through a frisbee, of course. And then we like the idea of connecting across cultures and learning from different cultures, because so many things are different.
The way we think, the way we play, the way our competitions are structured in our respective countries. And we think that well the world tournaments are great, they are great for like girls as a player. I was so grateful like girls as a team. But many, a times the focus is on the competition itself.
And there's very little time or space for like building friendships outside of. So you, you are probably, yeah, you'll probably bond very strongly with your teammates and four walls competition within your respective country, but not with the other teams with the other countries.
So I think that's what we were trying to achieve. We wanted to create a space where the players can actually get to know the other players from the other team before the competition itself. Sarah think we met in. We met in the summer of 2017 in July. The planning took about six months or so. And we wanted to do it because we felt like those players, those under 24 athletes they are probably going to see one another over the next four to eight years or more.
Because generally those athletes who take part in under 24 competitions they tend to continue taking part in these competitions. And so we thought wouldn't it be great if they could get to know one another as friends before competition. So that was, that was one of the ideas that we had.
And of course the other idea was that we wanted to give them the experience because the under 24 athletes, many of them had zero tournament experience. Some of them have not traveled outside of the country before. So for example, team Japan, there were so many of them who has, who have never traveled outside of Japan other than for the world tournament itself.
So they have never done an international family of sorts. They rarely play in overseas tournaments, unless it is wolves. So we thought it'd be interesting to prepare the three teams for the 2018. It was going to be very hot for the actual 2018 U24 in Perth. And Japan wants it to experience that condition themselves, they thought it would be a great idea to condition themselves. And then Singapore happens to be like that perfect meeting point for Japan and Australia. Cause we were somewhere in the middle, geographically speaking and also like we have the perfect weather, but don't to climatize. We basically have four seasons we experienced like summer, all year round. So that's how we decided to make it happen.
So, so on paper, it was like a 10 Asia Women's Cup. So eventually Japan won. And we gave them like a very nice trophy and everything, but everybody's favorite memory after tournament, right, was actually the many games before that so I think it's okay for them to know. Now it's been so many years, so actually we, had, we had or mini game we broke yeah, we divide it, the three this week under 20 fourteens we mixed them up into, into small teams of your own. It was only 30 minutes. We divided it into three sets of 10 minutes.
Okay. I don't remember the order, but the three games were divided such that, for example, one of them you could only throw hammers. Yeah. And then the other one was, you could only throw with your left hand and one was, you had to make sure that everybody on the team, that was seven vs. seven, everybody on the team had attach on a dish before you can score.
Tulsa: I love..
Hui Fang: So…
Tulsa: …those kind of games.
Hui Fang: Yes. Yes. It's so fun. And like, it was very chaotic to be honest. Yeah.
Tulsa: That's part of the fun.
Hui Fang: I remember that. I remember that even on the day itself, even though we know that we were going to have this, but actually nobody knew it. I said the three of us, because we weren't supposed to disclose it officially, just, just in case, you know, the, the girls that I head coach or something.
Luisa: I start practicing hammers ahead of time.
Hui Fang: Yeah. So, so we kept it under wraps. And I remember just minutes before the game someone said, “Fang, are you sure that, you know, we're going to do hammers only like, how realistic is that going to be like, like, are people actually going to play, if we do that?” T hen I'm like, why not?
Because if you don't do it here, like if you don't play it here, like where else are you going to play it? Right. And, yeah. So, so I'm, I'm really glad that we did cause that everyone enjoyed themselves, like whether they were playing or people who were watching. So we had a couple of volunteers, so we had like male supporters coming to do like timekeeping and things like that.
So all this was done. It was a two day tournament. So this was carried out on, on, on day one and everybody had like a roll of time watching. Downplay and there were definitely language barriers. So watching people trying to overcome those language barriers was interesting for one and I think that was, yeah, they, they just had so much fun and, and some of them even came over to the information counter and they were like, can we have another round? Or like, can this be longer?
Hui Fang: Of course we had to say, no, we have to, we have to do the actual competition.
Tulsa: Yeah, yeah.
Hui Fang: I think the experience was, was, was really good because then eventually even there so I was a tournament director for the Penn Asia women's cup. And I eventually went down to Perth the following year in January and not, you were so nice to see that these three teams, they already knew one another and they were saying hi and, exchanging yeah.
Exchanging comments about how they felt about a tournament so far and things like that. So it was really nice to see because prior to that, I think that's not something that you would usually see at an under 24 tournament, because that would be the first tournament for most people or the first international tournament for most people. And you wouldn't know anyone other than their teammates.
Tulsa: So I played on the U.S. women's U24 that cycle in Perth. And I wonder, so we went to Australia a week early for training camp and we got to scrimmage with the Australian women's team. And then we had a barbecue after we played together. And maybe this was, this came from the tournament you all hosted, of like trying to connect to the teams. And it was, it was fun because we ended up playing them in pool, play at the tournament. And then again in, I think maybe the semi's or the quarters. So we had played them three times within basically a week span and then had hung out with them and it was fun to kind of get to know people and match up against them. So maybe that was part of your, your creation? Yeah.
Okay. So then I believe it was later in 2018 was when the AO All-Star Tour happened. So if we can, if you can summarize like kind of how the AO All-Star Tour came together and then a little bit more of like what the experience was like for you and for the players.
Hui Fang: Oh, okay. So, so I think I was there feeling fresh from the excitement of having organized the Pan Asia Women's Cup with, and then following that witnessing how the players and the teams has benefited from that, like it got me really excited about being part of a team that helped to like connect to inspire. So it was really different because sort of like getting three teams together was already difficult. And then for all stars, it was a whole lot more ambitious. We had players from like nine to 10 different places, like nine to 10 different countries yeah, that, that was so much more challenging, but I guess also rewarding in other ways. And it opened up my eyes to how the teams in us, for example, how the team is function how organized and how open and how invested they actually were or are to viewing growth, not just within their own clubs, but also within the community.
Hui Fang: So like, it was the first time in my short lifetime of playing frisbee that I heard things like mixers, like Boston has a mixer. I think different different regions have a mixer and, also people are very quick to offer support to lend breadth and depth to experiences. Like for example, there were high school teams, who were very willing for us to go down and have a session with them. I'm forgetting the names of the, the program. Is it Girls Up? No.
Tulsa: Oh, AgeUp?
Hui Fang: AgeUp, yeah. That's another one.
Luisa: GUM. Girls Ultimate Movement. Yeah.
Hui Fang: Yes, yes. So we did a session at Philadelphia with Green Means Go with the team. Yeah. So we did like a clinic and I think. That, that was a good experience for us, for the team to see how different community the USA ultimate community actually, which has out to the people in their community. Yeah. So I think that was, that was a good learning point for us for the team itself. I actually still can't believe how we managed to do that. So, so we actually had, we actually had serious communication problem. Not because people were not willing to communicate with one another, but because of language barriers. So I remember we did like a warm-up match against one of the teams in Columbia, and we were actually shouting instructions in three different languages, like English, Japanese, and Mandarin. So.
Luisa: Wow.
Hui Fang: Yeah. And then there were also smatterings of other languages, like Tagalog and et cetera. But when there's a will, there's a way, right. So eventually of course Alyssa, Alyssa Weatherford. Yeah, so she very quickly decided that, okay, we're going to come up with signs so that we're not sharing things in different languages, so we're gonna, we're going to come up with signs instead. So then we did that.
Luisa: Oh, I think. Yeah. So, so Alyssa was, you had Alyssa Weatherford. You asked her to coach and I think I remember in one of them, cause a lot of these games, if not all of them, they were they were filmed and so people could watch them. And I remember seeing in the comments of one of the games, they noticed that Alyssa, the coach was tapping your shoulders as like a science And so they were like, is that like, is that a sign? Is that like a communication thing cause you can see like tapping the shoulder. So was that one of the signs that y'all had come up with?
Hui Fang: Yes.
Luisa: Wow. That's and it was to communicate the F the force,
Hui Fang: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It was, oh, they figured it out.
Luisa: I think it took, I think it took, a couple of people in the comments to figure it out. So no secrets were given, but okay, cool. That's awesome.
Hui Fang: I think in fact because we all came from different countries and different regions as well, so that different parts of Asia. Our experience and our understanding of the game were very different. And also the way we communicate was very different. Like the language itself, the language side some of us were not so used to speaking directly about what we think or how we feel. They were not used to doing that. Whereas the other players were, so I think one of the good things that we did was and I remember that this happened in Central Park. Was that uh, by the way? Yeah, the traffic is terrible, so …
Luisa: Yeah, totally, agreed.
Hui Fang: Yeah, so yeah, so that there were many logistical problems. But anyway, when we eventually met up at Central Park we got together and and we decided that we would have we need to come up with a team model. So everyone was asked, what are the three things that you value most?
And then based on that we came up with a model which I can't remember the Japanese were no, but when I do, I'll let you know that yeah. But basically it meant to go for it. Yeah. Like to believe in yourself and, and to go for it. Um, I think we were also very conscious about mixing that team up. So when we when we were moving from state to state or city to city, in terms of accommodation we were doing billeting. So we wanted to make sure that there was kind of like a rotation that you'd be staying with different teammates at a different location.
I think that definitely helped in terms of improving the communication within the team. Because it also gave the players the time and space for them to get to know one another, as people before players. And then I think, you need that to a certain degree in order to fully function as a team. It also helped we were very thankful and grateful to like all the teams who hosted us. And. For us to experience the generosity and hospitality, because to be very honest, right? some of the teams we played, for example Boston brute squad it's intimidating, some of the girls were like really nervous because they are playing against you know, athletes who they watch on YouTube videos. Yeah. Yeah. And, and to them, it's just like, oh my God, this is unbelievable. That actually right so they didn't, they didn't think that they had it in them even for a few seconds, like some of them were unsure. but eventually, they went in, they played their best and they realized that, yeah, there is a gap that the gap isn't as big as you think it is.
And I think even during that one week or so in itself, we've seen so many players grow within that one week, like from game to game, some of them would be very cautious in their play, they will do what they usually do. They would not really experiment, like they would not dare to, for example, throw the big hammers or the cross or the hucks. You're very used to doing safe, stable passes. That's of course also the reverse where people who I used to playing game or the long ball game they have, and not so much the shot classes, they have kind of gained courage and confidence from the other teammates to actually try playing the short passes.
So we see those, we see those changes and like, we also see that even though it was, it was just a week you actually see the difference that it makes when people start to really trust in one another. And it was just amazing. So like yeah, I remember the game in New York for example at first they were feeling that jitters, but eventually, you know, everyone just play freely.
And they were just really excited to be able to be there. Then when we went to Philadelphia, right. There was like, we faced another curveball, we had to play indoor. And that was something that most of the team, in fact, almost the entire team were not used to, I don't remember.
Tulsa: We do that a lot here.
Hui Fang: You do? Oh, okay. I know that. Oh yeah. I know that it's common for like UK, for example, to play the indoor game that even for players who come from countries like Japan or Australia, where there's four seasons.
Tulsa: Yeah.
Hui Fang: They don't really play indoor. Yeah. So every, every different game, every different location that we went to there were different sorts of challenges. So I remember like at the indoor game it felt the space felt little constraining. And because of the lack of space and how near the spectators were to the playing area, you could tell that some of the players became more conscious than ever, like more self-conscious than ever. They were looking around or they were seeming more flustered at some point because they had to look around to see that they're not stepping on anybody's hands or legs or whatever. And like, it felt different when you lay out and land on the surface, you know, it was all different.
Luisa: Um, the turf, yeah.
Hui Fang: Yeah. On the turf but you know, as always because of the nature of the game itself frisbee is so fun. So after like the first few points, very quickly adapted to the venue and just really enjoyed the game and so after the game we thanked all the supporters like we're doing high-fives with everybody. It sounds trivial maybe, but I think it was little things like that. Get added to our experience. You know, before frisbee would be like, okay, it's on the weekend. You pack it on a tournament, you get your duffel bag and then you just go and then you play like four games on D one and then three games on day two.
Hui Fang: And then like you high five your teammate, and then you go home. But here is like, you actually meet the spectators. You'll find out where they come from, how far they traveled to, to come here, who they're supporting? Is it your daughter? Yeah, they are your friend, you know, are college roommate. And then after the games we actually, it even in fact for some of the games before the games, we actually met our opponents.
In fact, we stayed with some of them and you just find out more and you realize that you have more in common than you had thought. And I think that's very important. Like, you know, for us, we were thinking that, oh, what is USA club players? they, they have it so easy as in like, they make it look so easy.
You know they face so effortlessly. They're also scared and everything, but it is only through those all field conversations that you realize that, Hey, actually they have their own struggles and. Different things that they need to overcome. Like, I was so surprised to learn that that's a player on Boston who actually lives in Canada?
Tulsa: Yeah, Jessie.
Hui Fang: Yes. And she's amazing. And, she drives, am I right? She drives to training every week. And it just changes your perspective on things because like, say in Singapore they're so small that to go from one end to the other, you only takes two hours by public transport, like Vida, subway, and even so, you know, you would stare half, players who find it like troublesome and blah, blah, blah.
So then when we went there and we’re hearing all these stories and we're seeing all these people, you're not just stories about, you're actually people who are like leading these lives and like Investing this much time and energy. And then we realized that one, we don't feel so alone.
And two, we start to think about things that within use of thing before, like, for example, Hey, what would it be like if I step out of my comfort zone, travel to another country, play. in fact it was a, it was a huge stepping stone for so many of the people who are involved, I wouldn't just say the players, even for me as a manager or for our TTV, our, our filming who, The three guys who are reversed. Yeah, it just changes our perspective on not just frisbee, but on life. Like what is it that I want to achieve or how do I want to impact the people around me? Why am I doing this? What are some ways that I can change to achieve this? Or what are some things that I should not change, but stick to, and, you know, just we had conversations amongst ourselves within the team and actually with ourselves.
So I think depen Asia women's cup was the first stepping stone where some of the players realized that, Hey, you know, actually frisbee is also really fun because we get to meet all these people from around the world. And then the all stars tour was the stepping stone that people realized that, Hey, you do actual.
Just have to meet them during the tournament itself. If you want to, you can, you can actually uh, really yourself and go there and, and train with the team and, you know, actually live with them and see how it's like.
So like like in subsequent tournaments, after the all-star store in the world's competition, for example sometimes we'd be wondering, Hey, why did your team do that? Or, you know, why did this happen? We realized that we could actually take that conversation outside of the field and actually try to understand.
So like the communication improve, we were actually one to discuss it with the person or with the team rather than not have the discussion and then just speculate within your own team about what happened. Yeah.
Tulsa: That's a really valuable benefit. Yeah.
Hui Fang: Do y'all manage to watch... I know that Tulsa took part in one of the
Tulsa: Yeah. And Luisa did too
Hui Fang: to oh!
Tulsa: On BENT
Hui Fang: which,
Luisa: Yes. Yeah, we were the first game. Yeah. You smacked us
Hui Fang: Yeah. How, how did y'all feel playing with your team and against all-star squad. And did you watch the other games?
Luisa: Yeah. Yeah. We watched the other games. It was, it's so fun. it's so fun to see and play against people outside of, the U S and so to learn that there was this whole delegation of people that are, were so talented to play against you all until, you know, we, we could see some of the not, you know, This isn't a bad thing, but because we were your first game, I think we could see some of the communication issues or just the um, first team together sort of playing like kinks that you were working out. So to see that, and then to see the game, at the end of it, that you played against Brute Squad, that, that was incredible to see the growth that you were able to do in, in, in that one week. Yeah. just within the game itself. And then to see how, how y'all progressed over the course of the week, it was incredibly entertaining. It felt like a very successful tour from an opponent and a fan point of view. So.
Tulsa: Yeah. And I would say from playing against you all, it brought a different on-field challenge because you had different styles of play and individuals had different styles of play. And so we were challenged. We weren't guarding the same teams that we typically guard and the same individuals that we typically guard. So it forced us to be able to learn, to adapt and adjust to the way that you all were playing and figure out new ways to do things and how to shut down and players who are doing some really awesome stuff. So, yeah, it was a fantastic experience and it was fun because we had played a number of those players. There was a group of us on Brute Squad that had played on the U24 in 2018. So we had played a number of the people on the tour at the Worlds. So it was fun to play them again.
Hui Fang: Yeah. And for us, like going from one place to another and seeing the different teams we also realized that the USA community is a lot more diverse than what we see on YouTube.
Yeah. And, and, and for me, right personally I was kind of like pleasantly surprised to find out that so many of the people who are invested in the coaching when it comes to coaching they actually would share their thoughts quite freely on different platforms. Like they were writing articles about your coaching philosophy. And again, this was something that wasn't quite the norm for the other countries especially the Asian countries.
And I think what happened well, yeah, one of the reports was that what happened after that, or either during the tour itself? For example some of the players in particular dos, we had like six representatives from Japan. They were actually they decided to keep a journal.
So they wanted to share all the different things that they learned from all the teams that they played. So we opened up a Facebook page for the Japanese representatives and they would share. Yeah. Reflections and thoughts. The idea was they wanted to bring and shared his experience that they had with their teammates in Japan.
And of course one of the main goals of the tour was that we wanted the people we, we wanted our respective communities to see that what our strengths are as players from Asia Pacific what is it that we can do? And how is it that we can fair when we're playing with players, from the different continents?
As our slogan says, we hope to inspire connect view and inspire. And I think it was very Important that it was visible. I think one of our goals was to actually have the players on real, like you can actually watch these fears. So that they have role models that they can, they can look up to.
That actually comes from the community. Yeah, and yeah, and I think that was what the idea behind the all stars tour to begin with.
Luisa: And now Share the Air will take a break to talk about today's teachable moment brought to you by our sponsor, the Centre for applied neuroscience.
Tulsa: We introduced teachable moments in season one to explain the neuroscience behind some common tools and principles often used to enhance sports performance, such as visualization, routines, and positive feedback. If you want to hear those segments again, you can find them in episodes six through 10 and on the Centre for applied neuroscience is website.
Luisa: for season two. We asked our audience what neuroscience you wanted to explained And we have Dr. Wintink here to answer your questions.
Mandy: Hi.
Luisa: On last week's teachable moment. We talked about fatigue and there's one more piece that a lot of y'all might relate to caffeine.
Mandy: There's one other piece that I'd love to share.
Most of us know that, when we take caffeine, so we drink coffee in the morning, it wakes us up, right. And that's because it actually prevents the adenosine from connecting with the receptors in the brain to say, I'm tired.
So it's fooling the brain into thinking it's no longer tired. I know some people use caffeine during performance. I have myself as well. Different energy drinks as well can kickstart the arousal system or the awake system and suppress that adenosine signal that we're tired.
And so we do know that energy drinks and caffeine do have a performance enhancing effect, both physically and mentally. So that's just an interesting side note. You know, if you kind of get that jolt from the caffeine kick, then I know I've personally felt like, okay, I can go. So I'll save my energy drink for the last game of a tournament or something like that.
And it works, it physically changes my body. And then I feel like I've got that motivation to go. And that seems to be supported by the evidence.
Tulsa: Yeah.
Oh my gosh.
Tulsa: That's cool to hear that the caffeine, like where in the system it comes into, because I know a lot of people use caffeine.
Mandy: Yeah. There's also, I mean, there's also touring that is in some of them too, which is an amino acid. And that also has some performance enhancing effects as well, which is often in those energy drinks as well. So
Tulsa: Awesome. Thanks to our sponsor, Dr. Mandy Wintink and the Centre for Applied Neuroscience for this teachable moment, head to www.knowyourbrain.ca and see what courses they have to teach you more about your brain.
Luisa: If you mentioned that you heard about them here, you'll get a 5% discount of course fees. And they'll also donate 5% back to Share the Air.
So Singapore is currently in lockdown you're not allowed to gather more than two people which means you can really only do throwing drills. So given that that's kind of your current state of things what's sort of next for you with ultimate are there like, teams you're planning for, or events that you'd like to do in the future?
Hui Fang: Anything that's kind of been inspired or lessons that you've taken away from all of the things that you've coached and organized, managed in the last few years, In terms of the big picture, right? One of the things that I like to see happen on the Singapore front is that I like for us to have more women coaches that something that we are lacking right now. In that regard, I think that's one area where there's a lot of catching up to do.
What I mean by that is, is for example in the U.S., Australia, Japan, even in our New Zealand and many other countries that we have, or you have many women coaches, in fact they are not only coaching the women's team. We do have women coaches, coaching, mixed teams and coaching men's teams.
Am I right?
Tulsa: Yeah.
Luisa: Yeah.
Hui Fang: Right now in Singapore. No. So at the moment we do not have women's clubs for one and so we do not have opportunities for women coaches to actually practice being coaches. We do have women coaches when we formed national teams. And I'm thankful for that, there's that opportunity for us to grow and learn as coaches. So in terms of big picture I hope that within the next five to 10 years we would see and have actually programs in place where we have women coaches and not just for the women's team, but also for the other sort of gender teams. And I think in order for that to happen I would have to find ways to be actively playing and connecting.
Tulsa: We always end our episode with a little game. So this is the game that we ended each episode with in season one. So we'll ask you a short open-ended question and you'll have 10 seconds from when we start the question to giving your answer. And if you take longer than 10 seconds, we'll stall you out. And Lu and I will take turns asking questions and we'll ask, I don't know. What about 10 questions, Lu?
Hui Fang: Okay. Can we just check? How long is your ten second still account?
Luisa: It's a generous, a generous 10.
Hui Fang: Okay. Okay. Can I call fast count?
Luisa: Okay. cool. You can only have one throw, which throw are you? Pick
Hui Fang: Hammer, cross-field hammer, specifically. Yup.
Tulsa: What's your favorite non-ultimate hobby.
Hui Fang: At the moment, beach volleyball.
Luisa: Cool. What's your favorite play that you've ever made?
Hui Fang: Mid-field past to the end zone to a male teammate in mixed beach.
Luisa: Cool.
Hui Fang: Yeah.
Tulsa: Okay. You have to pick one of these three: burpees, pushups, or pull-ups.
Hui Fang: Burpees.
Tulsa: Oh
Luisa: Hammers and burpees. Really? If you were a color, what color would you be?
Hui Fang: Purple.
Tulsa: What's your favorite tournament snack?
Hui Fang: Oh peanut butters sandwiches.
Luisa: Who's the best sideline that you've ever had?
Hui Fang: Oh, that's difficult. again, I don't have a person in particular that like at the moment. AO All-Stars sideline was the best.
Luisa: Awesome
Hui Fang: Yeah.
Tulsa: What's your most used emoji?
Hui Fang: Oh it's the one the face with the mini hearts, to express that you feel well. Yeah, but I use the other one equally. The one where the saliva coming out to that suppose that you're feeling hungry.
Tulsa: Drooling? Yeah.
Hui Fang: yeah.
Tulsa: yeah.
Luisa: What's the best compliment you've ever received?
Hui Fang: Wow. Um, “you're very generous.” I think that's the best.
Luisa: I love that one. Awesome. That's Ten Second Stall.
Tulsa: Nice work.
Luisa: You did it, no stall outs.
Tulsa: Yeah.
Hui Fang: Almost, I was this close.
Tulsa: Well, Fang thank you for spending a whole bunch of time with us and working through tech issues and, and sharing all that you have done and all that you have done for, especially women's ultimate in Singapore. I've definitely learned a lot and I'm excited to watch what you do next.
Hui Fang: I'm also excited to watch what you all do next. Thanks for having me.
Luisa: Thanks for listening and we'll see you next time. If you like the podcast and want to support us, here are a few things that you can do.
Tulsa: You can follow us on Instagram and Facebook @sharetheairpodcast and on Twitter @sharetheairpod.
Luisa: You can also rate and review us, and most importantly, subscribe to our podcasts wherever you listen.
Tulsa: And if you want to show more support or you just can't get enough of Share the Air, you can check out our Patrion at patreon.com/sharetheair. If you're interested in repping some Share the Air gear, check out our VC Ultimate store at vcultimate.com.
Luisa: If you want to get in touch with us, you can email us team@sharetheirpodcast.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Tulsa: Thanks so much for listening.
Luisa: Share the Air is recorded and edited by Tulsa Douglas and Luisa Neves. It is planned and produced by Tulsa Douglas, Luisa, Neves, and Tim Bobrowski.
Tulsa: Share the Air's music is by Grey Devlin and Christopher Hernandez.
Luisa: Finally, thanks again to our sponsors, NUTC, VC Ultimate, and the Centre for Applied Neuroscience.