Suit up, shape up. If you’re looking to give some new sports a go – from teams to one-offs – there’s a heap of places to hit up, Gerard Ward finds.

Archery

Archery Club of Singapore
542 Hougang Ave 8, Block 542, 530542
9721 1933
archeryclubspore.com
Kids and adults can join in on a basic course to get a hang of holding the bow and arrows, and the correct posture. Coaches will be nearby to make sure no one gets hurt getting accustomed to the traditional way of hunting. The club also runs the Punggol Trial Shoots for its members for those wanting a bit of competition. It’s $15 per person to join a group session – though there’s an initial $80 annual membership to get first.

Baseball Batting Cage

Homerun Baseball
200 Pandan Gardens #01-01/02/03/04, 609336
6635 6315
hrb.com.sg
Set up almost like a golf driving range, there are four places for people to whack some balls. The softball section pitches larger balls for those looking to hone in on hitting the ball first before advancing to the 80km, 90km and 100km pitching areas. The machines are fed by pre-paid tokens at the counter – each token gets 12 balls. At first you may not think it’s enough at $40 for 11 tokens (discounted if you become a member), but by the third go, you’ll start to feel certain muscles begin to ache.

Trampolines

Bounce Singapore
Cathay Cineleisure, #09-01, 8 Grange Road, 239695
6816 2879
bounceinc.com.sg
Bounce Singapore has turned the top floor of Cathay Cineleisure into a haven for kids to be kids, and adults to be kids. The Free Jump area, has a dozen trampolines connected together, some in an L-shape with the wall, with soft padding – hiding those painful springs we’ve all fallen into at one point in time back in our youth. Three long trampolines lead to a massive ‘Big Bag’ inflatable pillow – best for those wanting to act on childish eagerness to practice front-flips, or just to jump in. There’s sixteen trampolines set up for dodgeball, and two basketball rings hovering over two trampolines – a basketballer’s dream to be able to dunk. One hour for kids under 110cm is $17, and for the taller kids-slash-adults, $24.

Surfing

Splash-N-Surf
1B Stadium Walk, 397690
6653 8900
sportshub.com.sg
If you don’t feel the surf gene in your DNA kick in when you’re in the water, then learn it. Kallang Wave Mall’s Splash-N-Surf Water Playground has a lazy river with inflatable tubes for relaxing, but the Stingray surfing half-pipe is where kids and adults can try a board, kneeboard or bodyboard. There’s a 1.2m height requirement as a heads up. One hour ranges from $35-$40 depending on peak times, but a Stingray lesson is $42 for adults, and $38 for kids 12 and under.

Ice Skating

The Rink
JCube #03, 2 Jurong East Central 1, 609731
6684 2374
therink.sg
From six years old and up, anyone wanting to learn the tricks of the ice can get a pair of skates and cruise around the rink – or grab some basic lessons – at The Rink at JCube. It doesn’t just stop at the basics, however. Those interested can up the ante and try their luck at some figure or speed skating lessons. Lessons start from $70 per 30-minute slot.

Fencing

Z Fencing
293 Toa Payoh Lorong 6 #04-01, 319387
6354 0102
zfencing.com
Sometimes it takes courage to want to defend yourself against a sabre, but luckily there’s a whole bunch of groups ready to teach you the craft of fencing. Z Fencing has a list of programmes set up for kids as young as 5 to adults who are wanting to wield some steel, though it’s not just swishing your foil or épée around – there’s a lot of rules, etiquette, footwork and mental techniques to learn. A 3-month term for kids will cost $706.20, and adult courses are $214 per package.

Go-Karting

KF1 Karting Circuit
1 Turf Club Avenue, 738078
6891 1191
kf1karting.com
Some may not see it as a sport per se, go-karting can be physically demanding and require quite a lot of strong reflexes – it’s also the closest the public can get to any F1-like activities. German Formula One track designer Hermann Tilke – responsible for creating the full-sized Marina Bay Street Circuit – designed the 960-meter, $2 million track complete with night-time lights. Riding go-karts at 50km/h engines (for those with licences, otherwise 30km/h) can be addictive. Sessions range from $35-$45 per 10-minutes session.

Table Tennis

OCBC Arena
5 Stadium Drive, 397631
6653 8900
sportshub.com.sg
Pick up a couple of paddles and some balls from the local sports shop and book out one of the ten tables in OCBC Arena. Taking up half a basketball court, ten tables are laid out, sectioned off by waist-high fencing. For $6.50 an hour you can whack away in your own space dedicated to table tennis. Booking online is incredibly easy, there’s no membership fee required, and the best part is you won’t feel bad if you’re not a pro – just try not to hit on to the other tables too much.

Ice Hockey

Singapore Ice Hockey Association
JCube #03, 2 Jurong East Central 1, 609731
siha.org.sg
The Singapore Ice Hockey Association (SIHA) runs a handful of programs from youth development to an adult ice hockey league for men and women. They also support the Rink’s Advance Learn-to-Skate program – commonly known as Learn-to Play – for beginners. Get in touch to find out how you can join in the team or start your ice hockey journey. Games are held at The Rink at JCube – the same place where beginners attend their training lessons.

Sailing

Changi Sailing Club
32 Netheravon Road, 508508
6545 2876
csc.org.sg
From the single-person Optimist dinghy all the way up to keelboat crew member, Changi Sail Club runs weekend training courses to get you up to speed with competent sailing techniques. You’ll be shown everything that you need to know, from the parts of the boat and points of sail to rigging and learning to avoid collisions and recovering after being capsized. Four full-day courses start from $361.65 – or cheaper if you’re a member.

Kayaking

Adventure Paddlers
131 Pasir Ris Road, 519148
9737 7944
adventurepaddlers.com.sg
There’s kayaking in MacRitchie Reservoir, but heading out to sea is the next step up. The company that shares space with the Ohama Beach House along Pasir Ris Beach rents out kayaks at an affordable $10 an hour per person, or $50 for the day. Adventure Paddlers teaches courses to properly deal with the types of challenges you’ll face. If you don’t mind paddling far, you can also arrange for an expedition to places like Pulau Ubin – check out the Facebook page for a camping trip through the islands of Bintan.

With the WTA Finals tennis tournament coming this month, Gerard Ward finds out more about the organiser’s deep roots as a fan of the game.

From the racquet to the runway and back again, Lagardère Sports’ VP of Tennis in Asia Sarah Clements has been instrumental in putting together some amazing events. With the BNP Paribas Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Finals Singapore tournament at the end of the month, Sarah has been hard at work finalising as many pieces of the event as possible. ‘Actually it sounds a bit sacrilegious, but I don’t get the chance to actually sit down and watch,’ Sarah says when I ask about her recent trip to Wimbledon. ‘At a tournament, it’s hard not to bump into somebody you know every ten metres, so you don’t get much rest.’

The WTA Finals is a week-long round-robin tournament event where the best in women’s singles and doubles in tennis come together – meaning every match is the equivalent of a Grand Slam. ‘Everyone can have the chance to see the top eight players in the world over two particular days,’ Sarah says. ‘This is a really unique format because no matter what day you buy a ticket for, you’re guaranteed to see the best tennis in the world.’

While tickets for the event have been available for months, it’s impossible to predict who the top eight players will be until closer to the event – Serena Williams was slated to play at the WTA Finals, but injuries led her to pull out. Angelique Kerber and Agnieszka Radwanska have secured the first two singles qualifications. Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza have also been confirmed as the first of eight doubles teams to qualify.

Part of the WTA Finals is the Future Stars programme, bringing some of the best regional players together to play a tennis tournament in the same arena as the world’s champions. ‘As a parent it tugs the heartstrings, because most of these girls would never in their lifetime get the opportunity that we’re able to provide, and you just see their faces and…it’s really heartwarming,’ Sarah says.

Centre court. Photo courtesy Lagardère Sports.

Sarah has been involved with tennis all of her life, both personally and professionally. Born in Surrey, England, Sarah was whisked off with her family to Africa when she was only ten days old. From Zambia, Botswana and Malawi, her three siblings and parents lived an expatriate life. ‘My earliest memories of tennis were in Malawi, going down to the Blantyre Sports Club and really being there all weekend,’ Sarah says.

In the early 80’s the family moved to Australia, deciding to visit each city first by bus – starting from Perth – to decide where to live. ‘Of course we get to Melbourne, and after something like five or so days on the bus across the Nullarbor, we’re like…we’re not getting back on that bus,’ she reminisces.

After the move to Melbourne, Sarah was playing tennis every single day, rain or shine – and knowing Melbourne, it was more the latter. ‘I remember those freezing cold mornings in North Ringwood, freezing, in the middle of winter,’ she says. ‘I have absolutely no skill in it, but absolutely loved it. They say tennis is a sport for life, which is so true.’

Her career began right after exams in Vogue Magazine, starting in an admin role. Eventually she reached editorial, then to advertising – getting to learn all sides of the business. After four years, she left her role to try out a job at the tennis centre – a job she would’ve missed out on if it weren’t for her persistence.

Not knowing what the job was – ‘from a cleaner to the president’ – she talked her way into an interview, nabbing an admin role and over the course of 19 years, was General Manager for Operations and Events for Tennis Australia. ‘I’m one of those kids who lines up with my mum 100 people-deep to buy tickets every year,’ she says. ‘And my role was mostly focused on the Australian Open, and the delivery of the Australian Open.’

Agniezska Radwanska with her prize. Photo courtesy Lagardère Sports.

She left her life in tennis to go back into fashion, this time working for the Melbourne Fashion Festival. As she says herself, ‘tennis is a sport for life’, and like watching a tennis ball in a Wimbledon match, Sarah went back into tennis four years later when she was approached by Lagardère Sports to head up the tennis division. ‘At the Australian Open you have 700 players, all converging on Melbourne, and it’s just this juggernaut that you roll out and it’s incredibly successful,’ Sarah says. ‘But I loved the idea of having such a unique proposition that really suited the Singapore market. I mean the Singaporean market is quite intolerant of mediocrity, and rightly so.’

Singapore’s interest in sports has rekindled since the SEA Games last year, and the investment of the Singapore Sports Hub. With Singapore winning its first gold medal at the Rio Olympics, there’s even more interest in seeing what possibilities lie for sports. Big events like the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix have been getting the most attention, but bringing tournaments like the Rugby Sevens and the Premier League Asia Trophy has given the country great opportunities to see some of the world’s best athletes.

The WTA Finals has been held at cities all over the world, from Dubai to Los Angeles. This is Singapore’s third year, with Sarah at the helm. Taking the job was a great way to not only give Sarah’s two sons the chance to have the kind of nomadic life she lived as a kid, but to take up another challenge. ‘[This event] has to be the best of the best to work in this market, and the WTA Finals is the best of the best,’ she says. The first day is Family Day, with a ton of activities and entertainment for all. The rest of the tournament is a fantastic way to see some of the best players in the world.

The BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore runs from 23-30 October.

Picking up the iconic character of Roger in Singapore’s first performance of Rent, Cameron MacDonald tells us what to expect from the longstanding musical about New York’s East Village in the early ‘90s.

So you’ve just finished working on the Georgie Girl musical in Sydney?
Georgie Girl was in Sydney. I finished that season, and without a day off started rehearsals for You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown in Melbourne, then Georgie Girl went to Perth, which I did. I had a day off, went to Sydney and did a season for Songs for a New World, and then without a day off, we’re here.

Rent has such a strongrepertoire of music. Playing the character of Roger the musician is quite a challenge. Are you a musician?
Growing up in a folk music household, there’s always been instruments around. Mum and dad both play guitar. I’ve dabbled with it over the years without ever making it my number one focus or anything, but this last couple of months I’ve had to step it up and put a lot of time into it. What’s probably the most daunting thing about the role is you have to have real control of that particular craft, so that you don’t think about it.

The story of Rent happens at a time when there were a lot of unknowns about AIDs. Telling Rent now would be a whole different story.
That’s right, absolutely. You watch these characters take their AZT or whatever and you’re like ‘Damn, is that even the right thing to do?’ We’re watching this period of time where people really didn’t know about it. It was a death sentence back then, and it was really scary. I think it’s a really important show, and an exciting time to be doing it in Singapore – particularly for the young people who come to see it. There’s a lot in it for people who are finding themselves, and it’s amazing how it takes a group of truly ill people – who don’t know if they’ve got a day to look forward to – to live in the moment. And they still make mistakes, and they don’t live in the moment, but the message is clear. The heroes of the story are amazing because they live right in the moment. That’s really important for this generation who are so deeply into their phones and miss that personal connection.

Roger is quite an emotionally deep character to play.
I take a massive interest in what happens to Roger before Rent begins. You get little titbits about the character, like his girlfriend found out that they had AIDs, and she killed herself in the bathroom, so what would that do to a person? When we pick up the story, Roger’s friend Mark says he’s just coming back from half a year of withdrawal. It’s like something, whatever it was, made him get rehab. So that’s amazing too, that shows some strength, but you’re right, he’s in a real dark place.

Is Roger one of the darkest characters you’ve played so far?
I’ve played Charlie Brown and he’s a dark little soul too – and he’s five years old. They just say how they’re feeling. Some of his little lines were so tragic as well. He broke my heart as well. There’s been some big characters for sure.

Rent is running until 23 October at the Drama Centre Theatre.

Covering 3,370 kilometres in eight weeks, Tatyana Kildisheva shares her top moments from her epic bike ride through both islands of New Zealand.

From 21 January to 14 March, my husband and I rode from Christchurch to Auckland. We would occasionally meet a few cyclists along the way who would want to join us or to hang out for a couple of days – but otherwise we were alone.

New Zealand is a very beautiful country with breathtaking landscapes and ever changing scenery ranging from vast farmland, fjords, valleys and mountains to geothermal areas with active geysers.

My bike is a regular road bike. The key to cover long distances and hills is to have very minimal possessions. For this New Zealand trip I only had two bags. The handlebar bag carried my camera and three lenses, and the second contained all my clothes for two months – two pairs of cycling shorts, some trousers and a jacket, two cycling tops and two t-shirts.

Roads in New Zealand are not so great for road cycling conditions – the chip seal is quite rough and bumpy, and roads are generally narrow. We were very lucky with the weather – sunny and cool about 17-25°C – with the exception of the West Coast of the South Island, where we rode three days in 10°C and neverending rain. We were riding up and down the hills in the rain there for three days, completely soaked – sometimes with fog and low visibility. It was very windy – especially in South Island – and not just ‘windy’, but wind so strong that at times it was almost impossible to ride our bikes.

We mostly stayed at camping sites in cabins, hostels and places on Airbnb. We also stayed with hosts through warmshowers.org – a community supporting touring cyclists all over the world when hosts invite cyclists to stay in their houses or apartments for free – we are hosts as well when we are in Singapore.

Every day was a different landscape, and seeing this gorgeous scenery from the seat of my bike made me appreciate the most beautiful skies even more.

One particular moment that stood out for me was when we arrived to a small town Waikawa – almost at the southern end of the South Island. We were having dinner at Niagara Falls Cafe and the owner, Sue, was phoning places from all around to help find us a place to stay – because of an upcoming music festival, every kind of accommodation was booked up within a 40km radius.

Everything was booked, so she let us and a third cyclist with us – a Polish-Australian guy we met on the road – sleep in her son’s room in her house. She was super nice and did not accept any payment other than what we ordered for dinner – and even fed us breakfast in the morning. This was such exceptional kindness that was very much appreciated after a long day of cycling. A true display of New Zealand hospitality that we will never forget.

Road Highlights

The Doubtful Sound cruise takes you to the second largest fiord in Fiordland National Park, with utterly breath-taking views of the twisting arms from the boat.

We’ve read online that just a couple of years ago Fox Glacier was a lot bigger, but it’s been getting smaller and smaller in the last 20 years. Fox Glacier was spectacular, and the weather improved, so we could walk to it.

We came across a fence full of colourful bras near the Cardrona Distillery – I later learned ‘Bradrona’ is there to raise breast cancer awareness. There’s been a mixed reaction to the fence over the years, with a series of takedowns and then re-dressings. It seems it now has some good support.

The longest place name in New Zealand resides in the North Island. ‘Taumata whakatangi hangakoauau o tamatea turi pukakapiki maunga horo nuku pokai whenua kitanatahu’ translates to ‘the place where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, who slid, climbed and swallowed mountains, known as ‘landeater’, played his flute to his loved one’.

Steampunk HQ in Oamaru is a celebration of the subgenre that blends 19th-century industrial steam-powered machines with modern technology and design.

Going up Crown Range road pass on bikes was tough, but worth it. It’s the highest sealed road in New Zealand at 1,076 metres, and the views were amazing. Going down was quite an interesting experience, as the wind was so strong that we had to pedal to go downhill.

Cycling through Wairau Valley, passing the wineries from Saint Arnaud pass to Renwick – with very beautiful scenery and a mostly downhill path.

Howick Historic Village near Auckland, where people can see what a 19th Century village would feel like – with colonial buildings and costumed guides.

The Hobbiton visit on the North Island – the movie site for The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings – was a must-do for us.