The First Time I Chased The Dream Alone
- jeromesiow
- 8 hours ago
- 9 min read
June 2026
The Higher I Climb, The More I Realise How Far There Is To Go
Two Journeys, One Lesson
May and June 2026 became two of the most memorable months in Emett's young water polo journey. Within just a few weeks, he found himself travelling to Japan and Spain, training with different athletes, experiencing different cultures and learning lessons that could never be picked up from a textbook. Both trips revolved around water polo, but when we look back today, neither trip was really about the sport itself. They were about growing up, seeing a bigger world and understanding what it truly means to chase a dream. More importantly, they taught him a lesson that many young athletes eventually learn: the better you become, the more you realise how much more there is still to learn.
The first trip was to Japan with his Singapore Sports School teammates. For a young athlete, travelling overseas to represent their school is always a special experience. It is an honour that not every student gets to experience. Wearing the school colours in another country carries a sense of pride and responsibility. Throughout the trip, the boys trained together, competed together, travelled together and shared countless meals and experiences together. The memories that stayed with Emett were not the match results or scores. Instead, they were the friendships, the conversations after training, the jokes shared on train rides and the bond that comes from working towards the same goal. Japan reminded him that sport is never just about the individual. Behind every athlete is a team, a group of teammates and coaches who are all helping one another move forward.
A few weeks later came Spain, and the experience felt completely different. While Japan was about representing his school alongside his teammates, Spain felt more personal. This trip was not simply another overseas competition. It was part of a bigger vision. For the first time, Emett was stepping into an environment where he wanted to find out how far he could go in the sport. He was no longer surrounded by his usual teammates and coaches. Instead, he had to adapt to a new training environment, learn from different players and observe how athletes from around the world approached the game. It was the first time he started to understand that if he truly wanted to pursue water polo at a higher level one day, the responsibility would ultimately be his own.
Together, the two trips became an important chapter in his journey. Japan taught him the value of friendship, teamwork and the privilege of representing something bigger than himself. Spain taught him about ownership, independence and having the courage to pursue a dream that might take him far beyond what is familiar today. One trip was an honour shared with his teammates. The other felt like the beginning of a mission. Different countries, different experiences, but both left him with the same realisation: the higher you climb, the more you realise how much further there is still to go.
Japan: Learning Together
The journey began in Japan with Emett's Singapore Sports School teammates, an experience that carried a special meaning for any young athlete. Travelling overseas to represent your school is an opportunity earned through years of training, discipline and commitment, and wearing the school colours in another country brings both pride and responsibility. While overseas travel may become familiar over time, every opportunity to represent your team and country remains a privilege that should never be taken for granted.
Throughout the trip, the team trained together, competed together and explored a completely different environment together. The memories extended far beyond the pool and included navigating Tokyo's train system with heavy luggage, walking through unfamiliar neighbourhoods on the way to training venues, sharing meals after long days and learning how to look out for one another in a foreign country. Many of the moments that seemed ordinary at the time eventually became the most memorable, because they reflected the friendships, trust and camaraderie that had been built through years of training together.
Inside the pool, the boys were exposed to a different standard of water polo that challenged their assumptions and broadened their understanding of the game. The Japanese teams impressed them with their discipline, speed and attention to detail, and every training session offered new lessons while every match presented a fresh challenge. Emett enjoyed testing himself against strong opponents and observing different approaches to the sport, yet when the trip came to an end, it was not the scores or results that stayed with him. What remained were the strengthened friendships, the shared experiences and the feeling of being part of a group working towards a common goal.
As parents, we often focus on performances, rankings and achievements because they are the most visible outcomes of sport. Yet when I looked through the photographs after the trip, many of my favourites had nothing to do with water polo. They showed boys carrying their own luggage through train stations, walking together through unfamiliar streets, sharing meals after training and quietly looking out for one another. Those moments captured a different kind of growth, one that cannot be measured by statistics or medals but often proves far more valuable in the long run.
Japan reinforced something that many athletes eventually learn through experience. Sport is rarely just about competition, because some of the most meaningful lessons emerge from the people who share the journey with you. Training, travelling and competing together created memories that extended far beyond water polo and provided opportunities to adapt, mature and experience a different culture as a team.
Looking back, Japan was not simply a water polo tour but an opportunity for Emett to learn what it meant to travel, grow and navigate new experiences alongside his teammates. At the time, he may not have realised how important those lessons would become, but they would provide a foundation for an entirely different experience waiting for him soon.
A Different Departure
Only a few days after returning home, Emett found himself standing at Changi Airport once again, but this departure felt very different from the one before. There was no Sports School delegation moving through the terminal together and no familiar group of teammates surrounding him. Standing beside him was Nicholas, and together they carried their own bags as they prepared to spend three weeks in Spain at BIWPA's Summer Academy. To most people, it may have looked like another overseas training trip, but for the boys and their families, it represented something much bigger. It felt like another step towards independence and another step towards taking ownership of their own sporting journeys.
The People Behind The Dream
The transition into life in Spain was made easier by Nicholas's father, who travelled with the boys for a few days and helped them settle into their new surroundings. He guided them around Sabadell, showed them where to buy groceries, explained how daily life worked and spent time observing their training sessions. Most people only see the athletes standing on the pool deck, but they rarely see the parents working quietly behind the scenes, making sacrifices and creating opportunities long before any success becomes visible. Watching Nicholas's father help the boys find their footing in a foreign country served as a reminder that even when young athletes begin learning to stand on their own, they never truly walk the journey alone.
Standing Where Champions Once Stood
As the days passed, Emett began to realise that Spain was unlike anything he had experienced before. Club Natació Sabadell carried more than a century of sporting history, and everywhere he looked there were reminders of excellence built over generations. Trophy cabinets lined the hallways, photographs celebrated Olympians and world champions, and the walls told stories of athletes who had dedicated their lives to pursuing greatness. Walking through the club felt less like entering a sports facility and more like stepping into a living history of achievement.
Standing in front of those displays, he could not help but think about the athletes who had walked those same corridors before him. Every Olympian and every world champion had once been a young athlete standing beside a pool with a dream, uncertain of where the journey would eventually lead. The difference was not that they had started with something extraordinary, but that they had continued climbing long after many others had stopped.
For the first time, the dream no longer felt distant or abstract. It was no longer something viewed through YouTube videos or social media highlights. The pool was real, the athletes were real and the standard was real. That realisation was both exciting and uncomfortable because it forced him to confront the gap between where he was and where he hoped to be. In that moment, the dream became more tangible than ever before, but so did the work required to pursue it.
The Rhythm Of Excellence
One lesson stood out more clearly than any other during the trip. At the highest levels of sport, nobody talks about effort because effort is assumed. Nobody receives praise simply for trying hard because every athlete trains hard, every athlete wants to improve and every athlete dreams of becoming better. What separates athletes is not whether they are willing to work hard on a particular day, but whether they can maintain that standard day after day, month after month and year after year.
Training in Spain was demanding, but it was also surprisingly simple. Most days followed a rhythm that rarely changed. Morning gym sessions were followed by pool training. Lunch led to more training. Dinner was followed by recovery and sleep before repeating the same routine the next day. There were no shortcuts, secret formulas or miracle methods. Just consistency, discipline and a commitment to improve a little every day.
The simplicity of it all left a strong impression on Emett. Great athletes were not built through occasional moments of brilliance. They were built through years of ordinary work repeated consistently. The same habits. The same commitment. The same willingness to show up every day, regardless of how they felt. Spain showed him that the gap between good athletes and great athletes is often found in the habits they repeat when nobody is watching.
Throughout the camp, Emett and Nicholas trained alongside athletes from many different countries. Languages were different. Cultures were different. Backgrounds were different. Yet once they stepped into the water, those differences seemed to disappear. Everyone shared the same goals and understood the same sacrifices required to be there. It was a reminder that high-performance sport speaks a language of its own, one built on discipline, resilience and hard work.
One of the highlights of the trip was meeting athletes whose achievements had once felt impossibly distant. World champions. Olympians. International professionals. Yet what surprised Emett most was not how extraordinary they seemed, but how ordinary they were. They trained hard, respected their teammates, listened to coaches and carried themselves with humility. Their achievements did not feel magical or impossible. They felt earned.
Standing beside athletes whose names appeared on Olympic walls and championship honours boards, Emett began to understand something important. Success was not reserved for a special few who possessed something others did not. Success was built through thousands of small decisions made over many years. The trophies, medals and accolades were simply the visible result of habits that had been repeated long before anyone was watching.
For a young athlete, that lesson may have been even more valuable than any tactical advice or technical instruction received during the trip. Talent may open the first door, but character, discipline and consistency determine how far an athlete ultimately travels.
Walking The Other Path
Looking back, Japan and Spain were connected in ways Emett could not fully appreciate at the time. Together with the lessons he had learned during his earlier experiences in the United States, the three journeys formed a progression in his understanding of sport and life. The United States had shown him the importance of stepping outside familiar environments, adapting quickly and competing with confidence against athletes from different backgrounds. Japan taught him how much strength could be found in shared purpose and teamwork. Spain challenged him to become more independent and take responsibility for his own development.
Japan showed him the strength that comes from having teammates around him. Spain showed him the size of the world beyond his team. The United States showed him that growth often begins when comfort ends. Japan taught him the value of belonging. Spain taught him the importance of independence. Together, these experiences broadened his perspective and helped him grow beyond the boundaries of the pool.
Years from now, Emett may not remember every training set, every match or every tactical lesson. Those details often fade with time. What will probably remain are the images, train rides through Tokyo with teammates who had grown up alongside him, the departure gate at Changi Airport before Spain, the trophy cabinets at Club Natació Sabadell and the friendships formed across different countries.
Most of all, he may remember standing in places where great athletes once stood and realising that every journey begins the same way, with a young boy carrying a dream and taking the first step towards it.
For Emett, Japan and Spain were never just overseas trips. They were two different paths leading towards the same destination.
"Real growth begins the moment you realise you are not as good as you thought—and choose to keep going anyway..." Emett (UDA)
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