At the recent event called Sportitude, 139 youths gathered to learn how to be good sports through sports.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF WYZ ZONE
Three things are needed to play sports well: talent, hard work and the right attitude. This was the message Wu Yuzhuang, a pastor at City Harvest Church imparted to the youths from his zone at the recent event, Sportitude.
Sportitude is an amalgamation of two words—”sports” and “attitude”—and the youth organizers have given it the meaning of “sports with the right attitude”. On Jan 31, a total of 139 youth gathered at the MOE Co-Curricular Activities Branch Sports Stadium for three hours of Captain’s Ball, Frisbee and Touch Rugby.
“We wanted everyone to have fun with sports, yet exercise good sportsmanship and exemplify great attitudes while they play,” explained organizer Jordan Ong, 23, a university student.
The idea for a sports event came about when Wu gathered his youth leaders and shared with them the need for revival in the zone.
“We were planning to do a youth outreach and felt that youths these days are taking greater interest in sports and keeping fit. What better way to kick off the year than to keep fit? That’s how we came up with Sportitude,” said Ong.
A revival, however, can only be sustained by caring members. Thus, the sports event has a secondary purpose: to help members take charge of growing their cell group.
“During the planning phase, Pastor Zhuang shared with me that an outing cannot be just about growing the group, it must also be about growing the people. As much as we want to reach out to non-believers, we also want the event to be able to help our members grow,” Ong said. “Our strategy is to let the members take ownership of looking after the new friends in their cell group. Before the event, we split each cell group into groups of between five and seven members, and each team has to bring enough non-believers to make up 10 members.”
A carnival outreach event is also in the pipeline for the upcoming school break in March. Each cell group will set up its own carnival booths, and there are plans for performances, food and drinks. The highlight of the carnival will be a session with Wu.
“While Sportitude’s aim is to invite new friends and integrate them into our cell groups, the upcoming carnival event is to get them saved,” Ong says, explaining the evangelistic purpose of these efforts.
