SMU Rugby is pleased to announce that one of its Golden Boys has come back to take on a coaching role within the City Boy set up. Yin Xiang "Mouth" Chew has put pen to paper and taken on the dual role of Development and Life coach.
Mouth is no stranger to the rugby development scene - plying his trade through the different age groups all the way up to mens level rugby where he has coached from Primary School level to Men's Championship level in Singapore.
On the role of Life Coach however, Mouth is probably over qualified and the City Boys should feel extremely lucky to have such an illustrious alumni come back and give advice to the boys. SMUrugbyNews got an exclusive one on one with the man himself at training last week. Here is what went down.
SMUrugbyNews: Tell us about yourself!
Mouth: My name is actually Yin Xiang but I’m more commonly known as Mouth (a nickname that originated back in JC). I am PE and History teacher by day at a secondary school in the West. Coaching wise, I have coached rugby at ACS (Primary), ACS (Independent) and Oldham Rugby Club over the past 10 years. SMUrugbyNews: How was it like in SMU for you?
Mouth: SMU was great fun. To be honest, I initially jumped on the bandwagon to be a SMUgger (do they still use this term in SMU?). But it was tiring. I told myself from Year 2 onwards to just do the bare minimum academically (not letting the GPA go below 3 was the target). To really go out and enjoy uni life. I would say 70% of my time spent from Year 2 onwards was diverted to SMU Rugby (on and off the field) as well as enjoying the free flow alcohol on Mon and Wed nights at a bar in CHIJMES called Baroque. Mabuk times. Sadly, the 20 dollar free flow deal no longer exist as the bar has since closed down. Oh yes, how to not forget those Starry Night events. Those were crazy times. SMUrugbyNews: What are your best moments with SMU Rugby?
Mouth: There were many proud moments: - Going to Perth, Australia with the lads for the IRAUG Games. It was fun times bonding with the senior lads such as Amos Siow, Daniel Marc Chow and Lionel Poh to name a few. - Going to Paris, France to take part in the Tournoi des 5 Ballons organized by ESSEC. It was our first trip out of Asia and we did extremely well to come in 2nd overall, beating teams from Spain, Russia and France. - Starting this blog with the likes of Amos Siow and Ben Teong. It was and still is a great source of entertainment for the readers. Kudos to the subsequent batches for keeping it entertaining! - The one that still edges out is that year in 2008 where we made a clean sweep in the tertiary level - winning SUNIG 7s and the inaugural Tri-Uni 15s Championship. That amazing run led to us clinching the SSU Team of the Year. SMUrugbyNews: How does it feel to be back helping to coach?
Mouth: Excited and honoured. When Melvin approached me to come on board, I jumped on the offer immediately. I am grateful to be able to come back and give back and ‘feel young’ again among the boys. SMUrugbyNews: What would you like to see the boys achieve?
Mouth: Improvement. To see the boys set little targets for themselves to improve every session. They have to be better from where they started off in January 2016 come the 15s season. I want the team to give themselves a good opportunity to clinch the 15s title back this year. To get there, they must improve every time they train.
People might also like to note that Mouth took a few years off to find a new sport to excel in before eventually returning to the rugby field. Here is a collection of photos from his various attempts!
Mouth trying out Football
Mouth trying out Softball
and finally.. Mouth trying out Hammer Throw - the sport that made him realise he needed to return to the rugby field. Once again, we will like to welcome Mouth back home and thank him for his time and passion wanting to give back to SMU.
