Joyce at her moment of glory with her school Principal, Ms Irin Seet

BY winning the Sports Excellence Award, national taekwondo exponent Joyce Chong has not only done the Singapore Taekwondo Federation proud, but also her school ITE Bishan. Still though, Joyce is modest about receiving the award. "It's nothing actually. I didn't even think I'd get it."

Her modesty belies the amount of effort that she has put into the sport, despite her full time studies at ITE Bishan. Juggling studies and training is no mean feat, but Joyce seems to have it all in hand. So much so that the ITE board also presented her with a separate award for sports excellence early this month. Mr Ravindaran, the Head of Department in Physical Education at ITE Bishan said, "Joyce is a good role model for the other students as not only is she good in her studies, she's managed to excel in sports as well. We want to highlight that as much as possible."

Added Ms Irin Seet, Principal of ITE Bishan, "We want to recognise Joyce's achievements in taekwondo as well as her contributions to the school. On top of her training and studies, she is also actively involved in our school track and field team as well as our taekwondo team. We want Joyce to know that we're proud of what she has achieved." When Joyce first heard the news that she had won the award, she was totally blown away. "Honestly, this Spex Award came as a shock to me," said Joyce, who told ZONE that she had to attend a grilling interview under a panel of eight school principals prior to receiving the award.

She didn't think she did well there, but she obviously thought wrong. On her achievement, Joyce says she has her school and the STF to thank for her achievements. Now that she has the Spex Award snug under her 2nd Dan black belt, Joyce's next goal is the next SEA Games. "I want to aim for at least a silver medal at the Games, " revealed Joyce. Well Joyce, ZONE wishes you the best of luck in that quest. Soon, the Lee Kuan Yew Award will be presented for the first time this year to outstanding school athletes. And only Spex Award winners qualify. Will Joyce bag that trophy too? We'll just have to wait and see.