The National University of Singapore Invitational Shoot (NUSIS) is an annual event organised by the NUS Shooting Varsity Team, hosting hundreds of shooters. The highlight of the year, it reinforces NUS’ presence in the Singaporean shooting community. For athletes who participate avidly in shooting competitions throughout the years, the event remains an eye-opener and an invaluable learning experience.
Pre-COVID-19, NUSIS 2021 is a in person event scheduled in February and like the fate of many other sporting events, NUSIS 2021 transited to a remote shoot, due to the spike in community cases.
Unfazed by the difficulties in organising the games, Director Richard Ho, Business Administration (Year 3) and Vice-Director Lee Jia Ying, Law & Economics DDP (Year 2), of the NUS Shooting Varsity Team rose to the challenge. The first remote shoot in NUSIS’ 20-year history posed an unprecedented set of challenges that no prior NUSIS Organising Committee had ever experienced.
As schools and other institutions were offered the option to conduct their NUSIS shoots remotely in their own respective ranges, this hindered the competition technologically, as the Organising Committee did not have the luxury of computing scores electronically using the facilities provided by the Yishun SAFRA Indoor Air Weapons Range (IAWR) where they gathered for their competitions traditionally.
Competitions in past years held in Yishun SAFRA IAWR with SIUS electronic targets
A reversion to paper targets needed without proper electronic equipment to compute scores
Despite comprehensive and efficient planning, none could have predicted the sudden implementation of the Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) safe management measures. As schools’ athletes were not permitted to train, this brought the competition to a standstill. NUSIS 2021, initially scheduled to end on 1 August, was extended by one month into the new Academic Year.
The Organising Committee had to meticulously scan nearly 300 sets of individual paper targets, each containing a single athlete’s 60 competition shots to facilitate the tabulation of scores.
With the transition to a remote event, the Organising Committee also had to regularly contact persons-in-charge of participating institutions to assist in their shoots. The strong cooperation of participating institutions ensured support and empathy were rendered to the Organising Committee in the face of numerous complications and repeated delays.
The NUSIS Prize Presentation Ceremony was held online on 3 October, where the stellar achievements of talented shooters were honoured.
The NUS Shooting Varsity Team would like to express their heartfelt gratitude to NUS for the platform to organise such a large-scale event. The team would like to thank its mentor, Mr Ng Chee Hong for his continued encouragement, guidance and support throughout the past year and especially during periods of uncertainty. The success of NUSIS 2021 would not have been possible without the contributions of each and every single one of the team’s members.
In the years to come, NUSIS 2021, as the team’s inaugural remote shoot, will undoubtedly be a story to remember and whose lessons will be passed on to future generations of shooters.
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Lee Jia Ying, Vice Director & Richard Ho, Director, NUS Invitational Shoot 2021
