Creating An Impact: Coach Sue Teoh

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So, how did Sue transition from the corporate world to coaching?

She felt when working in a corporate field, she didn’t make an impact on people. Since sports is something she’s been doing her whole life, Sue decided to make it into a career and make a difference in people’s lives. She coaches swimming and running. Her swimming lessons are categorized into three. Beginners who would like to learn swimming freestyle properly; intermediates are students that are already well versed with swimming but intend to improve their swimming strokes; and competitive swimmers who usually compete in triathlons and swim in open waters. The same applies to her coaching in running.

“Sometimes you need one-to-one coaching because you need the time to learn certain skills before entering a group class”, she explains. In a group class, the instructor teaches the whole group. It is tough to pay attention to a single individual.

If you’re new to running, Sue suggeststhat you hire a coach to teach you the fundamentals of running first. Once you’ve understood the necessary basics, you can then head over to a group session. Everybody begins at a different level. She then goes on to explain her first session with clients. The coach will first assess the abilities of each client before tailoring the training program to the client. Clients who have existing knee problems will be referred to a physiotherapist to have the injury repaired before the training program starts.

“When you coach Nike running, you have to be full of energy”, Sue grins. She recalled the time when Nike sent her to New York to be trained as a coach. She met coaches from all around the world. When returned to Malaysia, Sue began with running classes for We Run KL. This 12-week training program featured a series of training sessions that cover different areas as Speed Training, HIIT workouts and Distance Stamina. As one of the coaches in Nike’s We Run KL program, her task is to share her personal training tips, nutritional advice and personal experiences to guide, motivate and inspire runners to ignite the best runner in them.

The cheerful coach does have her fair share of ups and downs. Sometimes she has to let go a few clients who are not committed to her class. At times she also feels exhausted with her hectic schedule. Nonetheless, the moment she sees her clients, her energy comes back to her in split seconds. The young coach does cherish her daily life with coaching others, training for herself, racing in events and free time of her own too.

In the next ten years, Sue hopes to concentrate on her coaching. Her dream is to have a team of triathletes that she can coach consistently with a few other coaches alongside her. “Like a school”, Sue smiles wistfully. She also bequeaths a few tips for aspiring coaches out there. “Always give a hundred percent to your clients”, she stresses. She adds on that coaches should also keep themselves updated with more knowledge in their sport and the fitness industry. Two-time Olympic gold medalist Mia Hamm once said “if you don’t love what you do, you won’t do it with much conviction or passion”. This stays true to Coach Sue.