A heavy thunderstorm on the late morning of 29 June threatened to thwart the Public Service Beach Games at Siloso Beach, Sentosa. Thankfully, the skies cleared just in time for an exhilarating day of competition. Fifty teams from 16 government agencies dived into the excitement, competing in Captain’s Ball, Beach Volleyball and the newly introduced Beach Touch Rugby.

The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) dominated the scorching afternoon, clinching titles in Captain’s Ball and Women’s Volleyball, securing first runner-up in Beach Touch Rugby and finishing strong in Men’s Volleyball. The Civil Service Club (CSC) would like to extend heartfelt thanks to Guest-of-Honour Mr Winston Wong, CSC EXCO Member, for giving away the prizes and adding to the day’s excitement.

Beach Captain’s Ball: a nail-biting victory

This was the first time MINDEF sent a team for the Beach Captain’s Ball tournament. They did not expect to win, but the dark horse powered through a nail-biting finish in the final to emerge victorious against the Ministry of Education (MOE) with a close score of 15-14.

“We actually lost our first match 20-11 but persevered and quickly re-strategised. We then won every single match thereafter, right through to the finals,” said Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) C4 curriculum development officer Mabel Long, 30, co-captain of the MINDEF Captain’s Ball team.

Her fellow co-captain, Lim Shi Min, 30, an air warfare officer from the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), concurred, “We came in expecting to just have fun and did not expect to win. But we managed to, and it’s a good feeling.” 

Educator Jean Chia, 41, who captained the MOE team that narrowly missed victory, reflected, "We drew the match and eventually lost by one point during extra time. It’s a learning point for us to come back even stronger next year."

Last year’s champions, the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, came in third after losing to MOE by one point (19-20) in a tight semi-final match.

Beach Volleyball: high stakes and high spirits

The Men’s Beach Volleyball tournament was a crowd-puller, featuring intense matches between MINDEF and the defending champions from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Despite MHA's victory leading to an all-MHA final, MINDEF participants cherished the camaraderie. "I love how the Beach Games build connections across services. It was so fun at the last event that I had to return this year," remarked Javons Cheah, 24, a naval officer representing one of MINDEF’s men’s beach volleyball teams.

On the women's side, MINDEF defeated the Land Transport Authority in the semi-finals and overcame MHA in the finals. The adoption of a 4v4 format meant that the players needed precise communication, which was what the captain of the MINDEF women’s volleyball team, Serene Ng, 24, felt gave them the edge. “What led to our success is how well we trusted each other on the court,” said the air force engineer (maintenance) from the RSAF. “In a small court with four players, it’s easy to fight over a ball and lose a point. I feel that we did very well with our communication, even though it’s the first time we are playing beach volleyball together as a team.”

Beach Touch Rugby: fresh faces, fresh fun

The introduction of Beach Touch Rugby brought a wave of new participants eager to try their hand at this sand-based sport. Among them was Faezah Radiman, 34, a corporate services manager at Yellow Ribbon Singapore (YRSG), a statutory board under the MHA. She used to play touch rugby in her polytechnic days and rallied her colleagues to join her when she learnt about the addition of Beach Touch Rugby to Beach Games. 

“We only had a few weeks to prepare, and I helped to coach my teammates. We also trained with the touch rugby team from the Singapore Prison Service a couple of times when we found out they were taking part in Beach Games too,” she shared. Despite the brief preparation period, Faezah is proud of her colleagues for adhering to the game plan, even though they were new to the sport. Energised by their positive experience, she plans to return next year with potentially more than one team and to start training earlier.

Sport Singapore’s Head of CoachSG and Civil Service Club Executive Committee member, Azhar Yusof, 52, a former national rugby player, found joy in revisiting the sport. Some of his colleagues were also from the national team. “I haven’t played any form of rugby in a long time, and it felt nice to be doing it again. I even got to play against some of my students from my Physical Education (PE) teaching days!” he said.

The Singapore Police Force, according to deputy team leader Muhammad Shahid bin Jamaludin, 39, found the beach setting a novel and challenging change, as the agency’s touch rugby team often plays on the field, but never on the beach. "It’s a different concept with different rules, but it’s exciting, even though it's tiring keeping up with the younger teams," he remarked. Shahid’s team finished in third place after losing their semi-final match against MOE.

The Beach Touch Rugby tournament culminated in a hard-fought final where MOE drew 2-2 against MINDEF, eventually winning in sudden death. 

Leonard Ang, 35, a PE teacher from MOE, praised his team's effort. “MINDEF really pushed us to our limits and forced us to dig deep. Credit to my teammates, everyone put in a very hard effort to fight all the way and we relied on our experience to maintain our composure and not get flustered,” he said. “Ultimately, the whole purpose was to be able to play with my peers. We all know each other but we are from different schools, and we play for different clubs. This was a great opportunity for us to work towards the same goal.”

A community united in sport

The primary goal for most, if not all, teams at the Beach Games was to have fun and forge connections with people from other agencies. Take the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech), for instance, where some team members were meeting in person for the first time. 'Unlike other agencies, we don’t often work together; our tasks are quite distributed and we operate independently,” explained Arushi Sinha, a 25-year-old data scientist at GovTech. “This makes the Games a fantastic opportunity for us to better connect with our colleagues.”

The Public Service Beach Games did more than just bring together various government agencies; they underscored the values of sportsmanship, teamwork and resilience, celebrating the true spirit of public service and community.

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BEACH CAPTAIN’S BALL
Champion: Ministry of Defence
Second Place: Ministry of Education
Third Place: Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment
Fourth Place: Urban Redevelopment Authority

BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Men’s Category:
Champion: Ministry of Home Affairs (3)
Second Place: Ministry of Home Affairs (4)
Third Place: Ministry of Defence (2)
Fourth Place: Ministry of Defence (1)

Women’s Category:
Champion: Ministry of Defence 
Second Place: Ministry of Home Affairs
Third Place: Land Transport Authority
Fourth Place: Republic Polytechnic

Overall Placings:
Champion: Ministry of Defence 
Second Place: Ministry of Home Affairs
Third Place: Land Transport Authority
Fourth Place: Republic Polytechnic

BEACH TOUCH RUGBY 
Champion: Ministry of Education
Second Place: Ministry of Defence
Third Place: Ministry of Home Affairs (5)
Fourth Place: Ministry of Home Affairs (1)

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If you’re a public officer and you’re interested in participating in any of the sports CSC organizes for STAR Games, please check out the programs here