As a national squash player who represented Singapore at the recent SEA Games, I was disturbed to see the ranking of athletes at the Games (Team Singapore report card, Dec 12).

Understandably, such report cards are an easy way to show how the various sports did at the Games.

However, sporting results are only a small fraction of what athletes go through. They make sacrifices, train tirelessly and display huge levels of emotional, psychological and physical growth in taking part in the Games.

While an A might allude to success, and an F to failure, they are unfortunately poor indicators of the performance of a sport.

The standards of competition, luck, teamwork and other factors play a part in sport, and a medal success might not always be the best indicator of performance.

It is sad to see sports being treated like an "exam", where you pass or fail.

Perhaps, instead of report cards, inspirational stories and bitter failures and the lessons from them could be shared. These would spur a love for sports among Singaporeans and encourage each sport to strive for better.

Sneha Sivakumar