SINGAPORE – Five months ago, Zachary Helzer was having a casual shoot-out with his father at the OCBC Arena when the Singapore Slingers walked in for training.

That chance meeting earned the 18-year-old guard an invitation from coach Neo Beng Siang to train regularly with the semi-professional basketball team. Helzer had already been on Neo’s radar since his Titans team won a local 3x3 league earlier in the year.

The Singaporean then enlisted in national service in late September, reducing his training time, but Neo was impressed enough to offer the teenager a spot on the team for the 2023 Asean Basketball League Invitational, which tipped off on Jan 2.

The former Singapore American School student has been a bright spark since making his competitive debut – he is one of four debutants this season.

In only his second match, he scored 11 points and made five steals to help the Slingers beat the Cooly Bangkok Tigers 111-69 at the OCBC Arena on Jan 4.

Reflecting on a whirlwind five months, Helzer said: “Everything came pretty suddenly and all at once. I thought I would just be the team’s training partner and I never thought I was going to get a contract.

“Now I’m playing in front of all these people and people are going to look up to me, but it’s a great opportunity and I’m really thankful they saw my worth.”

While the teenager is not among the starters, he has been given a fair amount of playing time in the four matches held in Singapore and looks set to feature when the tournament moves to Batam from Thursday.

Helzer, whose father is from Oregon and mother is Singaporean, played football growing up and was offered a chance to play for English Premier League team Wolverhampton Wanderers’ academy.

He declined as he did not want to be away from his family in Singapore or spend less time on education, and later made the switch to basketball when he was 12.

Skills he picked up from football helped him transition easily to the new sport and he later represented his school and club in competitions.

He also played in Oregon, Boston and California during summer visits as “that’s where the competition is the highest and you get to expose yourself to how vast the world of basketball is”.

Still, the 1.80m Helzer found it challenging to overcome self-doubt especially when he was still new to basketball.

“I’ve had a lot of doubts enter my mind. There were times I’d wanted to quit whenever I had bad games or missed shots or I felt like I couldn’t move the right way.

“These created doubts in my mind about how far I can go in sport. But it’s the people I’ve had around me, whether it’s my coaches or mentors in life, who have helped me turn those corners.

“They helped me realise I can overcome all these obstacles.”

Another lesson he learnt recently is that “you compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not who someone else is today”.

He explained: “The whole goal of that is to defeat your former self because that’s what drives improvement instead of comparing yourself to different people in different circumstances.

“With that mentality, it makes me want to get better every day.”

Helzer’s desire to improve himself was evident in all four matches in the Singapore leg of the ABL, as he would consult Neo on the sidelines during breaks in play.

He added: “My short-term goal is to improve as much as possible. I want to be a consistent shooter, work on adapting to the physicality of the game and I’d like to win the championship with the team this season.

“More importantly, this would have a big long-term impact on my life, whether I play professionally, just learning from these guys and playing with such great, experienced players. I’ve learnt so much and I’m really thankful for this opportunity.”

Neo praised Helzer for his attitude, saying: “I’m happy with him because he’s coachable and he really listens to what you tell him to do. I chose him also because I want to help the Singapore basketball programme and hopefully he can better himself and become a national player.

“He definitely has potential and not just him, all the young players like Justen (Chiam) and Jackson (Mah). They’re the core group and if they train well and commit themselves, hopefully they can be in the squad for the 2029 SEA Games in Singapore.”

The Slingers ended their home tournament with a 2-2 record and will play four matches in Batam before the ABL moves to Kuala Lumpur and Ho Chi Minh City.

Neo, who is targeting at least three wins in Indonesia, said: “We need to tidy up our defence and work on some movements so we can execute our offence easily. Hopefully everybody will be on the same page and from there, we can work it out game by game.”