Hello there, boys and girls! You can catch World Floorball Championship 2009 here.
My friend and counterpart, Widyawilis, was interviewed ahead of the competition and I can feel that she is nervous but will be able to overcome it.
Right now, I am nervous for the start of the season.
So, tonight I came home still having a hangover. I have too much dose of Megan Fox running around across the Jordan desert in ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’. Oh! I could only stare at the screen in amazement. I am disappointed, though. I thought I saw Blackout in one of the dual scenes but he got killed by Optimus Prime. Since the first movie, Blackout is like the coolest machine. The twins are irritating characters and Sam’s room-mate is a pussy. Explosions make it look good but there are some mistakes in the script as exposed here. Decepticons are scared of 5.56 rounds that soldiers shoot and I was like -_-”’. Received an SMS from Charles if I was coming for training, unfortunately, I have already planned my activities today.
Coolest Transformer in both movies
Before that, I went to Widya’s wedding at Tampines and saw Yanto, Sharifah and Fatih to name a few. Here are the photos:
With the couple
Forced Sharifah and Fatih to take pose while eating
Then, went to Tampines Mall and waited for Jeremy before watching the movie. Once everything was over, had a quick snack at Jalan Kayu and we sat beside a boy who shoots sponge projectile freely around the prata shop with his toy rifle. After our meal, while waiting for Jeremy, I saw Harjeet, who waved at me, as he zoomed past me on his sports bike.
Jeremy looking at something
Before I end this, let us give a shout out to my friend, Sara Lim: “Oi! Your rival has gotten married! When is your turn?!“
And so, I began my first coaching job with two inexperienced girls. I started off with abit of lecture and I tried not to be too long as I might bore the uninterested rookie. I told them of my training methods and what they will face when they get down in the crease.
Yes, they had to go through what all newbies must when they don the equipment. I made them do handling drills. Throwing floorballs against the wall with alternate hands and juggling.
Rushed them for movement drills and the hardest part was to get them to master lateral movement. It took me alot of patience not to raise my voice at both of them as they now had to face shots from the players.
Two weeks went by and things started to get clearer. It seems that the reluctant goalie has more potential than the one who volunteered. Being unbiased, I had to quickly improve the more agile rookie and gave my report to Carmen. She nodded her head and acknowledged what I told her. Little did I know then, Sara was a member of aikido. I was in silat for seven years.
If Sara were to continue guarding between the pipes, she is still not quite the finished product yet. If only she could accept the fact that she must bark to organize her defence and polish her throwing skills, that would be perfect. But that too will represent my alter-ego!
I watched the young girl in match-practice and her pattern is more like a withdrawn role compared to my aggressive type. She stays in her crease throughout the whole game, almost mute, has the ability to do splits (something I wish I can) and has a cat-like reflex.
Drafting Sara in an offensive-oriented team sometimes can be quite worrying, for me. I always sweat thinking what if team NYP gets caught by a breakaway. Well, Carmen did her homework and their possession floorball allowed Sara to keep numerous IVP shutouts, compared to my one. It was almost a successful campaign only to be thwarted by NTU, the eventual champions of 2004/05, in the semis.
Her draft to Pink Flamingoes came as no surprise to me as she made her mark in the tournament. They had a good season and she won ‘Rookie of The Year’ for 2006. I have no idea what the other forwards and centers mutter when they fail to get their shots at the back of the net.
Their next pursuit for glory came in early 2006 and I missed almost all matches as I was attending my Basic Medic Course. I rushed down to NTU where the tournament was taking place. The finals: NYP vs NTU for both men and ladies.
I came in during the break of the first period with the university leading 1-0. It was a tensed game. Both sides exchanging offence only to be stopped by both goalies who meet for the second time. Widya was making her presence felt in the crease while Sara was quietly observing the trajectory of the incoming shots. They probably raked up a total of forty saves combined.
Third period, and NYP was awarded a freehit. Maisarah took it, it bounced off a pool of players and the set-piece hockey player made no mistakes for the second attempt as the ball hit the net at Widya’s far post. Roar from the crowd and I breathed a sigh of relief. Final whistle and it was time for penalties.
“Sara! Come here! Sara!” I was in my Puma cap when I called the sophomore member. Haha! The thing about her is she needs at least three seconds to absorb what is happening before reacting. She jogged towards me while pulling her snake-designed mask up her sweaty head. She was pespiring like there was no tomorrow. Louise and the others looked at me, thinking I was a stranger because my face was hidden. So too the fans. I wrapped my left arm around her shoulder and said,
“Congratulations for coming this far. No matter what happens, you have done your best. Ok! Be patient and cover the shooting angle.” Well, when I struggled to get my message to her ear, it does feel like in the movies.
Sounds cliche, really. Patted her back twice and let her go for the quick team talk. Spectators were still looking at me as if I have committed a crime. Their piercing stares only eased off when Ranjit and company slapped my back from behind.
The rest is history and I still like her last save in this video. I never thought her that, though.
IVP 2005/06 Champions
And they continued for few more tournaments
The end!
I was just browsing some old friend’s site when I came across this sentence:
“Anyway, I threw away my floorball shoes a few weeks ago. I used the same pair since the first day I learnt how to be a goalie. By the time it went down the chute, the soles were tapes and it could barely be called shoes.
I miss playing fb so so much but oh well everything happens for a reason right?!“
With our naked eyes, physically, it is no more a pair of shoes, my friend. To me, I call it a report card which recorded progress throughout your entire floorball-playing days. Be it training or competition.
The best thing is, Sara represents the opposite side of me in the crease and I have no idea how she absorbed my training method ranging from physical, tactical to mental. Haha! I even made Peter Schmeichel’s cd compilation hoping she would play ruggedly. I asked Widya and Noreeta on how to train a female goaltender when I first took this girl under my care with less than two months prior to the tournament. I would like to thank Carmen also for having faith in me to guide the wonderful kid.
I too benefited from this mentoring duty. I had to re-learn all my basic skills while teaching. So, it improved my performance by leaps and bounds. You can ask any friends who saw me perform in January and September 2004. Those two months showed totally contrasting results. Why? The earlier tournament, I was abit complacent knowing that I was a starter. Reality bites and after a disappointing season which I failed to save my old club, Termites, from relegation, I decided to study hard for my academic year. Instead, I realised I was a sports jock after all and went on to train for both men and ladies training preparing for the second chance.
Time to spill the beans. Why her when there was another goaltender who volunteered?
Initially, I wanted to put my sister in goal but our mother’s repeated warnings stopped me from going ahead. She will not be that mobile enough anyway but fast reflex still. I was sitting on a bench when the newbie was picking up her sports equipment near me as my mouth opened, “Hey! Next week, you wear goalie equipment, ya? You become goalie.” I can tell you that she looked at me straight into my optimistic eyes with that surprised and ‘what-the-fuck-did-you-say’ expressions. I was still giving that wry smile as she walked away.
To be continued…
For now, enjoy Sara’s revenge against Widya. The latter would still roll her eyes whenever I talk about this. Hahaha!
Sadly, my Canadien mask had to retire. I recorded two shutouts in it
