CHS 2011 B Div Legacy

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CHS Floorball

CHS Floorballers

Slogans

" Maybe you need to change your ambitions to match the ambitions of the team.” Lander

" The amount of effort you put in during training decides what player you become." Darrell

" Talent wins games but teamwork and intelligence wins championship." Crenshawn

"Nobody trains to lose." Jarryl

"Discipline, Character, then Championship." Ryan

Gossip

It was a long journey...

Monday, March 14, 2011

Darrell:

2009 March 11th - As I was lying down in my bed, I could still vividly remember the screams from the crowd every time players from either side miss the goal by a hair. Amazing stickwork and superb shooting from the players still got me wondering how did they manage to hone such perfect skills. How I wish I can play in the finals, I sighed and fell asleep…

Every night, without fail, my chain of thoughts will unconsciously drift to me playing in the finals. Spin-around, dragshot, amazing dribbling, bla bla bla. Those were only a wishful thinking of mine then. I never thought this day would ever come, NEVER. Being part of the audience, I could clearly feel the electrifying atmosphere that hanged in the air as the finals was played.

Every night I would imagine myself being one of the players down there and try to visualize myself in their shoes. That was what drive me train hard. Top 4, Top 4, Top 4. We all clearly wanted a medal, wanted to be there to receive our acknowledgement for our hard work. So from 2009, the B div aim was to get Top 4.

After a painful loss to Teck Whye, and a heartbreaking draw with East View, the 2010 B Div ended painfully. Even though the squad had a fair share of talents, we were not even able to qualify for the 2nd round. It got me reflecting then. What went wrong? We were not well prepared enough. We needed more outstanding players to improve the standards. We need more compact defense, since our defense was devastating weak. We need better fitness. We need better shooters. We need more exposure. We need a new training regime. In totally, we needed to get even better.

So from the moment our batch took over from the graduating batch, we were quick to make amends to things that needed to be changed. Trainings were no longer as slack as it used to be. Slackers were reprimanded and are warned that they can be kicked out of the squad if they do not change. The thought of attaining Top 4 kept driving us to push ourselves beyond our limits.

Then came combined schools. The 4 of us were thrown into hell. Literally. The standard there was far from what we were capable of performing. The entire training regime at CS was a new exposure to the 4 of us, as it allowed us to witness what kind of players are needed if we wanted to achieve Top 4. Being able to meet the best players from other top floorball schools got us to realise how much we have to catch up. I can still remember how I normally get home at 11.30, and only being able to sleep at 12. It was very tough, but for me, as long as top 4 can be achieved, everything is worth it.

Div 1 was even crazier. For me, I can literally not hold the ball for more than 3 seconds. For the entire season, I could only managed 1 goal though I played 5 to 6 games. No matter what, the experience benefited us a lot and we all found ourselves to be better players after the season. Crenshawn, Eugene, Derek were not going to be left behind too. Even though they did not play for CS, they trained hard and kept up to standard.

Mr Han and I, along with some other players, changed the training regime and decided to follow the new regime which worked quite differently from before. Talented players with attitude problem were kicked out of the squad while the hardworking ones were kept. PTs were more intense but rarely anybody grumbled. Extra training was conducted, ideas went crazy to the extend that ‘9 man plan’ was made, solely to help ourselves to improve really fast over the limited time we had. Though it did not really make it’s debut, the idea of ‘improving fast over a short period of time’ was there in our minds.

By August, the team’s overall standard had increased. The team kept training and the better players kept pushing one another and stayed back after every training to do extra practice. It was voluntarily, it only seem normal to most of us if we stay back to practice.

Before the holiday training started, the squad was finalised already. This was unlike previous years, but this allowed the squad to train more efficiently since there is lesser people. Drills can be conducted faster and better since everybody get to run through the routine more times. Holiday training was intense. No room for slacking. Scolding and arguments were not uncommon. No matter what happens on court, we were still friends off court. Teammates demanded much more from one another and were often forced to improve to meet the standard that is set by his fellow teammates. ‘If you are weak at something, you jolly well work on it.’

That was the mentality and it made us improve real fast. Friendlies were frequent and the team was very curious to try out new things every time. Lines started to talk to one another and keep improvising. Though frustrating, it was important if the line wanted to play well together.

As the season drew closer, pressure kept piling. Regardless of what, the team was now more or less ready. Line 1 has clearly shown its comprehensive team play and wonderful vision on court. Line 2 was somewhat not very steady, but still rather solid. The pre-season training was 3 times a week, with some of us needing to attend CS trainings as well, which was 2 times a week. That made it 5 times a week for us. It was very much crazy, but it did gear us up for the season and got us fully prepared.

The very first match was a pretty fun game, as players compete to see who could score more. However, there were no selfish play as CHS B Div trampled Shu Qun Sec 30-1. The 1 goal was painful, but most painful for Eugene Gan=)

The second match was not as easy, as we encounter AES, which had a decent team and coach. Nevertheless, we comfortably won with a 8-0 scoreline, highlighting the strength of the defense with a clean sheet.

Then came APAC for the 3 of us, myself, Ryan and Jarryl. It was yet another great exposure to the 3 of us, since we had to play with players 1.5 times our size. 2 times the size for Ryan. Being not able to train together for 2 weeks, with me and Ryan falling sick after the Australia trip, and the CNY that saw many players dip in fitness, BMS capitalized when we were at our weakness and defeated us 4-1. Playing with 6 players was scary as it was really physically straining plus many of us were not at our usual fitness level (given the above reason). Mr Han had no choice as the reserves were not up to standard yet. If they were to play, the entire shape of the line will be lost and it will end up with a worser scoreline. Mr Han took the only option that was available to him…

Geared up to perform better, CHS B div continued to foray forward despite the loss, after qualifying 2nd in group. Smiles appeared on our faces upon hearing the news that we will meet East View Sec and Coral Sec in our 2nd round. Revenge will be sweet as we meet our long time rivals.

East View match was somewhat a close fight the opponent’s coach applied a very effective tactic that somewhat prevent us from playing our usual game but still we were able to pull off with a win after a much mind-battle game from both sides. Coral Sec was not so lucky as we manage to put 7 past them after they cracked at the 2nd period. We kept our cool and they were the one that lost the mind game. They only managed 1, showcasing CHS’s strong defense once again.

At this point, after a request, Mr Han allowed me to switch roles with Ryan and thus letting Ryan play in line 1 while I play in line 2. Reasons? A secret=)

Bedok Town was a joke, as we thrashed them 21-1. Ryan-Cren combination proved effective and thus the lines readjustments were confirmed for the rest of the season.

3rd round was no laughing matter anymore as any team that made it this far is no joke anymore. Northbrooks was first to the slaughter. Expecting a very tough and physical game from them after witness their determined performance against BMS, we were in fact rather taken aback by their superb fitness and mental strength, wondering whether we could beat them.

The tough PTs finally came into good use as we were able to outmuscle them on court. We were able to keep out cool while they lost their temper. After learning our lesson from last year’s B div game against Teck Whye, in which many of us lost our temper and saw ourselves losing the game.

“ The opponent did not win the game, we lost it.” That was what went in my mind after Teck Whye’s game. To lose your cool on court is to lose the game. One cannot get emotional on court, we got to remain coolheaded at all times. They could dribble well, but our defense was as solid as ever. They can go pass 1, maybe 2, if they were to reach the 3rd it will be over for them. Even if they manage to go pass 3 defenders, we still got Eugene at goal. One-on-one is Eugene’s forte, as few manage to put the ball pass him when they face Eugene one-on-one.

Only needing to win 1 more game to secure a Top 4 placing, everybody was geared up for the Bedok South game. However, unknowingly, after the win over Northbrooks, some of us became rather complacent and acted as if we already won Top 4. Sensing a need to do something about it, Mr Han decided to walk out of the training before the Bedok South game. That jolt us back to reality and continue to be humble. Even though Bedok South was the supposedly weakest team in the group, we can’t afford to let our guards down as they have some players that are capable of scoring many goals.

To much relief, we were able to win the game 8-5 to secure our Top 4 aim. This was the first time a team was able to put 5 across our goal. Individuals were able to score against us, but teamwork and intelligence won us the game. ” Talent wins games but teamwork and intelligence wins championship.”

The game against VS had little stress on us since a win or loss will make not much of a difference. Even though we were instructed to ‘relax’, many of us were geared up to beat our long time rivals VS. We played VS since Sec 2 and copied many of their style of play. In fact, we were trained to play like VS. To be able to beat VS will be amazing, and we were eager to give our best. Hard work finally paid off as we won our 1st ever game against VS, 3-2. This created a big upset as everybody predicted VS to win and were awaiting for a VS/BMS finals. To win VS would mean that VS will meet BMS in the semi-finals, destroying the ‘dream’ finals of VS against BMS.

Our mentality started to change. Since we can even beat teams like VS, nothing is impossible. We were all aiming for a place in the finals. We were not prepared to lose, winning is the only option. The semi-final saw us facing Northland. They have a strong team, with many of the players playing floorball, hockey and soccer. Their fitness and movement off the ball were of upmost standard. We were worried, but we knew that we are capable of beating them. When all hope was lost of winning within normal time, Joshua scored with 13 seconds left on the clock. It was a really epic goal, and totally killed off the opponents hopes of winning the game.

Remember the start of the whole journey? How playing in the finals was only a dream to me? Dreams do come true afterall if one put in enough hard work. It never occurred to me that I will ever get to play in the finals. Then as I looked as myself, I realized how much I have grown as a player, a player worthy to step on the court during the finals. As I look back, all the hard work and pain which I bitterly endured were all worth it. I was all fired up to play my best game in the finals and put winning aside first.

11 March. This day finally came. A day which I’ve long awaited for, a dream come true for me, and many of us. The atmosphere was terrific. As the crowd cheered 公教, 公教, 公教! , I truly experienced what is it to be like standing on court, playing in front of your school. To feel proud of yourself, to feel burdened to win in order not to disappoint the supporters, to feel pressuried as everybody is watching, to feel important, most importantly, to feel that you deserve every second on court.

My personal aim was to score 1 and create 1. I did it. The blissfulness was simply too wonderful to be expressed in simple words. I’ve always dreamt of scoring in the finals, esp a dragshot. The feeling after scoring was simply heavenly. The crowd bursting into a cheer, the bench jumping as the opponent goalkeeper lower his head solemnly, everything I dreamt of happened in that split second. The split second that I have yearned for for years.

6-3. A scoreline that can shut everybody’s mouth up about us being lucky. We worked hard for the championship and we won it. We did not pop out of nowhere like many people thought. We indeed work from scratch, trained like crazy to achieve what we got today.

All our achievement is only equivalent to how hard we have worked. I daresay we have trained harder than any team, more than any team. The improvement in the overall standard is astonishing, but it did not come overnight. Training after training, we got better. Many of us trained regularly on our own, finding time out of our busy schedule just to hound our skills to perfection. Talents are not born, they are made.

CHS B div 2011 has made it mark as the champions of the 5th National Inter-School Floorball Championship. We made the mark, set the standards for the rest of the juniors to follow. We have done our jobs as seniors, setting the path for the rest of the juniors to follow. We left a legacy, being role models for the younger ones to follow. We made the impossible possible. We did what most thought was impossible. Determination and unity is the key. CHS B div 2011 has ended its journey in victory, a glorious memory that we shall all remember for the rest of our lives. Let us all cheer, for all our hard work and pain we have endured to achieve what we have accomplished today.

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公教!

CHS Squad