TP Goalie

Since nine years ago back in primary school, I have been joining CCAs competitively. There was the swim team, which I excelled the best in, I brought back trophies and medals from butterfly and breaststroke. There was track and field where I did short distance sprinting, mostly 200m or 400m relays. It was also during that time that I severely injured my knee after fooling around with the hurdles. After that incident, I laid off the sports and pretty much lazed away my secondary school life, allowing myself to grow into an extreme fatass, 58kg at 150+cm. Then in secondary 3, I took up volleyball but only did it leisurely.
What I'm trying to say is, I’m not new to sports and the pressure you get while competing with them. I’ve been in competitions within the school, interschool or within clubs. This may sound pretty arrogant (I don’t intend for it to come across that way, seriously), but I have my own trophies and medals to display. Most of them are packed up in a big brown box somewhere after I’ve shifted my house, the rest are discarded because of silly reasons.

At the end of the day, I really have to say this. No matter how many competitions I’ve been in, how many races that left me exhausted but proud when the guest-of-honour present me with my own medal, no matter the color size or material of the prizes I bring back home. All that doesn’t matter to me, not the least bit. Ask me now, and I’ll tell you straight away that I don’t mind throwing away the trophies. They’re around only to serve as a reminder, or as a keepsake of how I was like growing up.
But nothing will ever come close to the pride and happiness I get from being the goalie of TP Rays. We’re a hockey team, small and severely lacking in nationals/ club players/ experienced players as compared to others. I’ve been a defender for two years, I’ve exhausted myself and I could’ve possibly crippled myself if I didn’t leave the pitch without Sihui shouting at me. I had my fair share of running around, carrying the ball forward to attack. I had my fair share of dashing straight for the hit during shortcorners as a first runner, I’ve slide and dived, tackled and sweep. I can’t deny that for a period of time, I was angry at myself and my dislocated ankle that forced me to be stuck in a “stupid white box”. But it’s this same white box that propelled me further and for once, really made me capable of doing something I am proud of. I think that’s the difference between my old trophies and the medals from the past two years, I did things that I felt like was an impossible feat. I’ve felt accomplishment and satisfaction from my performance, and it’ll also be the reason why these medals will stick with me forever.

Being a goalie is a tough job. You have to face anger and aggression from the opponents, and sometimes from your own team too because being shouted at is never something a person would enjoy. But it’s a role I’m happy to have, a role I feel like I really contributed in. Yes, I guess all I’m trying to say is, being TP Hockey Girls’ goalkeeper, that’s something you can never take away from me.

Nanyang Polytechnic, Friday, November 4, 2011 — Temasek Polytechnic (TP) drew 1-1 with tournament favourites and current front runner Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) in the Polytechnic-Institute of Technical Education (POL-ITE) Girls’ Hockey Championship.

TP had won their first two games and a win over NYP would have left both teams tied at the top of the six-team league. NYP win would have stretched their lead to six points.

However, neither side was able to snatch all three points in what can only be described as a very cagey affair which had the ball pinned in midfield for far too much of the match.

Despite starting the match brightly by winning a penalty corner after just two minutes, NYP could not impose themselves on their opponents as they had done in previous seasons. In fact, the perennial favourites had to wait 16 minutes before their first clear shot on goal, but Toh Lai Min’s (#14) shot was easily saved by TP goalkeeper Sengie Chong (#1).

TP, a largely unfancied side that has surprised so far with two wins out of two, did not fare much better, having to wait till the 20th minute for their first penalty corner. Ravi Daisy (#17) found herself one-on-one with NYP goalkeeper Teo Kai Hui (#1) but her shot was too soft to cause any damage.

Two shots on target — one for either team — was perhaps the most telling statistic of a drab first half. The second half was similar but saw more goal scoring opportunities. Feeling they had a chance of toppling NYP, TP emerged with renewed energy and after taking some time to find their feet, laid siege to the NYP goal. Their efforts paid off in the 46th minute when, rather comically, Eunice’s (#26) hit into the ‘D’ took an accidental deflection off teammate Sharifah’s (#6) stick, causing the ball to loop over the helpless Kai Hui.

This provoked a response from NYP, who could have equalised just two minutes later but a double save from Sengie kept TP in the lead. NYP now began to control possession, with Nurain Abdul Rahman (#15) catching the eye with her surging runs. After a period of sustained pressure, NYP won three penalty corners in a row and an equaliser came in the third of these when Nur Mahirah (#9) turned her teammate’s shot into an empty goal.

With seven minutes left to play, both teams hit hopeful, but at times aimless, long balls in the hope of finding their forwards, but no real chances materialised and the match ended in a draw, keeping both these teams tied at the top of the table.

Although the hockey itself left much to be desired, especially in the first half, an encouraging sight was seen in the stands. Whereas only a handful of spectators were seen in previous editions of the POL-ITE hockey tournaments, the stands were practically filled with supporters from both schools today.

Article taken from http://redsports.sg/2011/11/08/pol-ite-hockey-nanyang-temasek-poly/

I’m proud of my girls, we can do it. Just two more games, we’ve halfway there and we can do so much better.
Hehehehe, if you're expecting a birthday post, sorry to disappoint! Honestly, this is more important than my birthday can ever be :) Would blog about that soon though, goodnight.