The lights are off and the court is silent. Training has ended and the club is taking a break, and will resume next year.
Looking back at the year that has been, in floorballing terms, it is imperative that the question of how much the club has progressed (Note: not whether the club has or not progressed, but in fact how far it has) does not go unanswered.
To answer that question? Let us, then, step into the shoes of a few different people and see through their eyes. First, the pessimist (who shall remain unnamed): "One title... only one title, and a whole lot of 'better luck next time' moments... The club has really gone downhill since winning the gold in April."
Next, the optimist (who again shall remain unnamed): "One title is awesome already! No need to talk about how we did in the other ones. Excellent, man!"
The insider (national player, Sarah Ng): "We got the basics down, (the) commitment of players are slightly better, trainings are more organized and focused." (and also club player Por Kai Yann): "On my opinion, the club is getting better day by day. A lot of improvements are shown by the players including the coach as well. The club is growing bigger."
The outsider (who, in fact, is state coach Edward Lim): "Some players did improve on their skills... but it's the numbers. The club needs more people if it wants to move forward."
The coach (Jason Chan): "The club now has a vision and the right players who are committed to floorball."
It is obviously advisable to listen to the state coach and the club coach, but it is also important that the other views do not go unnoticed. Therefore, to mix them all together... here is the official year-end-review for Frontliners Floorball Club.
(For all you people who don't have time or just don't like to read long writeups, please scroll down to the bottom.)
In the beginning... of this year, that is, CEO-cum-Coach Jason Chan took over the club from old hands and revamped the entire system, setting goals and creating ways to achieve them. The blog was started to increase publicity for the club, and a new so-called 'management team' was formed.
The goal for this year, as stated in the first entry of this blog, was to strengthen the youth development of the club to secure the future of floorball in Penang, and also to develop a full ladies' team. Entering three tournaments this year (Youthwave Floorball Tournament, Penang Open Challenge, Dalat League), to quote a player: "It's like three different teams entering three different tournaments, the players and skills are all so different."
Although the only gold the club won was from the Youthwave FT, by Frontliners Roses, a point has to be made: of the six players who won the medal (Sarah Ng, Alice Ong, Kew Pei Li, Roselyn, Sharron Tan), two have disappeared and two others have not been seen for the past two months, leaving two out of the six.
What are the implications from this? One, that results do not reflect the rate of progress by the club. Two,that players do not stay forever. Being a club that comprises mainly of youths, it is inevitable that they get caught up with studies and work further down the road. It is therefore important that the club continues attracting and developing new players to ensure that it does not simply fade away.
And there you have the first goal, youth development. Has the club achieved it? To a certain point, yes. Attendance, instead of dwindling, has slowly gone up to an average of fifteen per training. So far there have been fifteen new faces, with up to six of them staying on, put together with four players who have left. (Enough statistics!)
One wonders... if an incomplete team of six players became champions, what could a full team of ladies do? The ladies currently in the club (Sarah, Pei Li, Wai Wai, Yi Lin, June, Tania, Sonia, Sharron, Felicia, Alice, Roselyn -- including long-time absentees) total to nine outfield players and two goalies. Almost enough.
Early this year, the coach stated that he had a two-year plan for the club. One year has passed, and all evidence indicates that the club is heading in the right direction, having the players with the right mentality, and a more-than-capable leader:)
(All right, all you people who scrolled down without reading the middle section can start here.)
Verdict: It has been a foundation-building phase for Frontliners Floorball Club, for to touch the skies one must first have a strong base. The club has progressed well enough for the coach to be extremely satisfied. (8.5/10)
Play of the year: Hard to choose... but it must be said that the entire team effort, plus the huge effort by the coach to survive and thrive together, showing the Frontliners Spirit, more than deserves this title.
Prediction for next year: Capable of reaching great heights, the club must first ensure it does not deteriorate but continue developing and staying with the goals that have been set. To continue to improve, and in time, hopefully win some titles:) The sky is no limit.
To end this: "It is not of importance where we stand, but in what direction we are moving." -Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
PS. The club will be doing a basic review on each of its players, how he/she progressed this year, etc., a few every time, so look forward to it:)
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