Frontliners Floorball Club

Review 2010

2011-02-11T19:25:00.004+08:00

PFL 2010 Div II

Fixtures & Results

6-Mar-10	Frontliners 300	vs	FireBRANDS	0-4 (0-1, 0-3)
27-Mar-10	Frontliners 300	vs	FireBRANDS Patriots	7-1 (3-0, 4-1)
3-Apr-10	Frontliners 300	vs	Spearhead	2-4 (1-2, 1-2)
24-Apr-10	Frontliners 300	vs	Trailblazers	26-0 (10-0, 16-0)

Final League Standing

PLC	TEAMS	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
1	FireBRANDS	4	4	0	0	35	2	8
2	Spearhead	4	3	0	1	24	7	6
3	Frontliners 300	4	2	0	2	35	9	4
4	FireBRANDS Patriots	4	1	0	3	7	28	2
5	Trailblazers	4	0	0	4	1	56	0

Players' Statistics

PLAYER	G	A	P	PiM
Tristan James	7	7	14	-
Kyle Matthew	12	-	12	-
Walson Chua	8	2	10	-
Marcus Kam	6	2	8	4
Fred Lee	1	5	6	2
Daryl Ooi	-	3	3	-
Sachin Christian Gopal	-	1	1	2
Sonia Frances Gopal	-	1	1	2
Toong Choon Hong	1	-	1	4
Ong Ray Gan	-	1	1	-

All-Star Team:

Goalkeeper: Omprekash (Frontliners 300)

Right Defender: Ruben Lai (Spearhead)

Left Defender: Amelia Lim (Trailblazers)

Centre: Daniel Boey (Spearhead)

Right Forward: Daniel Tan (FireBRANDS)

Left Forward: Tristan James(Frontliners 300)
PFL 2010 Div I

Fixtures & Results

24-Jun-10	Ztec Phoenix vs Frontliners Spartans	9-2 (2-0, 3-0, 4-2)
13-Jul-10	Frontliners Spartans vs Ztec 8Cers	6-6 (2-1, 1-2, 3-3)
27-Jul-10	Innebandy! Co vs Frontliners Spartans	5-0 (2-0, 1-0, 2-0
12-Aug-10	Frontliners Spartans vs Minden Unihawks	9-2 (0-0, 3-1, 6-1)
19-Aug-10	Frontliners Spartans vs Contact Fireants	2-4 (1-1, 1-0, 0-3)

Final League Standing

PLC	TEAMS	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
1	Ztec Phoenix	5	4	1	0	70	15	9
2	Innebandy! CO	5	4	1	0	44	9	9
3	Contact FireAnts	5	3	0	2	18	36	6
4	Frontliners Spartans	5	1	1	3	19	26	3
5	Ztec 8cers	5	1	1	3	24	43	3
6	Minden Unihawks	5	0	0	5	13	57	0

Players' Statistics

PLAYER	G	A	P	PiM
Khor Kuan Yang	7	3	10	4
Michael Cheah	3	3	6	-
Algin Tan	3	2	5	-
Jeffery Lim Chooi Poah	2	-	2	4
Kenneth Yeap	1	1	2	-
Nicholas Teoh	-	2	2	6
Darien Tan Wen Song	1	-	1	2
Ho Jun Yi	1	-	1	-
Lee Su Rong	1	-	1	-
Chan Ming Hwee	-	1	1	2
Steven Tay	-	1	1	-

What is the storm?

2010-06-28T18:12:00.001+08:00

"If they score ten, (we) don't care. We'll score eleven." -Kuan Yang

Frontliners Spartans had a cracking opening match against Ztec Phoenix, a similar team to last year's champions in all but name.

Before the match, manager Jason Chan laid down no required scoreline. He required only one thing of the players: that they play like Brothers for according to him, win or lose, Brothers (and Sisters) stand together.

The tension was hanging heavy over the court as the players waited for the whistle to blow. The supporters, a considerable number come to support the Spartans, also seemed to hold their breath in anticipation. Would the Spartans repeat their historic, nail-biting draw with these giants again?

First period. The Spartans were quickly reduced to four when the referees deemed their wall to be too close to the freehit spot. They held out without conceding a goal, thus settling some early nerves. However, the inevitable duly arrived when Phoenix slotted in their first and second goals. So the first period ended with the score at 0-2, but not without Phoenix suffering some scares of their own, as the Spartans subjected them to some lightning-quick counter attacks courtesy of Nicholas and Jeffery.

Second period. Lulled into a sense of overconfidence and maybe having slightly raised expectations after a positive first period, it was no wonder that the third and fourth goals came in quick succession after the start. Shaken, the players welcomed the whistle that signaled the end of the period, but not before a fifth was added: a very special and equally controversial airhook by Termin at Sharron's right post.

Third period. Given a mild dressing-down by manager Jason Chan, the players responded with vigor and upped their game. However, Phoenix was already on a roll and the break had not slowed them down. A sixth quickly went in, but the change in tactics called by Kuan Yang caught them at unawares, and they were on the back foot for awhile. It was now a more open and flowing game on both sides, meaning more goals went in at both ends. Even on a bad ankle, Kuan Yang spearheaded the team to score two devastating goals past Leonard, who had had very little to do in the first two periods. For the defense, it was an even more backs-to-the-wall job for the defenders who were forced to throw themselves into every tackle and block to stop the rampaging Phoenix forwards.

Final score: 2-9.

It was not to be the Spartans' time that day, and consummate skill triumphed over fierce passion, as Phoenix ran out deserving winners of the match.

"Don't let anyone tell you that you didn't play well," was Kuan Yang's urge after the match.

...for what is the storm, when BROTHERS stand side by side?

Division 2: Final Day

2010-06-27T14:45:00.003+08:00

300 G4: End of A Battle

2010-04-26T16:32:00.009+08:00

Anyone remember two years ago? Don't you wish we had pictures to remind you?

Unfortunately, no visual will be provided again so bear with the many words.

Flashback: 2 years ago, Frontliners' second team, then known as the Trojans were, let's say, the team that got whipped. (like, 17-0) Back then, having only one line or one and a half lines was common. There are only two survivors from that team today.

Fast forward to the present day and now, 300 is full of hyperactive kids and a few girls. However, the thrashings will remain a part of 300's history.

300 came up against debutants Trailblazers in our final game of this year's PFL. The game was pushed back into the evening as it was a school replacement day. Coach shuffled the lines this time as he wanted to experiment with new tactics.

Face-off time and at first 300 was slow off the blocks, slowly revving up their engines. Even the defenders were sloppy at the back. Not for long, though.

Kyle opened the flood gates nearly 2 minutes in but no one really noticed. The stadium was almost empty and the few spectators were pro-Trailblazers. (Frontliners were the away team for that day. Explains a lot, doesn't it?) Kyle added three more in the space of 6 minutes with help from strike buddies Tristan and Daryl. One of the goals included a smooth corner, part of a drill Coach Kuan Yang has emphasised on.

Fred got onto the scoresheets too after linking up with Marcus. Tristan scored the 6th with a wrist shot after providing 2 assists for Kyle 5 minutes prior. Walson hit a double between 300's barren spell.

During the half, 300 defender, Sachin, described as the Rambo of FFC and running into him is like running into a brick wall (as stated in his 2009 player review) was unintentionally bulldozed down by two girls from Trailblazers. (sorry, dude.) New as they may be, those Trailblazers pack a mean punch, in a good way.

Before half time, another goal went in to make it 10-0. 20 minutes to go.

Tristan wasted no time in getting 300's second half on the way. Having set up more goals than scoring in the first half, he scored his third of the game and 300's 11th.

300's forward line were having a ball and gave Trailblazers a tough time with wrist shot after wrist shot. While Kyle, Tristan and Walson dominate the scoring charts, defender Choon Hong (a.k.a Nick Toong) got on board as well. Marcus got on the bandwagon too with 5 goals in the second half.

There was a period mid-way through the half when the secretariats were given no rest time. Marcus hit the net at the 10th minute and added another 6 seconds later (the stats don't lie.) After a time out was called, Kyle scored two more in 20 seconds. Good job secretariats!

Reader, you're probably bored by now after all the stats so eventually, it ended 0-26.

With that, marks the end of 300's PFL Div. 2 campaign. Good job to the keepers and defenders for keeping a clean sheet.

And the final man of the match can of isotonic drink went to...
DARYL OOI.. who was often left unnoticed in the middle by Kyle and Tristan but ran like a Spartan and displayed qualities of a player any coach would want in their team.

To team Trailblazers, you fought till the very end. With that, we, 300, salute your courage. We've been there before so let this be a stepping stone in your floorball journey and most importantly, don't give up!

What's next? Prize giving!

300 G3: Speared

2010-04-12T15:20:00.005+08:00

Branded one of the games to watch of this year's league, 300 met newcomers Spearhead on the 3rd of April.

Newcomers or not, never underestimate your opponents.

Both sides came out at full force in the first 10 minutes, so much so that it seemed end-to-end.

300 drew first blood when they took full advantage of a free hit. Taken by Sonia, Marcus shot, but just as it was about to fly wide, Kyle poked it in for his fourth of the campaign.

Not long after, Spearhead's captain, Daniel Boey took advantage of their own free hit and 300's unorganised defending. All square now.

300 had plenty of chances to reclaim the lead but were often playing out of position and rather clumsily, committing silly mistakes.

Spearhead took the lead before half time when Eric Wong was left unmarked in front of 300's goal and took advantage to slot in. 2-1 to Spearhead. A demoralising blow, the goal was (Yoda, much?) as 300 went downhill from there.

Fred was hit by a 2 minute penalty a minute later for incorrect distance. 300 had to hold on with 4 people for the remaining of the half and a couple minutes into the second.

And just as Fred's penalty ended, 300 were back with 5 players and ready to get back into the game, Nick Toong was given a penalty for a header. (really? didn't you think it was more ball to head?..anyway.) Down to four, 300 played mostly in their own half as the ball could barely travel pass the half way line before it was intercepted by one of the Spearheads(Spearheaders?).

But Spearheads's advantage lasted only so long as one of their players was given a penalty for obstruction (more penalties than goals at this point). So the ball was going back and forth again and 300 picked up the pace as time went on, desperately trying to get the ball in the back of the net but failed.

And all of a sudden, 300 found themselves down to 3 players when Sonia and Marcus were given penalties only seconds apart. 5 vs 3, Kuan Yang threw in Nick, Ray Gan and Tristan during the power play. Spearheads' numbers and size advantage proved too much to handle and they made it 3-1.

Seconds after the time-out, Daniel Boey scored again to make it 4-1 and the game virtually out of 300's sight. Nick served his second bench penalty for lying play in the final minute. It was like rubbing salt into wounds. However, 300 displayed a never-say-die-even though-300-were- kinda-like-dead attitude when Sachin provided for Walson for 300's consolation in the last seconds.

Final score: 2-4 to Spearhead.

Although 300 were outmuscled by much bigger opponents, they still played as a unit and rallied around eachother after all the bench penalties and silly mistakes.

Man of the Match Award went to unsung captain Ray Gan for keeping his cool and tireless defending (pictures please, Kuan Yang)

No once in a lifetime can of isotonic drink this time though as it wasn't anyone's birthday. Maybe one for Kuan Yang, for all those heart attacks 300 might have caused him at such a young age. :)

After the game, the Spartans and a few 300's took the court for the weekly training.

Next up: 300 vs Trailblazers

300 G2: Off The Blocks

2010-03-30T20:08:00.006+08:00

Frontliners 300 recorded their first win of this year's PFL campaign with a 7-1 victory over fireBRANDS Patriots last Saturday.

Sounds so professional.

Frontliners 300 were in attacking mode against Patriots this time around and were parked in front of Patriots's goal in the first half. However, they stood firm and proved a stubborn side to break down when Patriots keeper, Joyce pulled off five saves in quick succession. Frontliners still found it hard to find the back of the net even when Patriots had only 4 players on court.

Walson was the first to break the deadlock with an assist from Tristan. Walson has the honour of scoring 300's first goal of this year's league nearly 8 minutes into the game.

Frontliners were made to wait for their second goal. About 10 minutes, if you're wondering how long exactly. Patriots often caught 300 on the counter attack which left Kuan Yang fuming at the forwards who didn't drop down. No Michael Cheah this time to lead the Spartan cheer and the hairdryers. According to our chatbox, he was in Ipoh at that time.

(Fred found Kyle in the corner of...)

Kyle scored 300's long-awaited second goal after a neat assist from Fred.

There was no long wait for the 3rd goal, well, maybe 'cause any longer and it would have been the 2nd half. This time, Walson repaid the favour and turned provider for Tristan to score.

Half time: 3-0.

FireBRANDS came back with a cracker in the 2nd half, when 17 seconds in, caught 300's line off-guard and scored. Not long after, Marcus was handed a 2-minute penalty for heading the ball. (Too much football, Marcus?)

Kyle scored his 2nd of the game and 300's 4th with a neat wrist shot in the 4th minute of the 2nd period when Patriots were once again down to 4 players.

Six minutes later, Fred and Kyle linked up again and Kyle scored his hat trick.

Sachin received 300's second bench penalty of the game for repeated offences. Slashing 3 times in a row. Even when down to 4 players, Tristan managed to score and make it 6-1.

Marcus, the youngest player in the squad, added another in dying seconds to make the final score 7-1.

AND FINALLY, even after working pretty hard and having a hat trick to his name...

Kyle looks a little uncomfortable receiving the Man of the Match Can of Isotonic Drink. Gatorade this time around.

And another once in a lifetime can...

Captain Ray Gan who, looks rather reluctant to receive the can of Gatorade, turned 15 on match day. (I guess 300 prefers 100 Plus, coach.) :)

NEXT UP: 300 vs Spearhead.

Playground Floorball III

2010-03-12T22:30:00.002+08:00

Unfortunately, FFC does not have a full-time club photographer, so make do with more and more words.

Our beloved "home ground", PBSM was unavailable again that week, so Frontliners trained at Taman Gelugor again, bringing some life to the otherwise quiet neighbourhood.

With Div. 2 in a week, Kuan Yang was still practising dead-ball situations. This time, it was less messy. In the absense of the b-ballers, Frontliners could utilise the whole court and have more game time.

That was about it.

Oh YEAH, Frontliners welcomed a new player to the club, a GIRL. Really.. when was the last time we introduced a new female player with the sudden influx of SXI guys over the recent months?

Introducing.. ZOE CHOW ZHU QING (photographer needed here, seriously), who finally made it for training after constant bugging from Pei Li.

and she impressed even Coach Kuan Yang.

Spartans In The Making

2010-03-12T20:48:00.005+08:00

Firstly, FFC would like to apologise for the overdue match report (or fuzzy recall).

Division II has begun, people! More Saturday trips to Dal... nope? BALIK PULAU SPORTS COMPLEX. To break it down, PFL Div.2 is played on full-sized courts (for those wondering, it's 40x20 m) for two periods of 20 minutes with 5 teams participating. Frontliners played the opening game on Saturday against Firebrands.

First game of the season, so every one's pumped and excited, including former 300 captain turned 300 "assistant coach" Michael Cheah, who led the Spartan cheer and gave some players the hairdryer (not Fergie-esque, though) when they came off for substitution.

A note to 300, please wear those green shorts for all matches or else suffer a two-minute bench penalty like Firebrands' Vincent Lim. Down to 4 men, 300 had the opening edge, keeping the ball on Firebrands' half most of the time. And all of a sudden, 300 ran out of gas too fast when Firebrands' came out to attack and scored when James was left unmarked.

The first half ended 0-1 with Firebrands threatening in front of goal and 300 barely making it in front of Firebrands' goal. Although Kyle and Tristan, looking for an equaliser, gave Bryan some work to do. It was obvious that 300 was the underdogs in this game after that 5-0 drubbing in pre-season but made Firebrands sweat for that second goal.

Which, came early in the second half.

300 seemed to have come back to life in the second half after a lazy first. The forwards ran more and came back to defend and spending more time on the other side of the court, with the ball of course. Tristan, especially was not afraid to push forward alone, usually coming up against bigger and better opponents.

Debutant keeper Omprekash did not disappoint and kept the scoreline as reasonable as possible.
300 was outmuscled, outplayed and left chasing shadows, often on the losing end of 50-50 challenges

Soon, Firebrands struck again and delivered the final blow in the last minute.

4-0.

Frontliners could draw many lessons in floorball from this game. Playing as a team for the first time, the forwards learnt to drop back. Newbies like Zoe and the Saints showed good promise as a future asset to 300 and possibly the Spartans while the older ones continue to gain experience.

Next came the coveted Man of the Match Award (a.k.a a can of 100Plus)...*Kuan Yang's attempt at a drum roll*

None other than goalkeeper, Omprekash.

and a special "once in a lifetime" can of 100Plus went to...

#17 who turned 17 on match day. :)

Playground Floorball II

2010-03-02T16:12:00.011+08:00

After many floorball-less weeks, it was fitting to have training back at Taman Gelugor, complete with the hot sun, colorful slide and... sleeping apek.

And of course, nothing would be complete without the dearly beloved, ever-gaya Kuan Yang, as coach.

It was share and share alike in the court, as the usual basketball junkies came over to have their weekly throwabout. Making full use of the reduction in space, most of the time for training was spent on one freehit situation, done again and again to drill the players into remembering it.

Ingenius plan, really.

Also, since there was only one thing done over and over again for the whole of training, there leaves nothing much to write, except for one short quote by the coach (do check out the quote of the week) that left Michael and Jason rolling on the ground with laughter...

...which of course, the coach ignored.

Kyle and Nick Toong really enjoying their physical battle.

Coach correcting Mike and Julian's positioning.

Fun fact: Women have it tougher than men to take off at full blast (according to Jason Chan). Whether true or not, players in the wall, if doing their job correctly, need very strong quads to get off the ground quickly. Fact.

The players were in fine form now, getting into their stride, so much so that the poor uncle woke up, took a look at what was going on, then left. To Kyle's relief.

Endless repetition leaving Mike a broken man.

The players carrying out their punishments after Coach added a twist in the drill: push-ups for defenders if goals are conceded, and push-ups for attackers if goals are not scored.

The basketball junkies still playing despite the heat left Coach with no option but to use two nice bottles (as requested) as goals.

Jason, the ever-charming salesman, diplomatically went to the b-ballers and persuaded them to give up their half for a few minutes.
It was like pinball, as Coach would throw in another ball whenever the original went out. Fast, messy... but fun.

And then as promised, the players vacated the court after time was up, blatantly ignoring the MPPP rules to occupy the oh-so-lovely slide. All in all, training was good.

As always la.

Greetings!

2010-02-12T14:34:00.004+08:00

A short post wishing EVERYONE ,
Happy Chinese New Year and Happy Holidays!
Take Care and God Bless.

(p.s. Don't forget to train hard at home)

SXI MANAGEMENT TEAM

Ringing in the New Year..Frontliners Style.

2010-01-10T20:44:00.004+08:00

new year..
new rules..
some new faces
and then there were same faces.

and apparently, same drills too - snakes, the one with 3 levels.

Frontliners training resumed its normal business after a month off.
After the warm-up drills, juniors and seniors were split but did the same drill on both sides - square pass.

Of course we were expected to use what we learnt during game time.

But before that, Kuan Yang had a 'mini game'. Beat the keeper from 1 court away sounded simple enough. Unfortunately, that one month of holiday made players all rusty as floorballs were sent flying everywhere except to the back of the net. Maybe it was just the keepers' day.

Game time, juniors played with juniors and seniors played with seniors. 10 minutes per game.
After more than an hour of game time, training ended at 12.30 so that there will be enough time for the first announcements of the year. Sounds just like school when the first assembly of the year is usually the longest.

So there you go, half an hour of issues raised and resolved and the goal for Frontliners in 2010.
and in the words of Coach Jason "See you all next week"

Must-Read Announcements!

2009-12-28T09:49:00.002+08:00

All Frontliners going for the annual dinner in January, please prepare RM25. The dinner will be held at Sirarom (opposite Phor Tay school) on 11 January.
Those who wish to order Frontliners Annual Yearbook, please leave a comment on this post. Cost is RM15, and orders will be taken only until 3 January.

The day we celebrat-ED!

2009-11-26T11:37:00.017+08:00

We the Saints managed come in as Champions and 1st Runners-up the Floorball Tournament organized in Shang Wu quite sometime ago.We celebrated our acheivements by having a training comemakan session.Coach Jason treated us with 2buckets of KFC! Thank you COACH! =)
We are sorry for the delayed post.
There you go people.
PICTURES!

Hello people!

Match Time!

Makan SESSION!

ALEX!

GUESS WHO haha

Coach Jason!

Alamak,Michael. ahah

Bapa Jason!

Kiddos!

Big BOYs!

Share your drink la,Alpha!

One big happy family.=)

The reason why we celebrated.

It was SXI Floorball Club's first achievement and many reasons why we celebrated.On behalf of SXI Management Team,We would like to thank Coach Jason for spending his time and coaching us and we would also like to thank every SXI player for believing in the vision.And we hope we can grow together even more as a family as time passes by.

Training 211109: Of V Passes, Triangles and Parallels

2009-11-22T19:01:00.007+08:00

Surprised?

yes.. FFC's blog has finally been updated after being on hiatus for a month.

And you'll only know what the title means if you came for training. So, come for training!

Like Coach Jason, most of the Saints and Salvation Army boys were missing in action this week.
Soooo...we welcome back...(it's a time like this where a club photographer would be much appreciated)

Coach Kuan Yang and his (lack of) 'come on la guys!' yells.
(there were lots of yells just none which said 'come on la guys")

Training started off with V pass (or V-pass?) with those in attendance lazily dragging their feet to the middle of the court and were suddenly brought to life with coach's yelling.

Frontliners had two newcomers this week in the form of potential goalkeepers,
Parvin Raj and Omprekash from Saints.

Omprekash showed good promise as a goalkeeper eventhough he had no equipment whatsoever.

Su Rong, sporting a new hair cut, was fashionably late.

Coach Kuan Yang got more into the tactical side of the game by trying to get the idea of the V pass into players' heads, which explains why all the drills were based on the first thing we learnt that day.
The drills were very different from the usual warm-up drills we've been doing for weeks. No snakes, nor ones originating from Japan.

Instead, there was one that went on for what seemed like forever. 3-on-2.
5 push ups for missed passes and 2 push ups for something to do with shots.
And a triangle must be existent at all times.

Kuan Yang resorted to using the multi-coloured balls to use as pointers for his lectures after each round when his old (or maybe just cheap) marker ran out of ink after one use.

Nick and Jeffery dropped by for a visit and ended up joining in during game time.

Compared to the previous week, this week only saw one hour of game time. Coach hoped the better players would at least put in elements of the V-pass into their game.
You gotta ask him if they did.

Coach Jason showed up right at the end and delivered a short, but meaningful (sounds corny, doesn't it?) message.

"Keep floorballing"

HOT core training. 21 Oct 2009

2009-10-23T23:11:00.007+08:00

That simply explain the weather for that day especially the shade-less basketball court. However, that doesnt seems to tire out the Saintz but fire up their passion for floorball even more! With 20 Floorballer, we started off jogging around the street soccer court and Coach Jason then led the team into warm up himself.

Warming up session

Coach Jason then demonstrate the 'team work and physical' drill which is to carry their teammate across the court.

The defender's drill 2-on-1 come up next.

Defenders line

attacker's line

Captain Mikey guarding the post

After afew more drills, the Coach declare its GAME TIME.
Teams were split. Junior aside, Senior the other side.

THis time, the senior gets to play in a much wider plane.
2 Basketball court. one cone at the end of both side.
and YES.
the cone is the 'goal post'
Coach Jason stressed on playing with our senses and get into the game.
not just playing for the sake of playing

time reali flies when we just started to get into the game.
we wrap up the day with one last match for both Senior and Junior

the casualty

Coach Jason debriefing the players.
the Management then took over and reminded them to study for their finals.
Good result will lead to more floorball.
just before the training ends,
Jason promoted on the Big-E camp and also promised the players a treat for OUR first victory as a school

SXI Floorball Club
Management Team

VAANIKAM VAANIKAM !!!

2009-10-17T23:27:00.004+08:00

Happy Deepavali to those who celebrate it... when u think of deepavali, you think of murukus... capati... bla bla bla... :)
THIS IS OUR... MURUKU AND CAPATI...

Coach Jason took up the training with warm up drills...

Coach Jason then moves on for a meeting along with the wiseman Steven and ironlady Pei li...

Coach Kuan Yang took the training and spice it up with his killer drills... heh heh... sounds evil...

The SEMPOI punya Budak-budak Coach, Michael Cheah took the budak-budaks for a kindergarden session in floorball...

Hmm... I wonder what are those budak-budaks doing in the dark eh??

All come back for a battle on the court with 5 minutes ongoing gameplay...

And then... the second coming of Coach Jason and iron lady Pei li...

FINALLY... manager Jason Chan gave a challenge to all FRONTLINERS...
Can you remember what is it... ? Next training...all must show hand...

SO lets see if we all remember the challenge or not ? Can remember or not?

YES OR YES ???

Oh when the Saint's go marching in! 14/10/2009

2009-10-16T17:12:00.016+08:00

"Oh when the Saint's go marching in!"
This is the best song lyric to represent the training on the 14th Of October 2009.
A total number of 35 PEOPLE! attended training.Welcoming new and old players.
It is the highest attended training in the history of SXI Floorball Club.
Praise God for that!

Stretching.

What are you looking at punk?

Excited faces!

Coach Explaining the Snake Drill

Bonding between Brendon and Fred! =D

Showing Off

Some defenders drill.

Getting into teams.

"Bring it on"

As training ended,the management team announced the players participating in the exhibition on the 18th Of October 2009 in Shang Wu.9am- 12pm

Team 1

(C) Gray lee
Michael Cheah
Ho Jun Yi
Kenneth Yeap
Algin Tan
Jeffery Lim
Bryan Tan
Darien Tan

Team 2

(C) Ong Ray Gan
Walson Chua
Marcus Kam
Daryl Ooi
Fred
Alpha Pan
Gideon Joseph
Alex Vellu

Players listed down here,must be at Shang Wu on Sunday by 9am for warm up and everything will begin at 10 am.Everyone must wear their KK shirt and sports attire.Thank you.

SXI Floorball Club
Management Team

New Battle Ground. 7/10/09

2009-10-16T16:42:00.014+08:00

Its been sometime since SXI Floorball Club has posted up something.
We apologize for this.
On the 7th Of October 2009.Training was held at the basket ball court cause the street soccer court was not available due to PMR.
After getting on to the basket ball court,we found out that it was not bad.
Well,its has always been said that pictures can some how talk.
So,its better to have the pictures do the talking.

The Basketball Court.

KIDS!

The MENS!

Team TALK.

Penalty Shot!

PMS DRILL.

SXI FLOORBALL CLUB,
Management Team.

Newly IMPROVED training... konon

2009-10-15T02:40:00.005+08:00

Sms to all Frontliners... "NEWLY IMPROVED TRAINING .... GUARANTEED INTENSITY AND EXTENDED MATCH TIME"...

sounded catchy...

Perhaps the catchy part was the extended game play...

So... HOW did we fare???

Suddenly SO MANY PPL in training... 30+ people in the court. INTENSITY... both coaches Kuan Yang(head coach) and Jason(the other coach/manager) had some intensed moments... headaches...

"too little players also SUSAH..."

"too MANY players also SUSAH..."

Haih... tat was the cry of head coach Kuan Yang(sekolah cina... :P)

Extended match time? was it really extended? Of course... well... just slightly more than the previous week... but player being players... always complain... PLAY NOT ENOUGH... right?

Complain complain paling pandai... kekeke... Well... Relak ah...

Management's gonna come out with even more innovative training package to cater for all your needs...

BE EXCITED... BE VERY EXCITED... BE EXTREMELY EXCITED kerana

Our philosophy has always been... "Ada Idea Baru"

See you in training :)

Another Army In The House

2009-10-04T20:19:00.006+08:00

For many of those who came for training this week, it probably was the first time stepping foot on PBSM's next-door neighbors, St. John.

Oh, yes, all of them do pass by the pink-and-white building every week, on their way to PBSM, but the most they give would be a sparing glance at the young St. John's'es who seem to forever march.

Well, here's a big note.. St. John's is way more canggih than PBSM! They even have a reception area, with a password-key box beside the door.. fu-yoh!

The court, however, was small when compared to PBSM's; miniscule when compared to Dalat's; and.. non-existent when compared to Balik Pulau's.

Small as it was, though, it sure was better than playing under the hot, hot sun at Taman Gelugor's basketball court. So it was good.

The first drill after warm-up was a leg-exercising one. There was a puddle of very dirty water at one spot on the court, and the players were all told to walk, dance, and shuffle over it to spread the water.

That done, Coach Kuan Yang took a leaf out of Coach Jason's book and actually did a fun drill.

At one end of the court, he placed two chairs at opposite sides, and at the other end, he placed a stack of dustbins (PBSM and St. John's seem to get their dustbins from the same shop) in the middle.

Standing at one end, a player had to pass the ball between the legs of the chair, run and pick it up, then dribble around said chair. The player then had to pass the ball and hit the dustbins, and again, run, pick up and dribble around. Finally, the player had to repeat this procedure for the final chair, and the drill would be over.

After a few rounds, Coach divided the players into two groups and made the drill a friendly competition. A ball between the legs of the chairs gets one point; so does hitting the dustbins. The team with the most points win and get to determine the losers' punishment.

The chair legs seemed to have suddenly gained magnetic powers, drawing the ball to them but not between them.

Su Rong's team ran out winners, and he happily doled out the punishment: that the other team would have to run three rounds round the whole place.

Not inside, not just outside, but the whole place; including the houses.

Obviously, Coach stepped in and spoiled the fun, saying running inside would do. Thus the losing team had to run 10 rounds inside, and the winning team had to set up the goalposts.

At that moment, in came fifteen or so males, ranging from the tiny to the muscle-packed to the.. well-aged. These, ladies and gentlemen, were the boys from Salvation Army!

So whatever plans to torture the players by Coach had to be scrapped. Instead, almost immediately, it was time for a match.

The SA boys definitely were no pushovers.

At the end of training, a few announcements were made, and the players were dismissed.

Labor Omnia Vincit - The Xaverian Epic Part 3

2009-09-15T00:26:00.000+08:00

Xavierians to the rescue of FFC.

Club training was horrible, at its lowest with only 4 people in training including the coach. We were fighting against extinction.

It was at this moment, Xavierians came to the rescue.

Of the 12 Xavierians that joined the FFC training, 6 of them remained faithful to the club. They were passionate, committed and were willing to fight to rebuild the club from the scratch.

The fabulous 6 are,

1. Joshua Raj
2. Mekananth Selvaraj
3. San Jeevan Sivaraj
4. Goekula Kannan
5. Ilaiye Pumaren
6. Nareenthiran Jaya Gopal

It was the special bonding between these boys and the club that kept everyone moving.
Without these boys, FFC will cease to exist today. We couldn't even send a decent team into a competition.

The boys continued to help FFC rebuild itself eventhough SXI has fallen.

Thanks to these boys, today we still exist and finally won the silver in PFL Division 1.
Something we at FFC can never dream of back then.
The Promise

FFC finally struggled through and survived the the Great Depression. But what happened to SXI???

Jason Chan made a promise to the fabulous 6 while going through the Great Depression. He made a commitment that once we overcome everything, we will revive the school again. That's a lifetime promise. Things will change.

FFC continued to work hard through the Xavierian recruits in an attempt to revive the SXI team. Efforts continued for 3 years. Persistence was the typical Spartan trait. Attempts were met with failure. No one wanted to play floorball. Eventually the fabulous 6 left the school. But the promise remains unchanged. FFC continued to pray hard and cast the vision to any new Xavierian recruit.

It was always at the back of our heart to revive the school that saved us :)

The Xaverian Training 09 09 09

2009-09-09T22:28:00.004+08:00

A special day for a special training.
9/9/9
Today attendance surpassing 20 people.
SEMPOI!
It was less of drill and more of match time.Coach Jason was getting us prepared for the upcoming competition this Saturday.
Everyone is excited.
You can see it in their faces.
Training started.
Warm up by Lawren and Michael.
Later on was the Snake Drill.
After the snake drill.
Coach Jason wanted to work the players legs even more.
Coach asked the players to do "DRAGON RUNS."
Everyone was separated into groups of 5's for the run,with a total of 5 rounds.
The "Dragon Runs" ended and it was game time.
Players playing this Saturday got into their teams,Team Lunatics and Team Kamikaze.
Those who were not playing this Saturday was in Team Nameless.
With Raygan and Lawren captain of each team,it was
TEAMTALK!
Coach Jason mixed and match players as the game went on.
Then,everyone decided to play for 30 more mins after training.
With each team finalized,it was Team Lunatics VS Team Kamikaze.
The little kids proved threatening as they scored 1 or 2 goals.

The final whistle was blown!

It was warm down.
The most entertaining part of the day.
It was the only time players could see each other scream!
Stretching pass your limits ensuring we are ready this Saturday.

Managers talk,
Michael told each and every player to be at school by 6.20am on Saturday morning.
For those who fail to turn up on Saturday,would have to pay a fine of 20 ringgit.
Participating certs will also be given out to school players.
Players are told to wear their white school KK shirt as their 1st jersey and bring a black t-shirt for the 2nd jersey.He also said about proper attire and only sports shoes.
Food will not be provided on that day but bread and drinks will be sold at Balik Pulau.

For any questions, players can look for
-Michael
-Lawren
-Kenneth

PFA-Rising Star Floorball Challange 2009.

2009-09-07T20:39:00.009+08:00

After the managers meeting on the 3rd of September 2009.
This are the team groupings and match schedule for the PFA-Rising Star Floorball Challenge on the 12th of September 2009.

Team Groupings.

Group A

Minden Titanium
SXI Kamikaze
Ztec 2011
Bak Hu(Firebrands)

*the top 3 will qualify for the next round*

Group B

Contact Army
Innebandy! Co.
Bak Kua(Firebrands)
Frontliners Fusion

*the top 3 will qualify for the next round*

Group C

Bak Chang(Firebrands)
SXI Lunatics
Contact Driver

*the top 2 will qualify for the next round*

Match Schedule
Group Matches.

7.50 a.m-Registration.
8.20 a.m-Minden Titanium VS SXI Kamikaze
9.00 a.m-Bak Chang VS SXI Lunatics
9.40 a.m-Bak Kua VS Frontliners Fusion
11.00 a.m-SXI Lunatics VS Contact Driver
11.20 a.m-SXI Kamikaze VS Bak Hu
11.40 a.m-Innebandy! Co. VS Frontliners Fusion
12.20 p.m-Frontliners Fusion VS Contact Army
12.40 p.m-SXI Kamikaze VS Ztec 2011

This are only the selected group matches for the day.

-The top3 teams for Group A and B will qualify for the next round and only the top2 teams from Group C will qualify for the next round.The whole tournament is estimated to end at about 4.20 p.m.
-Please be on time for team registration in the morning.

-Lunch will not be provided but bread and drinks will be sold,So prepare your own lunch.
-You can only eat at the stands.
-Warm-ups must be done out side not inside,Youthwave style.

For enquires please contact your team managers.Thank you.

The Xaverian Training 2nd September 09

2009-09-02T19:21:00.004+08:00

After a week of training in the indoor court, the PBSM hall,
we are back to our very own Street Soccer Court.
Although it was a semi-open area with some pot-holes to avoid during the training,
the energy level was nothing less compare to the power packed training last week.
one CLAP for all the Saint.

It was a great day to start off our training as it was kinda cloudy.
without much of presence of the Sun,
And TODAY is a day to remember as the attendance soared up high hitting 25 players.
We welcome Calvin back to the floorball scene as well as Alex who is new to floorball.
we started off with jogs and warm up.
Snakes followed up after 2 rounds of suicides.
While the energy level was still at the peak,
an assessment was carried out by the coach through the keeper.
it was to test their shots.
after 2 rounds of shooting,
Michael, Jeffery, Algin, Kenneth and Gary was classed as the 5 Hard Shooter.
Lawren, Calvin, Wei Jian and Walson were classed second to them.
A 2-on-1 drill was done to get the players ready for the game later and also to forge up the team play.
Team Lunatic and Team Kamikaze were then named and split by Michael for the upcoming tournament, PFA Rising Start Challenge.
The long awaited game time soon arrived.
Team Lunatic was high on spirit as they manage to bag in afew goals with some good team plays.
however, Team Kamikaze was not easy on them. They fought their way through with stubborn defense which kept the forwards busy looking for alternatives.

Game time soon ended and the Saint were brief on basic rules in the game of floorball by Coach Jason.
Michael then took over to brief the players on the PFA Rising Star Challenge.
Thanks to the effort of Michael,
we manage to get support and sponsors from the school for the Challenge which we are participating in.
It was a great training as most of them complain on how short it was although we played for almost 3 hours.

By,
The Management Team Of S.X.I Floorball Club.

PFA-Rising Star Floorball Challenge 2009

2009-09-02T18:56:00.003+08:00

S.X.I Floorball Club will be sending 2 teams for the upcoming PFA-Rising Star Floorball Challenge (OPEN CATEGORY) on the 12th Of September 2009.

Team 1
SAINTZ LUNATICS
-Lawren Lim (C)
-Michael Cheah
-Jeffery Lim
-Kenneth Yeap
-Algin Tan
-Darien Tan
-Tan Eik Hong
-Bryan Tan
-Howard Ooi
-Chung Wei Jian

Team 2
SAINTZ KAMIKAZE
-Ray Gan (C)
-Marcus Kam
-Gideon Joseph
-Joel Lee
-Daryl Ooi
-Walson Chuah
-Alpha Pan
-Caleb Ng
-Gary Teoh
-Simon

So this will be the players playing on the 12th of September 2009.
If there are any questions regarding the teams or the competition,you can always look for:-

-Michael Cheah
-Lawren Lim
-Kenneth Yeap

THANK YOU!

KEEP FLOORBALLING!

The Xaverian Training 26th Aug 09.

2009-08-31T01:10:00.011+08:00

The night before it was raining,
But the next morning was bright and shining,
A great day for floorball training,
and it was our first holiday training.

WHERE?
RC HQ

Everyone was excited,especially the junior members of the team.Some were even earlier than the coach.
Respect!
It is the first time S.X.I Floorball Club had a training in a proper indoor court

It was 8am and training should have started but Coach Jason decided to wait for the rest to arrive,so training started at 8.30am.
The team started with a jog around the housing area outside the RC building.
Good effort shown by Alpha in the jogging part thanks to the support of Lawren.
Then the usual warm up.

We got back in the building and started training.
The Snake drill,2 line drill,2-on-1,basic ball control drills and all sorts of PMS drills which included a lot of running.
Almost to the climax of training,Coach Jason got players got into pairs and started a 2-on-2.
3 badminton courts, 2 pairs in a court and small coned goal posts on each side.
Get it?
After a certain amount of time played,pairs rotate among other pairs.Therefore,everyone gets to play with each other!

CLIMAX!
Game time,the moment every player has been waiting for.Coach Jason had a 5-on-5 game and then only a 4-on-4.Getting the players ready for the upcoming PFA-Rising Star Floorball Challenge on the 12th of September 2009.With both our keepers absent from training a goal will only be counted if it hits the top corner.Hard?maybe not.Shot were being fired from every part of the court and hitting the top corner.Awesome.

After an hour of game time,everything came into conclusion with a debrief.Everyone expressed their feelings towards the training.Obviously it was great! Coach Jason tells the players about the DO's and DON'Ts on the court and praised Nimesh for his encouragement given towards other players,willingness to chase the ball and many more,not forgetting the most important part,his POSITIVE THINKING.Coach Jason stressed that every player should have that values in and out of the court.The quiet one,Kenneth made a few words saying that players should join Saturdays Frontliners Floorball Club training.Finally,a word from the team manager,Michael.He reminded players about the upcoming competition on the 12th of September 2009 and he said that S.X.I Floorball Club will be sending in 2 teams.The teams are named as :-
-Team 1
SAINTZ LUNATICS
-Team 2
SAINTZ KAMIKAZE

The team names were based on selection of many people from the school,therfore it was chosen and the list of players for each team will be posted up very soon.With such great number of turn out for training there were some plans to have the weekly trainings at RC HQ once or twice a month.
That concluded The 26th Aug 09 Xaverian Training.

*PICTURES ARE WITH COACH JASON,IT WILL BE POSTED UP VERY SOON*

By,
The Management Team Of S.X.I Floorball Club.

The Xaverian Training 19th Aug

2009-08-19T21:41:00.011+08:00

Today, 18 saints floorballer turned up for training including a new player, Kent.

Training started off by a warm up session and a few rounds at the Street Soccer Court.*players setting up the goal post*

*Running before warming up*

*warming up*

After the warming up session,
the snake drill was done followed by first timer shots.
Coach Jason then came up with afew sets of different PMS drill which involves alot of sprinting, passes and of course shots.

*briefing on the drills*

Even though they were confusing at first, but the Xaverians manage to get the drill going after a few tries.
*players trying out some shots*

Before game time,
Coach Jason set up the track for the challenge last week.
again, the players gave their best to win the title " Man of the Training"
the challenge involves afew cones arranged in a zig zag formation which the player have to sprint from cone to cone and then recieve a pass, pass back, and the take a shot at the keeper.
The challenge was top by Algin, Jeffery and Kent.
however, every challenge needs a winner and 3 of them fought for it.
Game time came and players were split according to their experience.
after a good 30 min of game time,
Coach Jason blew the final whistle.
but as the players were requesting for extra time,
the training was slightly prolonged.
The game time was finally over and briefing took over.
The Xavierians learnt about the importance of discipline and promised to show improvement the next training.
Here comes the Man Of the Training.
He is none other than Mr. Algin Tan.

*Man Of the Training Award*
Owning the title the second time consequtively.
Training dismissed later than expected
Although next week is a school holiday, but training is still on and players will be inform once we confirm the details.

Labor Omnia Vincit - The Xaverian Epic Part 2

2009-08-18T21:12:00.007+08:00

YouthWave.

In 2006, SXI participated in their first ever floorball tournament. Prior to that, SXI trained with Frontliners Floorball Club (FFC) 2 months before the first tournament. Coincedently that was Coach Jason Chan's 2nd time coaching floorball in his whole floorball career. There were at least 12 Xavierians whom joined the club training back then.

The was a very strong bonding between the Xavierians and the coach. The relationship continues to be strong today even though many of them have retired from floorball scene.

SXI joined YouthWave for the first time. They earned a respectable 4th position only to lose to FFC(3rd place) who also competed in the same competition. Mekananth was the captain of that team back then.

SXI Crisis.

After that epic, the Xaverians training was stopped many times due to exams and unforeseen circumstances. As a result, the attendance dropped. Eventually the SXI team was gone. The school decided to shut it down. Was that the end of history???

The Great Depression of FFC.

FFC was going through a big change in leadership back then in 2007. Jason Chan took over the mantle of leadership over the club. The club was facing a threatening challenge of players diaspora which almost resulted in the closure of the club. Majority of our main players had to leave Penang for further studies. It was unavoidable. Shockingly FFC only had a few faithful ones left.

To Be Continued ....

Labor Omnia Vincit - The Xavierian Epic Part 1

The Xaverian Training.

2009-08-12T20:38:00.037+08:00

Today,this will be known as a historical post.
As promised,at 9.00PM++ today.
The first post on The Xaverian Training will be published officially on the Frontliners Floorball Club BLOG for the FIRST TIME in history.
After a long and endless discussion between the Management team of Saints and Frontliners,It has been made official that Frontliners Floorball Club will fully support SXI Floorball Club in many ways possible.SXI Floorball Club is also given the chance to utilise the blog for announcements,posts and also the summary on The Xaverian Trainings will be posted up.
SXI Floorball Club is very grateful for having Frontliners Floorball Club to support us.
A VERY BIG THANK YOU.

Coming back to the post,
THE XAVERIAN TRAINING

Trainings are on Wednesdays. 3pm-5pm.Venue:STREET SOCCER COURT.
Rain or Shine,Training is ON!
(Unless told so)

*Every Xaverian is INVITED*

For todays training,it began with only 9 people including the coach(JASON CHAN MING HWEE) as most of the members were away for a meeting.After the meeting,attendance again rose to 18 people. Training began with a Passing,Movement, and Shooting Drill made by the Coach himself.

*Lining up for the drill*

Everyone was told to finish this drill within 8 SEC's
THATS ALGIN! you will know how fast he went later.

*GAME TIME*

*DIVIDED INTO TEAMS BUT UNITED AS ONE*

*THE JUNIORS*

*IT WAS A 4-on-4*

*Michael tired?i dont think so.KILLERS MAYBE?*

*debrief*
Coach Jason letting us know how important is it to study and get good grades.
"Labor Omnia Vincit" Labour Conquers All.
There for work hard and smart and it will bring you success.
"GOOD GRADES! = FLOORBALL!"

*The management team*
(the 3 blind mice)

*The coach himself*

This is a new award.
M.O.T=Man Of The Training!
He completed the drill as said just now in 6 seconds making him the fastest and the M.O.T!

This Ends The Xaverian Training of 12th Aug 2009!
More updates to COME! so keep on reading!

By,
SXI FLOORBALL MANAGEMENT TEAM

Labor Omnia Vincit - The Xaverian Epic Part 1

2009-08-11T23:02:00.010+08:00

Labor Omnia Vincit is the St Xavier's Institution's(SXI) school motto. It simply means "labour conquers all". The fact that we see the SXI floorball team today training regularly every week with an average of 15 hyperactive Xaverians is the testimony that this motto remains true today and is the trait of all true Xaverians. The Xaverian epic is the epitome of what pioneering spirit is all about.

3 years ago.

It all began 3 years back. Brother Kenny Khoo(picture below), back then from Frontliners pioneered the first generation SXI team.

The original purpose was to give the students an avenue to express themselves in the right manner through floorball. The school then allowed the floorball club to be pioneered rather than having boys wasting their lives on unhealthy activities.The training was held at the Street Soccer court at 5pm to 6pm every monday 3 years back. SXI is the first ever boys school to ever form a floorball team in Malaysia.

Is that all???

to be continued

Spartan Training

2009-08-11T14:54:00.003+08:00

It was Coach Michael Cheah, with his new Unihoc Player blade and all, who rocked the training floor last Saturday.

Coaching with utmost authority as if he'd been coaching for years, it was a breath of fresh air for most players already used to the voracious Jason and the ice cool Kuan Yang.

It was a combined training, and there was one new face that day... he's short, he's small, and he smiles a lot... and he's Daryl of SXI!

Snakes, Japanese snakes, 2-on-1's... all the usual pre-game warmup already hammered into the players was done. Coach then moved on to drills that were a combination of passing, dribbling and shooting.

Finally, in a very football moment, he picked Lawren and Pei Li for the captains that day, and let them each take turns to choose their players.

It was a high-scoring match, as there were no goalkeepers either side. Kyle, in Lawren's team, was a constant curi-ayam menace, and Daryl, in Pei Li's team, showed good defensive sense and released the ball very quickly.

Late into training, Justin and Zachary, two new guys, joined in.

And just as Zachary looked like he would score his first ever goal... Coach Michael blew his whistle, called an end to the match, and ordered the players to line up.

Well, duh...

Of course there'd be killers.

These were Spartans and Spartans-to-be who were training.

Spartans G5: End of the Fairytale

2009-08-06T17:58:00.004+08:00

In the final game of Frontliners Spartans Div.1 campaign, it was like every part of the Spartans many performances in the past 4 matches.

Just like the games against Ztec and Innebandy, Spartans raced to an early lead, only to squander it. But in those two games, Frontliners managed to hold on and come out with a draw and win respectively. This time however, Contact Fireants made sure that they inflicted the only lost for Frontliners this campaign.

As of now, the identity of Spartans’ first goal scorer is unknown, although it looked like Nicholas had the final touch. With at least silver guaranteed, Frontliners had nothing to lose. Su Rong added to his tally for the Spartans second goal not long after.

And just like in the other games, the goals conceded were due to defensive errors- closing down to slowly, clearing through the centre (Coach is gonna cringe!), etc. Contact jumped at every opportunity and never gave Frontliners a moment of peace. Contact scored two goals in quick succession and all was level.

After racing into the lead, Frontliners were left chasing after Fireants. Kuan Yang rattled the crossbar right after Fireants had taken the lead. Truth be told, that was the closest Frontliners could get to goal in the rest of the half.

More goals in the second half, but they were all from Contact Fireants. It was a tough and rough half. Players ran into the boards, players went flying, Kuan Yang and Penny knocking their heads together after a scuffle for the ball in Fireants zone. Tempers flared but count our cool and calm coach/manager and captain to keep players in check.

Man of the match was Nicholas(much to the delight of some who were awaiting his 'legendary' Spartan cheer) for his darting down the court, switching from defender to forward and probably scored one goal.

Though Spartans had lost 6-2, it was their overall performance in the entire league that kept smiles on their faces. 2nd in the league, a first for the club, is something to be proud of. Kudos to Frontliners Spartans and long may they continue to improve and achieve more success in the future. What is your profession??

Training 250709: Dawn of A New Era

2009-07-31T22:57:00.005+08:00

Training was headed by newly appointed Division 2 coaches Michael and Pei Li- taking over the realms of Coach Jason. Only 4 people showed up excluding the coaches and Kuan Yang.

Training started with some basic passing. Then followed by a shooting drill where one had to dribble from the side to the centre with the ball and do a wrist shot. Too simple? Here’s the catch. You mustn’t stop jogging. Even after the shot. Michael gave the occasional wake up call to the tired legs. Some had difficulty not doing first-timer shots and after around 20 minutes+ of that was Game Time. Training was only one and a half hours long, so less drills and wake up calls.

Lawren, Pei Li and Michael against the juniors and girls. The catch is. The senior team couldn’t run with the ball. This was made an advantage for the junior team. Goals blasted from all 4 players (mostly Kyle-good prospect for the future, keep it up!) left the seniors trailing 5-0 or 6-0.

Pei Li switched it up and sorted the players around. 3-on-3, Pei Li as the ref. After the scores were leveled at 1-1, Pei Li decided the next team to concede a goal would do 10 pushups. Sachin scored the deciding goal to wrap up the match and deliver the pushups to Kyle, Yue Shern and Lawren.

Let’s wait and see what the new coaches have in store for the juniors and girls next time.

Spartans G4: Pictures

2009-07-28T15:34:00.009+08:00

A second for Sarah, a third for UniHawks who look totally in control.

Spartans cannot believe what is happening.

Kenny (make out the #7) scoring Spartan's first to make it 1-3.

3-2 to UniHawks at the break.

Red headbands the statement of the day for Coach Kuan Yang and Coach Chris.

Suleen looking very relaxed..

Team Contact look to be enjoying themselves..

Sharron doing what all goalies hate: picking the ball out of her own net.

And now for the equalizer!

Sarah of UniHawks taking a tumble.

Captain Jason biting his nails in anticipation.

Nick afraid to look at Sarah.

The long-awaited equalizer: Spartans breathe a sigh of relief.

Frustration mounts as Spartans go all out for one more.

Su Rong running the entire length of the court in delight after scoring.

Suleen looking dejected after conceding the fifth goal.

All hands on deck to preserve the slender lead! (but where are the other UniHawks?)

A relieved Su Rong after the final whistle.

Even the ref needs a breather from all the excitement..

High-fives and smiles all around for a game well-fought.

Both teams thank both sets of supporters who supported both teams. All friends mah..

Best defeat so far, UniHawks?

Two goals and one assist: not much more can be asked for from Frontliners' MOTM, Nicholas Teoh.

Spartans G4: From the Depths of Defeat to the Heights of Victory

2009-07-24T21:14:00.007+08:00

"...they will be like wounded beasts, so watch out!"

Not wounded enough, seemingly. That Tuesday night, UniHawks looked hungrier, sharper and fresher than Spartans. Determined not to let history repeat itself, Spartans staged a second-half fightback and clawed their way back to regain the ever-so-slight upper hand, thus ensuring at least a bronze, come the final day.

But how UniHawks made them sweat blood for it.

It was UniHawks, the home team, who took the initiative from the start-- making runs all over and exchanging the ball with supreme confidence, so it was no wonder that they took the lead early on. A soft goal to concede, one that doubtless would irritate Coach Kuan Yang after having practiced so many freehit situations in training.

This was also UniHawks' very first goal in the league this year.

And yet Spartans could not raise their game to match the flying Hawks. A second goal soon followed, an instinctive backhand stroke by Sarah, her second of the game and the year. And not long after, a third by Rish, during a power play situation.

No one there could believe what they were seeing-- and now Spartans knew how Innebandy must have felt in the game before.

The breakthrough for Spartans finally came through Kenny, minutes before the whistle for half-time sounded. It was a well-timed and badly needed goal and gave the match a whole different complexion. The momentum now with Spartans, Kuan Yang quickly scored a trademark second, and it looked like it would be all downhill from then on.

Yet it was UniHawks, again, who forced the opening in the second half, scoring a well-deserved and well-taken goal against a Spartan side that were slow to start their engines.

Again.

With more urgency than ever, Kuan Yang tweaked the lines slightly to give the team a more attacking edge, and this approach paid off.

Slowly but surely, Spartans took control of the game, living off a scare or two (one especially when Sarah blazed over after a one-on-one) and in the end, snatched a victory from the depths of defeat.

In true Spartans style.

*Due to short-term memory losses from both sides, some information might be inaccurate. Sorry.*

Spartans G3: Climbing Up and Holding On

2009-07-16T18:05:00.006+08:00

A week after holding the league favourites to a draw, Frontliners Spartans came up against Innebandy Co, where once again, Coach decided to gamble.

It was like déjà vu. Spartans rush to the lead, dominate and get dominated, gift the opposition goals and somehow seem to come out of it all alive and well.

Kenny continued his top form by scoring a brace in the first half. Pei Li scored her first ever league goal by scoring Spartans third of the night.

Half time score: 3-0 to Frontliners.

Just like the second half against Ztec, Spartans lost their momentum after gaining the lead. Innebandy went on an all-out attack to come back from a three-goal deficit. Even before the second half started, both teams sounded like they were battling for the Loudest Cheer of the Year.

40 minutes can take a toll on players no matter how fit he/she is. Even with frequent substitutions, Spartans looked worn out and tired midway through. Any cracks and there was Innebandy, waiting to break. A mix up when Kuan Yang was substituted left Deswyn unmarked with all the time and space (again) in the world to score.

Although the Spartans still had a two goal lead, they were made to work hard to hold on to it. Innebandy came up, stronger in the second half while Frontliners played more defensive as most players were already dead tired.

Another crack in Frontliners wall was spotted by Deswyn later on when he appeared in front of Steven, got the ball and scored. Spartans were made to sweat for a couple minutes, hoping they didn't squander a lead once again.

In the end, Frontliners emerged victorious, tired, and out of breath. Kenny Ng was awarded the Man of the Match award (and a can of 100Plus) for his brace and energy channelled in the court.

3 games down, 2 to go. 2 wins, 1 draw. Can the Spartans continue their fine form or will history repeat itself when they take on Minden Unihawks next?

Exclusive Interview: Pei Li's Thoughts

2009-07-09T19:49:00.003+08:00

Recently, The Tall One (TTO) and The Short One (TSO) (not their real names), with the help of Anonymous Guests (AG) had the privilege of interviewing Kew Pei Li (PL), who scored her first ever competitive goal on Tuesday. Pei Li, Frontliners loyal female player, willingly answered questions in her own creative way.

TSO: How did you feel?
PL: Like, oh, cool.

TTO: Were you expecting to score?
PL: [shakes head]

TSO: What did you do? Didn’t you jump or something?
PL: I just walked back. Smiled a bit.

TSO: The fact that you scored a goal. Have you realized it yet? Has it hit you?
PL: Not really.

TTO: Rate your goal on the scale of 1-10.
PL: 3. Compared to Kenny’s and Kuan Yang’s against Dalat, mine was soft.

AG: How did you feel the moment the ball entered the goal?
PL: I didn’t realize. I didn’t see it go in because all the Innebandy players were blocking. Only when Kenny and Nick turned around and smiled, then I know lah

TTO: Rate Frontliners performance on the scale of 1-10. Why?
PL: 7. Why ah? Because we let in two goals we shouldn’t have let in. We played well but there’s still room for improvement.

TSO: Where do you go from now?
PL: Dude, it’s like I won the World Cup, with that question. I will try hard to improve my play, to vary my play. I will try to lob balls, which I have not been successful at. As long as the team wins, it doesn’t matter.

TSO: Are you happy?
PL: I’m happy that we won. Umm..well, I guess. [Thinks] It’s cool lah. I’m not sure if I’m happy or not. I should be. It’s a good thing and good things make me happy. So I’m happy. [moments later] Embarrassed.

TSO: WHAAAAAT??
TTO: Why?
PL: Why ah? ‘Cause right, everyone was cheering and I’m not used to that. I’m more used to cheering for people.

TSO: How did you do it?
PL: I don’t know. It just happened.

TSO: Apakah rahsia kejayaan anda?
PL: Monday, girls’ state training really helped a lot.

TSO: Who would you like to thank for your success?
PL: What success?
TSO: Your goal. You know like in the Oscars’, they thank this person and that person.
PL: I would like to thank the supporters.
TSO: Thought they embarrassed you.
PL: I would like to thank Ming Hwee for selling me the Bubble (Pei Li’s stick). The stick did it, not me.
AG: But you were holding the stick.
PL: I know but the stick did 60%, I did 40%. For me lah. I think lah.
TSO: So you’re not gonna thank Kuan Yang, the coach?
PL: And thank you everyone who thinks they are a part of it. It’s not much success la, just a goal.

TSO: Berikan nilai yang anda amalkan.
PL: English please. [Interviewer translates in head]
TSO: What moral values have you exemplified through the goal?
PL: Haaaa…lemme think, lemme think. Ah..It’s a crap question man. It’s just a goal!

TTO: But your very first.
PL: Doesn’t feel like it.
AG: Have you always been like this?
PL: Like what?
AG: Like, emotionless.
PL: You didn’t hear me scream at Algin during the game? That’s not emotion ah?

TSO: So when can we finally expect you to feel?
PL: Feel what?
TSO: Excitement.
PL: Not sure. It will come when it comes when it comes but I think it’s..it’s not a big deal. I’m also like, how come I’m not happy? Right..

TSO: Thank you for your time. We really appreciate it. We hope you continue your marked progress in floorball.

And we do hope Pei Li and the Spartans will continue to improve and learn to play like Spartans.

NOTICE

2009-07-07T17:47:00.002+08:00

The chatbox has been removed as it has been 'on fire'.

Spartans G2: Against all Odds

2009-07-06T19:05:00.003+08:00

Favourites vs underdogs. Team of international players vs Spartans. With the odds against Frontliners Spartans, what did everyone expect from this game? The ball is round (and holey) anything can (and did) happen.

Coupled by the fact that Frontliners had what? 7 bench penalties (if my memory doesn’t fail me) and a number of new and inexperienced players, it felt more like a win than a draw for the Spartans.

One of Frontliners few decent goal scorers, Kenny Ng, gave Frontliners the lead through a rebound after his initial free hit was blocked by Ztec’s wall. The goal was greeted by wild cheers from the bench and supporters and stunned the Ztec faithful.

The Spartans’ bench penalties were due to numerous reasons: incorrect distance, incorrect substitution, you name it. The guilty: Captain Jason, Kuan Yang, Steven, Wei Jian, Kenny, Sanjeevan. To be fair, some were uncalled for and Wei Jian probably shouldn’t have bulldozed a Ztec player through the boards while both were chasing for the ball.

Sharron pulled off many of her super-saves again, even catching one as though it were magnetic to her hands. However, a tussle in the goalkeeper area resulted to Ztec’s equalizer.

Half time: 1-1.

Second half brought the same electricity as the first. Both teams tried to capitalize on the other’s errors and Frontliners paid dividends for that when Su Rong, last week’s hat trick hero, sent Frontliners into the lead. The roof of Balik Pulau stadium was blown off when players and fans erupted and cheered for a LONG time.

Apparently the full sized courts weren’t big enough for both teams as players were often sent crashing into the boards. Even Kuan Yang and Kenny had to jump out of the court after running out of space to move.

Anything can happen when it’s just a slender 1-goal lead. Enter no.5, Tania. Oh wait, Algin. He was wearing ex-Frontliner, Tania’s jersey. And the cheers were even louder this time as the unexpected had happened. Spartans were leading 3-1. Ztec called for time out to get things back in place and for Frontliners to do whatever Coach said.

It seemed like the 2nd half could go on and on with Frontliners rushing to the lead early. The defense deserves some accolade for keeping Ztec at bay as much as they could. And Spartans played defensively most of the time to protect their lead, only venturing up for counter attacks

Great Wall of Sparta

but most of the time they barely made it pass the half way line ‘cause somehow people forget the golden rule of “never pass through the centre!”

Frontliners were made to pay when Ztec captain, Oliver was given all the time and space in the world to equalize.

Total non-stop action would be the best way to describe the second half. Shots and saves, running and more running, players sent flying through the boards, bench penalty after bench penalty for the Spartans. The Spartans’ penalty bench always seemed to be occupied.

Somehow a short circuit in Nick’s brain caused him to switch from floorball mode to football mode when he kicked an incoming flying ball away. He seemed to know what he was doing as there were no signs of “haha, I did that!” on his face. Was it legal? It was. Frontliners even got a free hit moments later.

Ztec pushed on and never gave Spartans a moment of peace. With minutes to go, Jo-Wyee, of Ztec 8cers scored the goal which shattered hopes and dreams. Yeah right.

Full time - 3-3.

At the final whistle, it was as if Spartans had won the game. Although they didn’t, they can be proud of grabbing the favorites’ tag by the throat and shredding it into a million pieces.

Captain Jason(left) with Man of the Match, Steven Tay (right)

Steven Tay was voted Man of the Match for basically being the pillar of Spartans defense and even taking one for the team (quite literally) with a ball to the face. Steven was rewarded with a can of 100 Plus. (Unlike in EPL, where MoMs get a bottle of champagne, no such thing here) Kuan Yang was so delighted he even wanted to give everyone one. The same excuse: “Not enough money.”

Spartans G1: Pictures

2009-07-03T19:17:00.017+08:00

As Captain Jason speaks, Kuan Yang fixes his head band

Sharron called in to action

Frontliners Official Kit. Available in Black and Yellow. Models not included.

Nick looks out for open players

woooo....

Mikey: Spaaaaartaaaaaans!!!

Talk and talk and talk and talk

Half time talk

Spartans score!

Su Rong reeling off in delight

Watch Pei Li (and her hair) go

Kuan Yang, a little too content in getting a goal.

Su Rong celebrating his goal second time 'round

Lawren can't believe he's shorter than the guy next to him

Three cheers to both teams!

Spartans thank their fans

Spartans G1: Let the Games Begin!

2009-06-26T19:41:00.012+08:00

Meet the Spartans

Frontliners Spartans kicked off their PFL Div. 1 2009 campaign with an 8-3 win over Dalat Eagles on Tuesday. With the first two games of the league already providing goal fests for Penang’s floorball supporters, many would think a trend would follow. And it was a goal fest indeed.

Frontliners, in particular Kuan Yang wasted no time and opened the scoring about 2 minutes into the game. Not long after, the Spartans scored again through Wei Jian, on his debut.

However, a foul by Steven resulted to a penalty to Dalat and their captain Jason (yeah, both side’s captains have the same name) duly converted. Frontliners squandered their two-goal cushion when a defensive error opened up space for Dalat Eagles to equalize with a thunderous strike.

The match not only provided goals, but entertainment too with both sides working hard on the full international sized courts trying to capitalize on defensive errors and open spaces. Su Rong, also on league debut scored two goals in the first half and Algin made it 5-2 for the Spartans going into the break.

Frontliners started the second half with less momentum than in the first. Goalkeeper Sharron pulled off reflex saves which was very appreciated by both fans and players. The same can be said too of Dalat’s.

Su Rong rightfully claimed his Man of the Match status with a goal that sealed his hat trick thanks to a neat Spartans counter attack.

Pei Li, playing as centre for the first time showed no trace of nervousness as she went up against the big guys of Dalat, sometimes even giving away free hits for fouls.

Spartan’s captain, Ming Hwee displayed some of his dribbling skills from the half way line, slowly maneuvering between players until the ball ended up in goal.

Frontliners’ 8th goal was scored by Wei Jian, which pretty much put the game out of contest. Dalat however scored one more goal to make the final score 8-3.

Smiles were all around Frontliners camp as Kuan Yang and captain Ming Hwee gave a rundown on the night’s events.

Training 130609: Temperature

2009-06-16T19:24:00.008+08:00

Well woman the way they time cold I wanna be keepin' you warm
I got the right temperature for shelter you from the storm

Imagine that. Frontliners Floorball now has its own soundtrack to training, kindly provided by the rapper trio of Julian, Tristan and Kyle (Sachin here and there).

But indeed, it was the right temperature for training, as illustrated by the model below:

...no need to stand under any miserable trees.

[Vote: (a) Hot girl passing by OR (b) Frontliners doing awesomely in training]

For a warmup, and while waiting for other players to arrive, a star pass in slow motion was incorporated. Then, when the bulk of players arrived (Ms. Yi Lin could be heard a mile away), Coach Jason called the players together to get them into 'pairs of two' and do some passing.

Initially, the entire group of players bunched up at the far end of the court where the trees provided some kind of shade. However, Coach Jason quickly put an end to that, ordering the players to spread out evenly.

After some time, Coach Jason again called the players together, instructing them this time to get into 'pairs of three', evoking giggles and smothered laughs all over. Quite conscious of that, he amended his earlier statement into 'groups of three'.

In this drill, two players would stand at opposite ends, while the other was the runner in between. In a slightly 'V' position, the runner would run to one end, receive the ball, turn and pass to the other player. The runner would then repeat this movement another 19 times.

This drill was to help the players, especially centers and defenders, when they received the ball at the sides, to know who was around them and where to pass to.

Most players forgot to count their runs, and so ended up doing more than asked for.

In no time at all, Coach Jason called the players together for the final time, and announced game time. One question... where were the goals?

So in a very football-esque tradition, Coach grabbed two pairs of slippers and placed them at opposite ends.

The players were divided into four teams: one with the rapper trio, the second with Kuan Yang and ladies co., the third with the big boys, and the fourth... with Yi Lin's friends. A 5-on-5.

Roselyn 1, Big Boys 0 (no kidding!).
Yue Shern and Steven tussle for the ball. No prizes for guessing who's who.
A very modest Kuan Yang after a stunning solo goal against the big boys.
New player brought by Yi Lin, Wei Jian.
All right, fellas, strike your best pose!
Kuan Yang showing off... again.
You know it's bad when the kids start following Kuan Yang's example..

The temperature rose and rose, until finally Coach Jason called an end to training, happily announcing that training will be held in PBSM next week.

Training 060609: Return of the C-730

2009-06-07T16:58:00.011+08:00

"Two hours of training only meh?!!"
"...seemed like forever-lah."

Only now do the Frontliners truly appreciate the meaning of indoor courts. While coach Kuan Yang stood pretty at the sides (more or less)... ...he made sure the players enjoyed no such thing as they labored under the sweltering heat.

It was reasonably good attendance, with two new players: Soon Chern (right) and Mayfield (left), yet the faces of most Div.1 players were sadly missing.

Most of the drills by the coach emphasized receiving while moving, looking up and passing. For the first few drills, he had four cones arranged along the basketball court, on both sides. One player would stand at the first cone, and another at the last cone, opposite each other. In constant motion, one player would pass and the other, instead of waiting for the ball to come, would run up, receive, return the pass, then backtrack. A few variations of this drill were done, with the coach throwing in dribbling and turning and drop-passing.

"Tired?" (coach)
"Uh...yes?"
"Okay. Let's do killer pass."

Killer pass: Three players in one group; two stationary and with the ball, one running to receive the passes and return them. Constantly. Two rounds for each threesome to complete, one run being forty seconds.

And after the much-deserved waterbreak, it was finally time for a game. But what's a game without a goalie?

So in walked Michael, the man of the moment, all suited up (which took him forever to put on), with an extra flourish, making him look all Arabian (according to Coach). However, since there was only one goalie, the team without was hard put by and let in two easy goals in straight succession before a fed-up Ming Hwee marched in and placed two cones as the goal.

The game was much fairer now (that is, until Ming Hwee came in and hogged the ball all the way), and it was a real battle between two constantly changing and exchanging sides. Su Rong especially, could be seen everywhere at once. The two newcomers seemed to be able to get the hang of the game pretty fast. Julian and Kyle were like Yorke and Cole/Berbatov and Keane/Puskas and Di Stefano(football partnerships..). And June?

...had an absolutely scandalous time sticking to Su Rong all the way.

As training wore on, the sun rose higher, and some felt the only choice left was to whip their shirts off and display their wonderfully-sculpted bodies while playing (sorry, Ming Hwee, you haven't qualified yet). Then, as if by some silent agreement, the players trickled to the giant slide beside the basketball court, thus ending the game. Coach Kuan Yang then talked mostly about the upcoming friendly with Ztec on Wednesday.

Training 300509: Sweat It Out

2009-06-03T18:26:00.003+08:00

After two long weeks of Frontliners sweating it out in the exam halls, it's time to sweat it out on the courts again. It was split training this time with Coach Nick and Michael taking charge of the juniors and girls. Frontliners also welcomed a new member, Melanie.

The very fluorescent orange balls were missing so our very creative duo decided to use shuttlecocks as balls to practice the Spartan Shield. Let's face it: shuttlecocks can never replace the round, holey ball, proven by the bored looks on those present stopping halfway through the drill.

Enter Julian and Tristan with the very familiar bag and out came pouring the orange balls much to everyone's delight. Drills and drills but two hours are definitely not enough. Game time was when the kids go wild and the seniors like Steven take it easy. The seniors started to come, and Coach Kuan Yang took over and was really getting into training, since Div 1 is coming up.

Training 090509: Suicidal

2009-05-15T14:16:00.002+08:00

For two weeks running, there was only one training session. This time however, Coach Jason took charge of training as Coach Kuan Yang was missing in action. There were more girls in training this week, including kung-fu keeper Sharron, who played as an outfield player this time.

More drills as usual with the usual PMS stuff. Is training getting too usual? Trust Coach Jason to switch things up. Boys and women were separated from the men after a few drills. The boys and women did a new drill, which was quite fun. Kinda like two snakes going at each other and fooling the defender in the process. Although it was hard to understand at first, as they say, practice makes (almost) perfect.

The men on the other hand were doing some drill where they had to make the ball bounce off the wall. And yes, not forgetting suicides for all.

All the players then regrouped and Coach Nick took charge for a couple of drills. After that, more suicides. Oh yes, we did it twice. The boys then faced the women during game time and the men were split into two lines. The boys claimed they would definitely beat girls and Coach Jason decided to let them do suicides twice if they lost. Not that it would have mattered cause these kids have enough energy to power a thermal station.

In the end, the boys didn't get the suicides and the men provided plenty of entertainment.

Training ended with Coach announcing that there would be a friendly against Innebandy on Wednesday and that selection for PFL Division One had begun.

So, for those who didn't play in Division Two and are up for it, sharpen those blades and find that inner athlete.

Note: All the best to those sitting for exams over the next few weeks. :)

Training 020509: The Philosopher's PMS

2009-05-12T15:29:00.002+08:00

This week training reverted back to the good ol' 9am-12pm and had an attendance of more than 10 guys (bloggers should start counting heads now) and one girl. Where have all the girls gone? Guys, get your girl friends to come.

Coach Kuan Yang took charge and the drills somehow felt much longer with less water breaks.

Training started off with passing followed by many other drills, starting with the famous snakes. The drills had elements of Coach Kuan Yang's PMS (that's passing, movement and shooting) philosophy. Some drills were new to some especially to the juniors, girl and newbies. Which makes us 8.00-10.30 training session people wonder when was the last time we had training under Kuan Yang.

Coach also incorporated real match situations into the drills. More passing, more moving, more shooting (in short, more PMS-ing) until coach called for game time.

Oh yes, and in between there was a little matter of suicides.

3-on-3 for juniors and girl, 5-on-5 for seniors. Four minutes a game. The juniors looked like they were having the time of their lives. The seniors, as usual, were moving so fast you'd lose track of the ball if you blink.

Okay, a little over-exaggerated there... but you get the point.

Winning: Cool, But...

2009-05-06T17:42:00.007+08:00

*This post is written by Kew Pei Li, on her experience in this year's Youthwave.

Youthwave this year...

...best ever.

No-o, we did not win, or I'd have posted this up much earlier:)

But some things are sweeter than getting first.

A few weeks ago, I was praying that we'd get lucky for once and get a good, comfortable draw. Maybe a Firebrands team here (sorry, Tania) and maybe G-12's weaker teams there. Well, there's good, and there's bad, and I think we got a tough one: Contact Sugar (for the 3rd time in two years!), Innebabes and Violets.

And Frontliners Skyline having me, June, Sonia and Yue Shern: none of the three having played in the first team before.

Hardly a recipe for success.

So I risked a big chunk in my pocket and promised them a treat at McD's if they'd just get through to the second round. I half-regretted my words after we won all three of our games (Violets: 2-0, Sugar: 2-0, Innebabes: 1-0). In the second round, we played Innechicks-- eventual champions: 1-1, Salichicks: 1-0, and Firebrands Mah: 3-0. Topped by Innechicks on goal difference.

And right after our last game, we were up against Contact Sugar in the semis, and the target, as in our first round, was not to concede more than 2.

Playing six games (6=48 minutes) with no substitutes showed very much in this game. I was walking when I should have been running, the challenges were half-hearted at most, and the shots were awful. The more I played, the bigger the court seemed, and the Serene-Sheryn partnership was what gave Sugar the victory.

We lost 0-1, fair enough.

And for bronze... we had to play Kaki Bangku of UniHawks. A team that played very pretty floorball (comparatively) but who contrived to hit anywhere but the goal in their game against Frontliners Fiorano, our second team. I swear the post had more touches than some of the Fiorano's.

I told my team to go out and 'just have fun'. No more targets, no more expectations. Just play.

I think we played our worst game ever, but we escaped with a 0-2 loss. It's like Kaki Bangku had 90% possession throughout, and their shots count more than doubled our pass count.

So?

It might not sound like the best Youthwave ever, especially with nothing to show after all that sweat. But what I've learnt from the past Youthwave's and Z-Liners is that winning; it's cool, but it's not all that.

Bringing together players who have little experience and really playing together, as one, as a team, gives you a sense of victory and achievement that even gold can't offer. Rising up above expectations and defying the odds, not because of individual skill, but because of what each of us sacrificed:

For Frontliners Skyline: Sonia, who guarded the goal and had black-and-blue knees to show for it; June, who faithfully stuck to her opponents and gave her teammates the chance to bang forward; and Yue Shern, who ran her heart out in front, often alone.

For Frontliners Fiorano: Yi Lin, Olga, Verina and Li-Ying, three of whom have never played in Youthwave before, to have battled and fought in that incredible game with Kaki Bangku, and to have come out with smiles on their faces even after losing all three games.

Yup.

Best Youthwave ever.

A VERY Late and Somewhat... Unique Report

2009-04-28T16:14:00.003+08:00

Training on 11 April 2009 was fun and it was a tough training.

The team improved a lot.

I am happy because there were many people joining our team.

All of us must train more. Always come for training. Don't miss the fun and exciting training.

Thank God for this team that Coach Jason has brought together.

The important thing I want to say is 'Do Not Give Up', or 'Say No To Give Up'.

This is the end of my report. Thanks for joining.

TQ.

-Julian Tan-

Training 180409... and a little friendly.

2009-04-23T17:12:00.003+08:00

It's one week to Youthwave, and tension is rising!!! (for some) Kenny and Jason Lim made a surprise visit. There also were a couple of new Saints. Kuan Yang led the army of Frontliners, as Jason was away on a 'Treasure Hunt'. On that day, Frontliners were going to have a friendly against Sabahan team, Nomads.

Before training started, Kuan Yang instructed the players to be in groups of three, form a square, leave one edge open, pass to the person behind you and run to the empty edge... Bet you didn't get that...

Training started with a Frontliners welcome for the newbies after warm-up. Then, the drills began. Sharron was goalkeeping while Soon Khai played outfield. After that, the players did Snakes, and shortly after that, the X-Box drill. After a short break, Kuan Yang divided them into two groups, both doing different drills.

While this was happening, team Nomad arrived with their bags, and so did referees Jo-Wyee and Lin Ken. So Kuan Yang divided us into four lines to face just six Nomad players. Advantage Frontliners.

Three periods, 15 mins per period. Only lines 1, 2 and 3 went on during the first period, while the juniors of line 4 joined the army during the 2nd and 3rd period.

First Period: A goal from a newbie made it 1-0.

Second Period: A mistake in defence allowed Nomads to score. Kenny slotted in some goals. Nomads got tired. Score uncertain (actually I forgot).

Third Period: A good display from Frontliners. 6-1 final score, Frontliners berjaya!

After the end of the friendly, Kuan Yang called for match time between Frontliners. Lines 1, 2 and 3 mixed to form two teams which faced each other. Line 4 and the girls played against each other.

Kuan Yang gave info on Youthwave.

"Yellow shirt, black shorts, black socks!"

Tristan, however, did not have black socks, neither did many of them. So...

"Yellow shirt, black shorts, white or black socks!"

Then, everyone just started flying away back home for some well deserved rest... and since it was almost 2 o'clock...MAKAN!!

2009-04-16T09:29:00.004+08:00

NOMAD FLOORBALL TOUR 2009
vs FRONTLINERS FC

DATE: 18 APRIL 2009 (Saturday)
TIME: 11.30am(Frontliners, be there at 10.00am)
VENUE: RC Hall
ATTIRE: Yellow jersey/shirt; Black shorts & socks

p/s:
1. Bring extra Yellow jersey/ shirt if you have any.
2. Bring a Black jersey/ shirt just in case.

School on Saturday Meaneth...

2009-04-15T19:54:00.003+08:00

Training was, to quote:
"Fun and exciting."

Not enough?
Okay, here's one more:
"Am happy cause more people are joining our team."

And that is that.

...actually, the real, in depth report is expected to come soon.

PFL 2009 (Div 2) Review: Coach Jason's 300

2009-03-30T10:21:00.006+08:00

This year's division 2 campaign has been a roller coaster ride for everyone in the team. Many questions had been posed as to what the outcome would be. It was a mixture of an experienced division 1 chipsmore, a decently skilled player who just "curved" his stick, a hyperactive duo of small cikus, a group of powerpuff girls and a keeper that had yet to be tested.

We started the campaign pretty slow. Untested. Due to logistics and time constraints, we couldn't really test the whole team as in playing as it is. Deservingly, we lost to Dalat in our first game.

As the league progressed, we seemed to show some promise as one of the medal candidates. People began to write good things about us after winning against one of the top teams in Penang, Contact Bullets. The 3-0 win was a sweet one. Playing against a very tactical and proper team, I still think we were lucky to put it off against them. Michael was basically on form that day. His curve was just curvy enough to bag the goals.

Frontliners has always been a moody team. We are very temparamental, as our morale changes like the weather all the time. On our good days we can play really well. On our bad days, we can really play as though we never have touched a stick before. The win against Griffins was a lucky and narrow win. Although we won, we felt as though we lost. I also personally learned that I as a coach need to gamble at times. Relying on important players like Michael and Megan can be a little too predictable and obvious, leaving the rest of the players untested.

Quickly enough, we learned fast from our previous shortcomings and improvised from our previous matches. The game against Firebrands marked a beginning of a new format for 300. If I had to pick our best game, it would be the one against Phoenix. Phoenix were the best team in division 2. 300 made a lot of changes. There were at least 4 line-ups played against Phoenix. Each change created a different tempo to the game. Changing the mood of the gameplay at every change.

That game displayed creativity in the usage of line-ups as we learned to be flexible and daring with our line-ups. The consequence? An unpredictable and powered up 300 team which played like the Spartans. The teamplay was awesome. There were a lot of chances and good teamwork between the forwards and the centre. Defence was solid to the max. However, because of some silly mistake, we let in a silly goal due to our lack of concentration. And that silly goal cost the whole team to fall as we had shown that we are mentally weak when facing pressure in tournaments.

If 300 want to rise up, they must learn to keep their heads in the game and stay focused, no matter the results. That was the only disappointing thing in the last game.

The outcome of the league: all of us gained a lot of experience. Stars were born. Some shy people finally got to shine and show their true colors, to my amazement. I was very impressed with the team overall. This year's campaign was definitely much better than the previous year's :)

Youthwave is coming up. Penang League is over, now we look forward to Youthwave and the upcoming Division 1 in June.

"So, how does that make you feel?"

2009-03-24T20:37:00.004+08:00

Words of psychiatrists who earn mega bucks an hour just listening to people and giving obvious advice. It can only happen on TV.

What a way to fill the blog. Since PBSM reclaimed their hall, there was no training this week and so, no report. Fret not; I'll be talking about my feelings! (Isn't that what blogs are for now?) Yes, the many feelings and emotions that were pouring in during the final match of this year's PFL Div. 2.

Text message said to be there by 7.45pm. And since I've been living in Malaysia for almost all my life, let's just say I arrived later than 11.45 GMT+8. First thing I noticed was the huge crowd-- huge for a Div. 2 game standard and definitely noisier. So why was I there?

Oh, right, if results go our way we get a medal. One glance at the scoreboard left a sunken feeling at the pit of my stomach. Medal hopes fading away faster. Probably already vanished.

Half time whistle meant I could go find a seat. Front row next to a few fellow Frontliners and one of them was way more upset than I was. (I wasn't upset, just had that sunken feeling). The person probably knew how to let feelings be known unlike me who'd just bottle it up and wait until it goes off like a time bomb or when a blog post like this comes along.

Fast forward and I found myself updating an ex-Frontliner, who reluctantly had to balik kampung over the holidays, on the scores. It's not easy you know! Sometimes after I've sent one text I'd have to send another one on the next goal a few seconds later.

Prize giving somehow felt less grand than last year. And we all know how the results went. Two weeks ago we had a chance but I have no regrets. No "What if I had" or "I wish I didn't". It was all forgotten as I saw the medals being given away. So why was I there again?

This time, I had no idea. All I knew was that Ugly Betty had already started on TV. Whether it was sadness, anger or happiness that was filling me I couldn't tell.

Oh wait! I know. It's confusion.

Or maybe I forgot how I felt.

Nope, pretty sure I'm still confused.

From whipping boys (and girls) to one time medal contenders, I do believe we can go that extra mile next year and hopefully, I'll have better emotions then. For now, I was just happy I arrived back home in time to catch the last half hour of Ugly Betty.

*This post was written by 300 defender, Sonia, on all her weird feelings inside when watching the last match of Penang League 2009.

300 G5: Pictures

2009-03-20T20:27:00.011+08:00

The boards extra heavy today, lady?

Coach Jason taking a break from all the seriousness.

Julian showing Coach Jason the right way to do it.

Tristan definitely not afraid to get stuck in today!

[Oops, wrong person to pass to!]

Oh, Megan, the hair!

Verina savoring her rare excursion into the court.

Tiny Captain Michael.

Yung Ming of Phoenix taking a breather.

Coach Jason pleased with 300's first-half display.

"Still time? Then pray."

How long can you hold out now, 300?

Sonia keeping tight shackles on her man.

Julian having a go.

Megan whacked in the face.

Breakthrough for Phoenix with six minutes left on the clock.

Crushed 300 cannot believe what just happened.

Coach Jason issuing a rallying call during timeout.

Yellow Captain leaving Black Captain in his wake.

Samuel of Phoenix overcome with fierce joy, 2-0 to Phoenix.

A demoralized 300 out there.

300 hit rock-bottom when Phoenix put the final nail in their coffin.

300 wishing for the game to be done with already.

The much anticipated battle of the captains that turned out to be a low-key affair. Off day, maybe?

Tradition demands it... although you can bet that some in yellow would love to kick tradition for once.

"Well, lads... It's a hard one to take as I felt we were the better team..."Sound familiar, Man Yoo fans?

The long, contemplative faces of deep thinkers.

And for the best... the largest picture, reserved for Tania who played her last game for Frontliners 300 that day.

300 G5: For Want Of A Nail

2009-03-20T19:50:00.004+08:00

For want of a nail the shoe was lost
For want of a shoe the horse was lost
For want of a horse the rider was lost
For want of a rider the battle was lost
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail

Frontliners 300 had every reason to end Penang League and walk out with their heads held high after their best performance ever.

It was as a team that 300 marched into the court that Saturday, it was as a team that they matched Phoenix stick for stick, and it was as a team that they crumbled and lost.

And how galling it must be for some, to be so close and yet so far to end up empty handed.

But that Saturday, they made it known that Frontliners 300 was not a one-man team.

In the first half, it was not Michael but Tristan who saw most of the ball. After being ticked off last week by Coach Jason for not running enough, he put in the game of his life, and should have capitalized on slack marking to stick in a few goals.

It was a miraculously organized 300 team that Phoenix were running into, and there was no way past them that half.

0-0 up to the break.

Play got rougher in the second half as Phoenix were looking for ways to get past a resilient 300. Temperatures rose, and some players were simmering up to boiling point.

Yet still the clocked ticked on, and somehow, somehow... could it happen?

But in the final six minutes, all it took was a moment of madness and burning tempers, and everything was shattered.

And all for the want of a horseshoe nail, the battle was lost.

3-0 to Phoenix; an undeserved and bitter loss in 300's heroic final stand.

300 G4: Pictures

2009-03-13T22:05:00.011+08:00

Frontliners 1-1 Firebrands. (not for long)

A very nonchalant Daniel Tan after scoring his second goal.

Kenneth powering his way past.

Daniel Tan stepping up to the spot.

Referees getting a tongue lashing?

A frustrated Captain Michael during half time.

Less-than-sexy Lin Ken taking on the role of temporary coach for Firebrands.

Michael's turn to shout, as Coach Jason lost his voice.

A bemused June sitting out her second consecutive bench penalty.

Captain Michael unleashing yet another shot.

Anxious Firebrands.

Freehit that resulted in a penalty for 300.

Penalty save by Bryan on Michael's Unihoc Curve 1.5

Megan's flying new hairstyle.

A visibly relieved Michael after scoring the equalizer yet again.

Timeout called by Coach Jason.

Even the bench is cheering 300 on for one more goal.

Julian finding himself blocked out by the ever-present James.

...every reason to be proud of your next-door neighbours from FGA.

Each team grateful for their ever-present supporters.

Team talk for the disappointed Frontliners.

A croaking Coach Jason talking things over.

Contrasting figures: A disappointed Soon Khai and a jubilant Firebrands.

Spartans whether win, draw, or lose.

300 G4: Blood Brothers Battle

2009-03-13T21:12:00.008+08:00

Ask for fierce frowns and this is what you get: goofy grins, embarassed smiles, tortured expressions, and cannot-tahan-i'm-bursting-with-laughter faces.

Frontliners 300 did what exactly Coach Jason asked during half-time: That they claw their way back and hang on for a draw against a Firebrands team full of ex-Frontliners and people invited by Frontliners.

And yet somehow, there was a sense of bitter disappointment and dashed hopes after the game. They should have won, but Saturday just wasn't their day. Opportunities that the forwards would normally have put in, blindfolded. A whopping six bench penalties, not ugly but irritating, ignorant bench penalties. Bryan, the ex-Frontliner, who came out of his mostly anonymous performance to deny a sure goal by Megan and a win for 300 in the dying moments of the game.

It was a see-saw game, swinging this side one moment and swinging the other side another moment. Firebrands drew first blood, 300 equalized. Firebrands went one-up immediately after the equalizer.

And that was how the first half ended: 2-1 to Firebrands. It could have been 3-1 had Daniel converted the penalty awarded for June stepping into the crease (ignorance yet again).

In the second half, Firebrands seemed content to sit back and absorb whatever little pressure 300 was applying, counter-attacking through the menacing Daniel (yes, he attended Frontliners training some time ago). The tension was growing, and so was the frustration as 300 looked for the equalizer but were blocked off by a resolute, more-or-less comfortable Firebrands defence.

And so when Michael scored his second of the game, a trademark shot from a long way off, he stood right on the spot and raised his arms in relief, after all the emotion of the game.

Play continued to degenerate, bar the wonder save by Bryan on Megan's shot, and it was no surprise that the game ended 2-2.

Yet one look at the faces of the different teams and you'd say Firebrands had thrashed 300.

The after-game surprise cake for birthday girl Sonia lightened things up a little, and even Captain Michael indulged in two pieces of cheese cake when everyone else had only one.

Dear, dear Captain Michael.

This is it now, 300: it's time to raise your game and finish your Penang League campaign with a bang and walk out with your heads high. Give us a game we'll never forget.

Of course, no pressure:).

Just Training

2009-03-03T18:25:00.003+08:00

Training was more technical than physical this week. Coach Kuan Yang's drills were mainly focused on the tiny technical details, such as ball protection and short, fast passing. Even for the end-training, traditional match time, hardly anyone broke sweat as line changes were called very often.

Yep, it was training at its very normal, weekly best.

And how the players rejoiced at the feel of consistency that was long lacking.

For the first drill, it was warmup passing with a slight twist in it. Players would stand at opposite ends, and both would run (one with the ball) to the other end. Upon reaching the other end, the one with the ball would do a quick turn and then release the ball to the player standing opposite.

The drill that followed was ball protection. The players first did it without their sticks, then with their sticks. The price for losing the ball? A measly two pushups, though some claimed to have been told five and thus ended up doing more than they should have.

Good for them.

Kuan Yang then called for slippers, bottles and cones, mixing them together and getting... the triangle-pass. First-timers, quick and short passes around the one-stick long spaces between the three objects. This was to train players to move right after releasing the ball, and not just stand at the same spot, waiting.

With still no keepers in the horizon, the players did their snakes and shooting drills keeper-less. Again, Kuan Yang expected the players to score over the one tiny bench that guarded the goal. Two, yes, a very clear two pushups were waiting for those who missed a shot.

Megan, the two-goal hero of Frontliners 300, somehow preferred to shoot at the CM, Agong, and Ladies way above the goal.

And just before match-time was the killer-pass.

In the game, although the seniors had the edge over the juniors, it was who else but Michael who broke the deadlock with a great drag shot into a keeper-less goal. The seniors, however, quickly increased their tempo and ran out comfortable winners.

And finally, after training, most of the players bundled into Kuan Yang and Roselyn's cars to watch Bullets play against Phoenix.

A Simplified Report of Training

2009-02-24T20:03:00.002+08:00

If you've ever visited the BBC Sport website and followed the live text commentary on football, tennis, etc. you'll find that they sometimes change reporters when the one on duty has to cover another event. Now you get the simplified report because those BBC reporters are super awesome and this writer is nowhere near them.

PART 1
It's seemed like ages since the last Saturday training was held. The team of Frontliners 300 were too busy upsetting the books in Penang League. Training was also cancelled last week as more than half the players in Frontliners were students. So as you can understand, an air of suspense and impatience was hanging over the players before training. Especially when word got out that there would be a different coach for the day.

No taskmaster Jason and perfectionist, mad genius Kuan Yang to drive the players crazy? No wonder so many players showed up that day.

The coach that day was none other than Nicholas Teoh Ping Hooi.

So training started off with passing, and with both Sharron and Soon Khai around, the players took shots to warm up the keepers. The goalposts, however, were missing, so Michael ingeniously stacked three benches on top of each other.

The next few drills were various combinations of passing and shooting.

PART 2
Following the pass-shoot, something like that drill, was 2-on-1. Stand-in coach NIcholas then pitted the Div. 1 and Div. 2 players against each other. The D1 guys, of course, took full command with their super speed and 'where did that come from?' shots. True to their never-say-die attitude, Julian and Tristan did put in some goals although most of the time they would find themselves upset by the benches. More than often the ball would end up hitting the benches (or Steven) four or five times before one of them eventually decided to lob it high enough to go in.

With the absence of influential centre Michael, things were a little shaky but they soon picked up pace, with Sachin even getting a hand in goal with a lob from his own half.

Training ended when players started dropping like flies. Okay, maybe not falling on the ground unexpectedly but they were tired and there were no more players to substitute. After that, a few words from Steven and money collection from the new ah long, Kenneth (accidentally called Caleb by Steven).

And everyone is encouraged to attend training sessions to make sure there will be no slacking off with the next game only in 2 weeks.

300 G3: Pictures

2009-02-20T21:16:00.014+08:00

Koay Yi Lin in no mood to be nice today!

Home (Griffins) in Black; Away (300) in Yellow.

Coach Oliver of Griffins surprised.

I'm with sexy.

Spartans!!!

Ooooo... Frontliners! and Let's Go Griffins!

Face-off: Griffins vs 300.

Referee imposing himself early on.

Great view from here.

First two minutes inevitably goes to Griffins.

Captain Michael mobbed by his teammates after opening the scoring.

Griffins congratulating Gim Hoong (shaking hands with keeper) after his equaliser.

Ztec Griffins 1-1 Frontliners 300

Julian in one of his rare ball-chasing moments.

Finally got the wall all sorted out.

Yet another two minutes for Griffins.

Apparently, Julian has other things on his mind...

Ever-gaya Kuan Yang giving some pointers to Michael.

...What's there to laugh about? Well, Coach said laugh...

Would you look at the size of that mouth (Coach Jason's)! ...as others try to duck for cover.

Second-half face-off: Has Lin Ken changed his shorts?

Captain Mikey with his trademark hands-up celebration as the team comes running out to celebrate with him.

2-1 to 300; let's hope it stays that way!

Coach Jason reorganising his team after being reduced to four.

Fortunes reversed: Griffins down to three.

Griffins' three players on court all in defence.

Megan fighting off Daniel Boey.

Gim Hoong outmuscling Megan who looks shockingly underweight here.

Captain Michael doing what he does best.

Time-out called by Oliver to revitalize the Griffins.

An anxious but quiet Coach Jason.

Julian at his best: getting into open spaces but lacking the finishing touch.

Captain Michael watching on as yet another shot is saved by Amos.

Gaffer Oliver pacing the sidelines, shouting instructions... where's the chewing gum?

A relieved and jubilant Captain Michael at the final whistle.

Three cheers for Frontliners 300.

"Good game... good game... good game..."

300 thanking the crowd for their ever-present support.

300 G3: Lucky 300?

2009-02-20T13:46:00.005+08:00

Scrappers, both of them (300 and Griffins), but in the end it all boiled down to individual pieces of skill between the two players-to-watch, Michael of 300 and Gim Hoong of Griffins. Whose star would shine the brightest, and whose would fade in comparison?

In the opening minutes it appeared to be all 300, who took the initiative right from the start. Captain Michael, as usual, could already be seen covering every inch of the court. And whenever Griffins regained the ball, they simply presented it right back to 300's ever-improving defensive partnership of Sonia and June.

So it was no surprise when, after Griffins were reduced to four for somewhat inconspicuous slashing called, 300 took the lead through none other than their top scorer, Michael. His low shot beat keeper Amos and sneaked into the bottom right side of the goal.

Griffins had finally gotten the wake-up call they needed, and they responded in the best possible way, by scoring after 300 failed to clear their lines. Gim Hoong, who had the ball in the dangerous and crowded centre, checked his shot and fooled Michael in the process. Then with a neat turn, he drove the ball past unsighted keeper Soon Khai to level the scorelines and dampen 300's soaring confidence.

That goal was a sucker-punch for 300 and it seemed that there was no better time for Griffins to quickly put another past 300. However, Griffins looked to be satisfied with getting back to level terms and settled into their early match languor again.

Griffin's scorer Gim Hoong almost went from hero to villain after he was sent out for slashing, but Griffins held on to frustrate 300 and ended the half all level at 1-1.

In the second half, both teams sprang out of the blocks immediately, contesting every ball that was up for grabs and putting muscle into every challenge. Even the girls were inspired; Ruth of Griffins going through Roselyn as if she weren't there and knocking her out of the court, in her quest for the ball.

Of course, the referees would stand none of that nonsense.

A very Kuan Yang-esque shot from a freehit saw 300 go one up again and Michael cementing his position at the top of the scorer's charts.

Griffins upped the tempo of the game as 300 got both slightly complacent and tired. They appeared to have the upper hand when Julian was sent off for incorrect distance, but trust Captain Michael to come flying in, take the ball up to the right corner and hold it there for a long, long time.

Also getting two Griffins sent off for slashing.

And suddenly, Griffins' advantage was overturned. It was now 300 who outnumbered them by four to three. So Coach Jason decided to take this opportunity to rest Megan and Michael rather than increase their lead, a decision that was greeted with surprise by the crowd who was urging him to send the double-M's on.

If not for good fortune and reflexes by Soon Khai, Coach Jason's decision could have gone the wrong way altogether. Griffins, in the last five minutes that seemed to last for eternity, resorted to whacking the ball up high from deep inside their half then sending all five men to chase for it.

This proved very effective as it penned 300 inside their own half. But Griffins spurned more than half the chances that came away, often the culprit being Brandon who would send his shots flying up into the basketball board.

And so when the final whistle went, 300 could finally breathe a collective sigh of relief for having snatched all two points in a match whose outcome could have been so different.

300 G2: Pictures

2009-02-10T17:44:00.016+08:00

Soon Khai organising his wall.

Guilty party of two.

Half time: 1-0 to 300.

Aiks, referees already putting up their feet?

Take a breather, gulp down that water... now what did coach just say??

Come on, 300/Bullets!

Face-off for the second half.

Julian the provider, squaring the ball for Megan to score.

The entire team celebrates Megan's goal.

Captain Michael celebrating a superb goal, 300 are 3-0 up in no time.

Soaked in sweat but still fighting: Isaac Ng.

Captain Michael going in a little too strong on Hai Chin.

Subsequent freehit by Sheryn.

Resilient Bullets: always together, win or lose.

Sweet, sweet victory.

The making of fine orators in the later years of life, hey?

Bullets gracious in defeat.

One for the record books: 300 record their first ever win in Penang League.

Grateful players from both teams thank their supporters.

A bushed-out but contented Captain Michael.

Two very contrasting ways of celebration by Julian (left) and Tristan.

Warming down those tired legs.

S-t-r-e-t-c-h those muscles...

Proof of a very thorough and effective warming down.

The smiles are out after 300's historic win over Bullets.

300's two yellow warriors.

Not forgetting, of course, Soon Khai's clean sheet: something of a rarity.

And finally... (to appease Coach Jason's complaint over not having enough pictures of himself) take a good look at the brains behind 300's first ever victory.

300 G2: Gentlemanly Bullets vs Vicious 300

2009-02-10T16:00:00.002+08:00

Coach Jason's big, beaming face tells the whole story in short, doesn't it?

But for those who like it long and relish reliving the sweet victory again... read on!

It was a printing error that gave Frontliners 300 their first bench penalty of PFL '09. Although Megan's home jersey number read 26, his registered number was 24, and right at the beginning he was sent out.

And so it was that 300 started the match with a player down. Without doing anything, Contact Bullets already had received a big confidence booster. So would they make full use of it and capitalize on 300's disadvantage?

Apparently not. Bullets were full of gentlemen and gentleladies that day, and for the entire two minutes, they generously stood down and made it relatively comfortable for 300.

Then when restored to five, 300 gave no thought to returning the favor and ultimately punished Bullets for being slow off the blocks. Captain Michael scored off a rebound, and the court rang with cheers of a mostly pro-Frontliners crowd.

It was a real battle going on inside: fast, furious and ugly.

Bullets again squandered the chance to equalize and maybe even go ahead, when 300 received two more bench penalties (now that's a record: three bench penalties in just one game compared to two for the entire PFL '08!) for incorrect distance.

An eagle-eyed referee (yes, the same who asked Tristan to change out of his tights in the first game) spotted Soon Khai leaving his area while doing a throwout, and awarded Bullets a freehit less than three meters from the crease.

Here, the players from 300 had no idea what to do, for if they retreated the full three meters, they would be inside the goal cage. In all the confusion, Bullets took the freehit quickly, and Tristan was sent off.

Still blur and confused with all the shouts of 'wall!' and 'three meters!' ringing, Bullets retook the freehit, and this time June was sent off.

Finally, Soon Khai came out himself and arranged the wall excellently, as Bullets' freehit smashed into the wall and bounced off.

Again, Bullets proved too gentlemanly too take advantage of this adverse situation. So 300 went into the break still defending a precarious 1-0 lead.

After the break, 300, still in no mood for compromise, took the initiative and again punished Bullets, who seemed to just be going through the motions. Credit for the goal should go to Megan. His first touch was excellent, setting himself up, and and he buried the ball right in the corner of the goal with great calmness.

In the end, it was fitting that Captain Michael, who started the scoring, would close it also. Displaying wonderful control and willingness to run into brick walls for the team, he dribbled past one, two, and three defenders, then finally smashed the ball past Lawrence with a quality shot.

Game, set, and match.

Or so 300 thought. Complacency crept into their play, and you can bet that Coach Jason's heart was in his mouth throughout the final few minutes. Only Soon Khai's reflexes and Bullets' poor luck kept the score at 3-0.

Credit must be given where credit is due. Bullets did very well to continue searching for goals even though the game appeared to be over.

But when the final whistle blew, most felt that it was a deserved win for 300 and a fair reflection of the two teams' gameplay.

Wayne Yoong, 12 (2008-present)

2009-02-06T13:16:00.001+08:00

Like his other junior counterparts in the same boat (Julian and Tristan), he's a player who enjoys running all over the opponent's defence.

While he might not be that very animated and loud during training, Wayne definitely injects his own spurt of effort and persistence while practising. Silent as he may be, he is not one to be underestimated.

Skills-wise, he is reputed to have the best ball control among the juniors and also the best trained, and rightly so.

When it comes to the physical side of floorball, Wayne might not be your best bet on strength and size (yet), but he is a natural athlete, proven by the fact that he represents his school in athletics without having much training in any other sport.

Verdict: His first year is proof enough to show that he is serious about floorball, and he has only gotten better and better since joining FFC.

Play of the year: Definitely Z'Liners-PFA Floorball Challenge. Outstanding performance there, and aided the team in scoring many goals.

Prediction for next season: Wayne is expected to stay on in FFC for many, many more seasons to come, becoming an attacking player worth watching in the future. Come next season, he will continue to actively participate in FFC, in his own strong and silent way.

Tristan James, 12 (2008-present)

2009-02-05T20:28:00.002+08:00

Comes on-and-off, now-and-then for trainings, cut off a month or two before October due to UPSR, but still hung on to make it back right after the exam passed.

As proven in the recent Z'Liners-PFA Floorball Challenge (Juniors), he's one energetic kid when it comes to floorball. Often at loggerheads with Julian Tan, he was a bit frustrated being a substitute for the team. Fortunately he did get over that, and played pretty well after, preferring to be partnered with Wayne, for some reason.

Since joining the club this year, he's been a very fast learner, albeit cheeky. Athletic and has good game sense, ditto Julian and Wayne.

Enjoys and has a gnawing urge to go on the offence like he just can't help it. That attacking tendency of his is not all bad, considering the fact that he does have reasonable shots.

Verdict: Tristan is an eager learner and player, keen and impatient to let loose on the court and always agog for anything floorball.

Play of the year: Z'Liners. Played well, bursting with energy, ready and willing to give it his best on court, raring to get off the bench and onto the court. Scored important goals too.

Prediction for next season: The Coach himself expects Tristan to be a player to watch. In a matter of time, of course. In the near future, though, FFC will see him turning up for trainings regularly with that same eagerness to play.

Tan Soon Khai, 20 (2008-present)

2009-02-05T20:11:00.002+08:00

Possesses one of the most distinctive (fluorescent orange) shoes just in front of Kuan Yang's yellow shoes, in training. Soon Khai joined the club in June and became goalie in July. Has good reactions and instinctive reflexes, sometimes optin for the more acrobatic and amazing leaps when a simple save would do. Doesn't mind playing outfield if the opportunity presents itself.

Often the butt of jokes by Nicholas and Kenny for god-knows-what-reason, but takes it all in good humor.

Participated only in Z'Liners this year.

Verdict: Regularly came for training since he joined the club and a willing learner so far, the two things all coaches love, especially in this club where regular attendance is uncommon.

Play of the year: Helped keep 300's scorelines respectable, pulling off confounding (lucky?) saves that had the crowd's hearts in their mouths, especially against UniHawks (who blasted 16 goals in 7 matches) where they lost by 2 goals only.

Prediction for next season: Probably won't reach Sharron's level next year or in the years to come, but to continue to improve and be a stalwart for Frontliners' second-string team.

300 G1: Pictures

2009-02-03T16:20:00.005+08:00

Frontliners 300 playing away.

Kit(wo)man doing her job.

Today's kit: Black.

300 enjoying themselves while running.

Captain Michael stylishly leading warm-up.

FRONTLINERS! What is your profession?!!

Captain Michael giving Tristan some pointers.

Tension is written all over Megan's face as the game is about to start.

The smiles are out already, as Falcons go 2-0 up.

Another goalmouth scramble just prevents Falcons from making it 3-0.

Megan celebrating his first goal in months.

Even the ladies outsize 300.

Michael (hidden by referee) reeling off in celebration.

Scoreline says it all.

A buoyant 300 at half-time.

Team talks at half-time: Come on, you lot!

Face-off: Start of 2nd half.

Timeout called by Coach Jason to organize 300.

Jason Selva of Falcons demanding an explanation for the two-minutes call.

...all the time in the world to take that pass, aye?

Soon Khai looking to launch a quick attack.

Rare, individual foray by Megan up to the Falcons' half.

All hands on deck to stop the Falcons!

Face-off, 6-2.

Captain Michael walking up to the face-off spot after an unfortunate own-goal.

Customary speech by captains.

Probably end up with aching necks tomorrow after all that looking up...

A somewhat embarassed team saluting their supporters.

Coach Jason debriefing his tired troops.

Two glum goalscorers: Michael (left) and Megan.

300 G1: Veni, Vidi, Vici

2009-02-03T15:34:00.004+08:00

Caesar came, Caesar saw, Caesar conquered.

Frontliners came, Frontliners saw, Frontliners nearly conquered.

Big difference, that; still for one moment it looked like the wished-for miracle would actually happen.

Held on Saturday, Frontliners 300 came all pumped-up and ready to face the giants, from big Sachin who looked good and... big? in his kit and tiny Olga who appeared to be drowning in hers. Warm-up seemed to take forever, and just fifteen minutes before eleven did Dalat Falcons appear, in drips of two and three, apparently enjoying themselves and not caring too much about their opposition.

There was a slight delay before the game started, as Tristan was ordered off to change and remove his tights. Well, well, so the referees do read the rules from cover to cover.

The game started, and surprisingly, it was Frontliners who had the first meaningful attack. A slick exchange between Megan and Captain Michael saw Megan free on goal but he was forced wide, and so couldn't shoot.

This really got the crowd going, with nearly all of them rooting for the underdogs, 300.

But defensive inexperience really showed, and Falcons opened the scoring with a simple tap in. The second goal was quite similar to the first one, and so far, everything was going Logic's way: 300 were pushed extremely deep and struggled to get out of their own half while Falcons were extremely comfortable.

Then out of nowhere popped Megan, racing his way into the Falcons' half and scoring a splendid goal. The entire bench jumped up and ran to him, celebrating; and the spectators erupted into cheers.

Fired up, 300 pressed on in search of the equalizer as Falcons seemed to be rather shocked at conceding. The second goal seemed rather inevitable, but what a screamer it was! Captain Michael Cheah, having the ball on the halfway line and allowed space, heard the cries to shoot, and the ball flew past the keeper and banged into the goal.

The court went crazy, and Falcons seemed thankful to hear the referee's whistle for half-time soon after. Half-time score: An almost-impossible-to-believe 2-2.

After half-time, 300 was still high on confidence, and were comfortable defending and letting the Falcons run the show. They could not press their advantage, however, when Falcons were reduced to four, and this proved to be their undoing.

The third goal was quite dubious; a pass-shot that crossed the face of the goal and was pushed in by a Falcon. Half the crowd saw it as an illegal goal, as it appeared that he had used his body to score, but the referees thought otherwise and gave the goal.

Having said that, Dalat's fourth goal was a nicely-wrapped gift from 300: a rebound off a freehit where the wall was totally nonexistant.

Spurred on, Falcons went on to add three more to the scoreline as 300 succumbed mentally and physically. Final score, 7-2 to Dalat Falcons.

FINAL WORD: It was supposed to be 300's baptism of fire: their first match up against a side that had the ball in the net 62 times last year; and to neutrals, it seemed like another lopsided match in Dalat's favour. 300, however, proved them wrong and took them for a rollercoaster ride, but it was disappointing in the end as it was defensive frailty, and not brilliant skill that made the difference. On the bright side: Nothing could possibly be worse than 17-0.

Steven Tay, 28 (2002-present)

2009-02-03T15:05:00.002+08:00

Technically sound and very versatile is the self-acclaimed Captain Marvel of Frontliners. Always plays with a smile on his face whether from muscle constrictions or simply enjoying himself. One of those players who never seem to get ruffled whenever and wherever, he brings a calming influence to a team driven to death by its President.

Likes to take the ball for a long spin, running circles around opponents that can sometimes get him in trouble. Not capable of killer passes or shots, but a reassuring presence whenever playing.

He played in the early Contact 3v3 Challenge, Penang League and Youthwave.

Verdict: Seemingly a rather anonymous year for him, probably because of work commitments.

Play of the year: Carrying out his balancing/juggling act of work, floorball and other responsibilities to perfection when so many others would have just stopped coming.

Prediction for next season: To continue coming for training whenever he can and participating in tournaments whenever he can. However much he can.

Sanjeevan Sivaraj, 19 (2006-present)

2009-02-03T14:59:00.002+08:00

The one defender everyone can rely on who will not take silly risks or carelessly lose the ball. His accuracy and eye for goal from distance is amazing, often finding the one spot keepers cannot reach. Will not try the incredible when there is another safer, maybe slower way. Could look to release the ball faster rather than invite opponents to tackle.

He played in Contact 3v3 Challenge, Penang League, Youthwave and Z'Liners, coming in as 1st runner-up in Z'Liners.

Verdict: Better than average, though not surpassing last year's performance. His one mistake that cost so much overshadowed his Penang League performances that had been excellent so far. Attendance in training has dropped lately.

Play of the year: His top-draw penalty past Lin Ken that helped send Spartans to the final of Z'Liners.

Prediction for next season: He once used to be one of the first names on the line-up sheet/board, but his position is not so secure now and will not be as long as he keeps missing training. Maybe to get a fresh start next year and put this troubled year behind with some great performances.

Sachin Gopal, 13 (2008-present)

2009-02-01T18:26:00.002+08:00

Invited by his sister Sonia a week before Youthwave, he has shown persistence by coming for training along with his sister ever since. When he first showed up, he did not impress many people with his playing, frankly. But as time passed, says a wise man, he really did improve, especially when it comes to shots.

While he might not be as athletic, he certainly tries his best at floorball, enduring much reprimanding by the Coach himself. Although, admittedly, he does need some barking here and there to ensure he keeps pushing himself as he tends to slack off a little.

It is imperative that he becomes less blur on court, especially when playing defence.

Holding the ball a little longer and playing around with it a bit is definitely something he can improve on.

His first major tournament was the Z'Liners-PFA Floorball Challenge (Juniors). He put his best foot forward as a defender, but his performance overall was a bit lacklustre as his defending still needs much improvement. Maybe Sonia can help him out there, perhaps?

Nevertheless, all the coaching in the world will never help a player succeed without some effort on the part of the player. Same goes for him, he needs to step up his own practice at home and push harder in order to improve and make a mark in this small world of floorball. And as a wise man says, he is the classic example that commitment and perseverance yields results, albeit slow it may be.

Be a man, Sachin.

Verdict: On one hand, he is improving. On the other, he could improve faster.

Play of the year: Staying true to FFC and not backing down ever since he joined, however much he got yelled at.

Prediction for next season: Sachin is definitely sticking around in FFC for seasons to come. As he proceeds further in his floorball journey, there will come a time when he will have to step up the heat, lest he remains stagnant.

Por Kai Yann, 15 (2007-present)

2009-02-01T18:21:00.001+08:00

The likeable, quiet personality who has a natural floorball sense. Someone who never seems to break sweat, on or off the court. Appears to drift all over then be found in the right place at the right time. Lacks aggression though his size belies his body strength. Will not topple over, but instead let the ball bet taken off him.

He is a player Coach Jason loves to tease mainly because he just shrugs his shoulders, smiles and takes it all in his stride.

He played in Contact 3v3 Challenge, Penang League and Youthwave.

Verdict: A year that started so well and promised so much ended up in pretty much nothing. Studies and a very poor immune system combined halted his mid-year progress. Then some allowance was given him, as it was Exam Year, but still no sight was seen of him after his exams. Some words said about him have been less than kind but maybe he has deserved it.

Play of the year: Scoring two goals in the Penang League campaign.

Prediction for next season: There are two roads he could take; one to return and let his tremendous potential become something more than just potential, another to turn away and be seen less and less until he completely disappears. Another year that will echo this one: displays that are promising but turn out to be empty as the year wears on.

When There's No Training...

2009-02-01T18:13:00.001+08:00

*Many apologies for the late post*

There was no training this week as it was Chinese New Year weekend. You would have thought that everyone (coaches included) might put the floorball stick down and start daydreaming about the many ang pau they will receive (coaches included?) and the yummy CNY goodies. WRONG! Think again. Any opportunity to play, we play.

There was a 'play for fun' session at PBSM (where else?) with a respectable attendance even though CNY was only two days away. (More than 10 people. Sorry, writers do forget things.) Two hours of game time, two hours of juniors and ladies (anyway can we shorten this??) vs seniors. Michael was in charge of leading the juniors and ladies and did a very good job. The seniors, as usual, were dominating with their super speed and super strength (no, not like Superman) but the juniors and ladies put up a fight and improved as time went by, after guidance from the coaches of course.

With 300's first PFL game just a few days away, ALL THE BEST TO THOSE PLAYING!!

GONG XI FA CAI everyone!!