June Kew, 17(2007-present)

June Kew, older sister to Pei Li but considerably younger in terms of floorball, joined the club two weeks before Youthwave. Impressing the coach enough with her abilities, she was included in the squad (Frontliners Carnations) for the upcoming tournament. She played reasonably well, for a beginner, and barely missed making the cut for the semis. Always seen with some kind of snack (orange/apple) midway through training, this lady gets hungry easily. "I took up floorball as a challenge... to do something I don't like." Her busy schedule took over, making it difficult for consistent attendance for training, and that showed as she did not make it for the next two tournaments.

Verdict: Average, at the most, her commitment needs to be called into question, but based on her improvement throughout the year, she did well enough for a (4.5/10)
Play of the year: Coming for training. And... managing to look up while controlling the ball.
Prediction for next season: One of the group who view floorball in a recreational sense, she needs to take floorball seriously if she is to improve, but all arrows point to her gradually fading away as, like Felicia, studies are an enormous distraction.

Goekula Kannan, 16(2006-present)

One of the group of players who just love to run. Kannan, the troublemaker of the club on and off the court, is like an Energizer battery that just does not have an ‘Off’ switch. His pace and stamina are definitely qualities that stand out, but just like Aaron Raj, he has a problem with control. Sometimes he just does not realize that he has two hands. Playing in all three major tournaments of the year (Youthwave-Team Genesis, POC, Dalat), he definitely has to have something that the coach recognizes in him. His performances were pretty okay, to the standards of the club, although he has already joined some others in the disappearing act as his hotheadedness fuels some off-the-court matters.

Verdict: Still showing some amount of improvement, to his and the coach's credit, but still not enough to make it a good year for him. (5/10)
Play of the year: Probably keeping his cool during the most recent outing in the Dalat League.
Prediction for next season: His future hangs in a balance. If he decides to play with his head, he should be able to play, but everything could go wrong if he loses his temper. To be positive... he can only get better as time goes by.

Christopher Anand, 19(2006-present)

Christopher Anand, unknown to most of the newbies of the club. Surprisingly, though unable to come for training most of the time, he did play in the Youthwave Floorball Tournament (Team Exodus) and Penang Open Challenge (then being the reserve). Right after the POC he vanished and has not been heard of since.

Verdict: On and off appearances do not help his cause, and not much can be said about his progress or his play. (1/10)
Play of the year: Nothing really. His few appearances in the red and black jersey (Frontliners, not Man U) were not enough to guarantee an average performance.
Prediction for next season: Only to continue in his floorball rut. Soon to, if not already, reach rock bottom in floorball.

Felicia Yeow, 17(2007-present)

Felicia only recently joined the club some time before the Dalat League. Starting off as a outfield player, her style of play was quickly determined, as quoted: “I cannot play well but I can guard people well!” Prior to playing floorball, she had played in other sports such as hockey and football. During the time that she joined the club, it so happened that Lin Ken was around, and, as fate would have it, she exchanged her floorball stick for a goalie helmet. Proving herself to be a quick learner, she quickly learned the basics of goalkeeping from the master himself and soon established herself as a fearless, competitive goalie. She did not play for the Dalat League, however, being 17 and facing SPM.

Verdict: Plenty of potential in her to become a top goalie. She is a driven person, self-motivated and self-assured, and these qualities can only help her as she helps the team conquer the world. (6/10)
Play of the year: Becoming a goalie. Few players like to do that, and the club was only relying on Sharron Tan, but she made a decision and stood firm by it. Without doubt a rising star in the floorball goalie picture.
Prediction for next season: Things are looking up, and she should establish herself as the number one goalie for the club in time to come, but studies offer a big distraction as she is faced with some very important decisions that would shape her life.

Aaron Raj, 16(2007-present)

Aaron Raj, younger brother of charismatic personality Joshua Raj, had joined the club just this year before the Penang Open Challenge. Unlike his brother, though, he does not possess the exuberance and overwhelming confidence of Joshua, but instead prefers to quietly go about his work consistently. Pace is an asset for him, and so are his shots, but his poor control lets him down. Struck with the ‘one hand’ syndrome like so many others in the club, the coach made it his mission to re-educate Aaron. Coming for training regularly, though he did not play in the Penang Open Challenge, his hard work was finally justified when selected for the squad to play in the Dalat League. He put in some solid plays there, improving throughout the league. He vanished a few weeks after that due to studies.

Verdict: Proved himself capable of stepping out of Joshua's shadow, even almost reaching the point of overshadowing Big Brother. (6/10)
Play of the year: His performance in the Dalat League, where he showed sometimes that he could play well, bringing the ball out from defence and turning it into attack.
Prediction for next season: To continue his progress, and if things go his way and circumstances favour him, he should only get better and better as time goes by.

Alice Ong, 18(2002-present)

Alice Ong has been in Frontliners Floorball Club for a considerably longer time than most others, training there before the mass exodus of players. This year, being the victim of unfortunate circumstances, Alice re-joined the club after a motorbike accident in February but did not participate in the Youthwave Floorball Tournament in April while still recuperating. She appeared for training a few times before the Penang Open Challenge, and, as a result, was included in the squad for the above tournament. It was steady play from her, and she did put in a couple of consistent performances during the tournament. After the tournament, however, she disappeared again, and was met with another accident this time, ruling her out for almost the rest of the year. Alice can be considered one of the old hands of the club already, her experience putting her a notch above the others, but this year it was a case of a fading light as studies and other matters claim her more and more from floorball.

Verdict: ‘If only’s do not amount to much, but it is the case for Alice this year. (3/10)
Play of the year: Undoubtedly the Penang Open Challenge (being the only time she was playing...)
Prediction for next season: Hopefully to stay accident-free, but if her romance with bike accidents go on, it could be a long year for her.

Frontliners Floorball Club: Official Year-End-Review

The lights are off and the court is silent. Training has ended and the club is taking a break, and will resume next year.

Looking back at the year that has been, in floorballing terms, it is imperative that the question of how much the club has progressed (Note: not whether the club has or not progressed, but in fact how far it has) does not go unanswered.

To answer that question? Let us, then, step into the shoes of a few different people and see through their eyes. First, the pessimist (who shall remain unnamed): "One title... only one title, and a whole lot of 'better luck next time' moments... The club has really gone downhill since winning the gold in April."
Next, the optimist (who again shall remain unnamed): "One title is awesome already! No need to talk about how we did in the other ones. Excellent, man!"
The insider (national player, Sarah Ng): "We got the basics down, (the) commitment of players are slightly better, trainings are more organized and focused." (and also club player Por Kai Yann): "On my opinion, the club is getting better day by day. A lot of improvements are shown by the players including the coach as well. The club is growing bigger."
The outsider (who, in fact, is state coach Edward Lim): "Some players did improve on their skills... but it's the numbers. The club needs more people if it wants to move forward."
The coach (Jason Chan): "The club now has a vision and the right players who are committed to floorball."

It is obviously advisable to listen to the state coach and the club coach, but it is also important that the other views do not go unnoticed. Therefore, to mix them all together... here is the official year-end-review for Frontliners Floorball Club.

(For all you people who don't have time or just don't like to read long writeups, please scroll down to the bottom.)

In the beginning... of this year, that is, CEO-cum-Coach Jason Chan took over the club from old hands and revamped the entire system, setting goals and creating ways to achieve them. The blog was started to increase publicity for the club, and a new so-called 'management team' was formed.

The goal for this year, as stated in the first entry of this blog, was to strengthen the youth development of the club to secure the future of floorball in Penang, and also to develop a full ladies' team. Entering three tournaments this year (Youthwave Floorball Tournament, Penang Open Challenge, Dalat League), to quote a player: "It's like three different teams entering three different tournaments, the players and skills are all so different."

Although the only gold the club won was from the Youthwave FT, by Frontliners Roses, a point has to be made: of the six players who won the medal (Sarah Ng, Alice Ong, Kew Pei Li, Roselyn, Sharron Tan), two have disappeared and two others have not been seen for the past two months, leaving two out of the six.

What are the implications from this? One, that results do not reflect the rate of progress by the club. Two,that players do not stay forever. Being a club that comprises mainly of youths, it is inevitable that they get caught up with studies and work further down the road. It is therefore important that the club continues attracting and developing new players to ensure that it does not simply fade away.

And there you have the first goal, youth development. Has the club achieved it? To a certain point, yes. Attendance, instead of dwindling, has slowly gone up to an average of fifteen per training. So far there have been fifteen new faces, with up to six of them staying on, put together with four players who have left. (Enough statistics!)

One wonders... if an incomplete team of six players became champions, what could a full team of ladies do? The ladies currently in the club (Sarah, Pei Li, Wai Wai, Yi Lin, June, Tania, Sonia, Sharron, Felicia, Alice, Roselyn -- including long-time absentees) total to nine outfield players and two goalies. Almost enough.

Early this year, the coach stated that he had a two-year plan for the club. One year has passed, and all evidence indicates that the club is heading in the right direction, having the players with the right mentality, and a more-than-capable leader:)

(All right, all you people who scrolled down without reading the middle section can start here.)

Verdict: It has been a foundation-building phase for Frontliners Floorball Club, for to touch the skies one must first have a strong base. The club has progressed well enough for the coach to be extremely satisfied. (8.5/10)
Play of the year: Hard to choose... but it must be said that the entire team effort, plus the huge effort by the coach to survive and thrive together, showing the Frontliners Spirit, more than deserves this title.
Prediction for next year: Capable of reaching great heights, the club must first ensure it does not deteriorate but continue developing and staying with the goals that have been set. To continue to improve, and in time, hopefully win some titles:) The sky is no limit.

To end this: "It is not of importance where we stand, but in what direction we are moving." -Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

PS. The club will be doing a basic review on each of its players, how he/she progressed this year, etc., a few every time, so look forward to it:)