Passion Consumes. Consuming Passion.

What will you do when there is no training?
What will you do when there is no ball for you to hit?
What will you do when you hands and legs are itching?
What will you do when your overflowing passion is killing you?!

For once, floorballers of Frontliners Floorball Club has found a cure(more like suppressor)...

No training, do some digesting.
No ball to hit, you got food to eat.
Hands and legs itching becomes stomach and mouth itching.
Passion killing you?

PASSIONS OF KERALA won’t kill!
Lets wolap some food.

And that was what majority of the Frontliners did on the faithful day of 22 December 2008. It was Frontliners Floorball Clubs 2nd annual dinner since last year’s at Faces.

The people, almost everybody came, missing Pei Li (who was dying to come) and Steven; the Indian trio, Sanjee, Loga and Megan, last but not least , Father of all Bosses, Ps. Tom and some others. On the other hand, FFC was honored to welcome Kenny Khoo from PFA to join us for the feast! We hoped you enjoyed the food.

Speaking of food, it was…
Mix reaction.
Gab, I don’t like spicy food. And leaving half the leave full.
KY, I don’t mind having Parpedum as Christmas Present. And wolap-ing most of it.
Lavin, where is my Masala Mutton? No more? Really bermasalah(troublesome) huh?
Kenny, I want chicken and sotong. What else?
Jason Chan, eh were is my chicken? Ended up with no chicken.

Well, things don’t always go according to plan, it’s never prefect and you can’t please everyone on everything every time anyway.

Pity Mikey the organizer running up and down getting everything done and keeping everyone comfortable, while the aunty too rushing around for the side dishes and the parpedum. Thanks. =)

All the makan’ing and crapping came to a halt when it was time for a farewell speech by Kenny. Leaving for PJ to further his studies, the rising star of FFC will have to say bye bye to all of us. A loss for FFC and Penang Floorball, and a gain for PJ, I hope.

“Rose almost meteorically after joining the club in April 2008 having never touched a floorball stick before, his natural athleticism and aggressiveness helping him gain a place in the Penang Floorball state team after just seven months of playing floorball…” – Frontliners Floorball Club Annual Yearbook 2008.

All the best in PJ my friend.
Hopefully, a loss of a player is a gain of a leader!
Hopefully, a end at FFC is the birth of a new club in PJ!
Hopefully, we’ll see you in PFL’09. XD

Climax of the night was the distribution of the long awaited year book. Bound, with colour & pictures. Fuuyoh!! Two Thumbs up. And not even considering the contents.

Dying to know whats in it? Ok la, sneak preview:
- Club history flow chart.
- Individual player reviews.
- Selected articles; and
- Articles

A really nice piece of work and a priceless storage of 2008’s memories. The plus plus part of the having the yearbook is to get everybody write something on the autograph pages. It is nice to see everyone talking, joking and crapping to each other. It ran till late 10pm where the shop owner have to remind us it is time to leave as the shop is closing. Banyak potong steam!!

Finally we decided to call it a day after everyone had left a mark on my yearbook. After all the food, more work to do, sending a few jokers back home… grow up and get your own transport soon people!! XD

**Sharron, the pics please. Thanks. =)

Split Training: Two Sides of The Same Coin

Ladies' and Juniors' training started off with a refreshing one-round run outside PBSM then progressed to a more lighthearted, haven't-seen-since-last-year 'Monkey in The Middle'. This drill started with two monkeys and one ball and finally ended with four monkeys and two balls. It was indeed very confusing and entertaining at the same time, especially if two balls came to the same person at once.

The next drill was a simple lobbing exercise. The players were divided into two lines; one line to lob and the other to replace all the balls that had been lobbed. It was all a little strange, and finally Coach Jason decided to keep Julian, Sachin and Tristan as the replace-ers and let the others lob. Not that the first three enjoyed themselves any less, as they raced against the clock to see how fast they could replace all the balls. Kyle stood out, as almost all of his balls ended up inside the goal.

Now that all the players had lobbed to their satisfaction, Coach Jason revealed that, if they were successful at lobbing, then they would be successfuly at shooting. The only trick was to press harder. So he divided the players into three lines, and at the first blow of his whistle, the first line would have to step up and shoot into the empty goal up ahead. And so on, and so forth.

After each line had shot twenty times (imagine blowing the whistle sixty times...), Coach Jason gathered the players and asked how many balls had entered the goal, telling the players that their score this week would be the benchmark for the weeks to come.

Coach Jason then decided to have game time, with 20 minutes left. Since there were three ladies and six juniors, it meant that the sides would be uneven, to the dismay of some of the players. They grumbled a little, but in the end ran out 1-0 winners in a nonstop game that could have had so many more goals.

It was a little hard for the ladies to adjust to the lower level of play introduced this week, but both ladies and juniors certainly enjoyed themselves in the low-pressure, relaxed environment.

As for the men's first split training, the goalies started their training at 9am to 10am. Technical training for them. Real training began at 10am, with jogging and THE DRAGON RUN. Some were worn out from the running and some even continued running even though injured. Semangat ni.

After that, all got in the hall and as usual, the players were instructed to find a partner and to practise their passing without looking down. Coach Kuan Yang's first drill of the day was the 2-on-1 and the second wan was the snake drill. One of Coach Kuan Yang's favourite drills, the TRIANGLE PMS. (PMS=Passing, Movement, Shooting).

The drill was supposed to train players to attack during a game. Coach Kuan Yang said that if the seniors were fast enough to catch the drills, there would be more ahead.

It was game time. Everyone was pumped up and played with all their might. Noise could be heard from everyone's stomachs. Training ended at 1pm.

WALLOP 2008

What is your passion? Where is your passion? Are you full of passion?




Get passionate with your tummy in the PASSIONS OF KERALA.

Wallop 2008, our FRONTLINERS annual dinner will be held at


Place : Passions of Kerala
Address: 40, Service Road, 10050 Penang.
(if sesat call 04 - 229 2570)
Time : 7.30pm to 9.30pm
Date : 22 December 2008 (Monday)
Budget : RM 20




*Please note that you need to prepare around RM 20(if you eat less you pay less).
No free food.







All Frontliners are expected to be there including former alumnis. See be ready to meet up with our long lost players. All are invited.

TRANSFORMATION is now...

Fellow Frontliners, this Saturday, training will go on, but not as usual anymore. Take note that the Juniors & Ladies and Seniors squad will be having 2 separate trainings from now on at PBSM.

The slot for training will be as follows,
8.30am to 10.30am - Juniors and Girls.
10.00am to 1.00pm - Seniors.

Criterias for Juniors and Ladies,
1. You below 15 years old by the year 2008.

or

2. You are a female.


Criterias for Seniors
You are a male aged 15 and above by 2008.


Goalkeepers are expected to be in training by 9am. Warm ups and keeper specific training will commence from 9am.

The whole purpose is so that we can all get to use the full courts to maximise our training capacity for both Spartans and 300.

Confused? Call coach Jason (Juniors and Ladies)at 012-251 2460
or coach Kuan Yang(Seniors) at 012-432 1966.

Change is good... :P

World Floorball Championships 2008 Finals: Sweden vs Finland (6-7sd)

World Floorball Championships 2008 Finals: Sweden vs Finland (6-7sd)

1st Period (Sweden 0 - 4 Finland)
0-1 Mika Kavekari, assisted by Mikael Järvi
0-2 Rickie Hyvärinen, assisted by Mika Kohonen
0-3 Lassi Vänttinen, assisted by Rickie Hyvärinen
0-4 Kari Koskelainen, assisted by Rickie Hyvärinen

2nd Period (Sweden 3 - 4 Finland)
1-4 Fredrik Djurling, assisted by Henrik Quist
2-4 Niklas Jihde, assisted by Henrik Quist
3-4 Daniel Calebsson, assisted by Kimmo Eskelinen

3rd Period (Sweden 6 - 6 Finland)
4-4 Kimmo Eskelinen, assisted by Mattias Helgesson
5-4 Fredrik Djurling, assisted by Kristoffer Kranberg
6-4 Niklas Jihde, assisted by Fredrik Djurling
6-5 Lassi Vänttinen, assisted by Mika Kohonen
6-6 Lassi Vänttinen, assisted by Mikael Järvi

Overtime (Sweden 6 - 7 Finland)
6-7 Tero Tiitu, assisted by Rickie Hyvärinen

Final Score:
Sweden 6 - 7 Finland

The best player of Finland - #27 Rickie Hyvärinen

The best player of Sweden - #28 Fredrik Djurling

Humanitarian Efforts

This week's training took a slightly more humane approach if compared to training last week. Training this week also coincided with Coach Kuan Yang's return (his perfect-attendance record since APAC was broken last week).

Attendance was encouraging, given the time of the year, and altogether 15 people turned up for training. Warm-up was thankfully and literally just warm-up, with a few rounds in PBSM and then a good stretching session led by Coach Kuan Yang.

The players then paired up for short passing. Coach Jason demanded eyeball-to-eyeball contact at all times while Coach Kuan Yang demanded that the players move towards the ball, instead of waiting for it to come to them.

Coach Jason then took the goalies aside and coach the goalies, Bryan and Soon Khai.

After the all-time favourites of 2-on-1 and 3-on-2's, training then progressed to match time. The difference in skill and experience between the two lines were vast, so the game started with a handicap, and, if the better line had not overcome the deficit in 10 minutes, 20 pushups would be the reward.

In the end, had it not been for the goalkeepers' surprising reactions and saves, the senior line would probably have had less aching muscles to contend with.

Frontliners Annual Yearbook 2008

Would you buy Frontliners' annual yearbook that costs around RM15 and has almost 80 pages of player reviews, feature articles and pictures?

• Yes, I don't mind paying for something that has my face inside: 51%
• Yes, but I won't pay more than RM10: 22%
• Yes, but I won't pay more than RM5: 22%
• No, I'd rather spend my money on something else: 2%

The good news is, more than half of you voted a big, resounding, first-choice YES! and we thank you for that. The bad news is, based on your response, we still do not have enough to cover all our expenses.

Don't worry, there'll still be a yearbook.

But to cut costs and make this possible, the yearbook will be self-printed. Less quality in materials, but no less quality in content.

Colour pictures, of course.

To cut costs further and to avoid wastage, we'll be taking orders. So if you'd like to possess this one-of-a-kind, limited edition yearbook, please leave your name in the comments section below. The release date for this yearbook is Dec 20.

We will not charge those who cannot afford it, but for those who can, we ask that you pay however much you think it will be worth (suggested price: RM5/book).

We will only take orders until the Dec 13 so do order now!

Physical Training: A Walk in the Park

No halls available? No problem. That was the case this week as training was held at the ever-reliable basketball court in Taman Gelugor. No puddles around the court; nice weather; slides and swings.

Frontliners had two new faces in training- Kalyhani and Zubaidah. We also welcomed back Yi Lin and June after completing their exams.

Training started off with Coach Jason instructing everyone to make five rounds around the housing estate. At first it was thought as five rounds around the court, but after Coach Jason explained the route, many went:

"Five rounds??!"

Coach Jason then changed his mind and made it three rounds but Kenny was bargaining for two. No luck this time.

The first drill started with three lines, which was reduced to two with those in the third line practicing shots with keeper, Bryan. The remaining two lines were practicing shots with the other keepr Soon Khai, with a twist- 5 balls had to enter the goal or else be 'rewarded' with 5 push-ups.

More shot-related drills were carried out and so was the more familiar 2-on-1. With training only until 11.15, match time was called. Yi Lin provided most of the audio during the game. A little accident left Adrian with a bleeding elbow but that did not put him out of action. While the girls (almost all) were left to play, the rest went for a 'little run'.

Training ended with announcements and Roselyn going into ah long mode.

Back To The Basics

It was back to PBSM after a week at THE PROMISED LAND (Balik Pulau Stadium). With the absence of Coach Kuan Yang and Coach Ming Hwee, Steven was the boss of the day. Due to the gloomy weather, many did not turn up, people were sick and some were also late. Coach Ming Hwee was there for awhile at the beginning to observe the situation. We welcomed back Tania Loke after being absent for quite some time.

Steven's focus of the day was BASICS. Basic shooting and passing. The 2-0n-1 drill was again done to improve players' awareness and communication with each other.

Then, the most interesting part of training, game time.

After that, everyone lined up and got ready for penalties. Penalties got even more ineresting when Adrian successfully pulled off an air-hook goal. Towards the end of training, Roselyn (the ALONG) came to collect money for the jerseys. With half an hour left, Coach Steven decided to wrap the whole thing up with another game, which ended the day.

Return to the Promised Land (something like that)

CANGGIH-NYA!!!

...was the word when Frontliners who hadn't been here before came and beheld the awe-and-fear-inspiring Balik Pulau Stadium.

"It's the first time any club has had training here," said Coach Jason proudly.

Definitely something to be proud of (costs aside); training here gives people a sense of professionalism so they can boast: "I trained in a stadium!" and not old, much beloved PBSM or Kompleks Belia.

Feet on the ground, though, as training will probably not be held here every week (and everyone with a car can sigh in relief for their petrol expenses).

To take a break from all the kecanggihan and kemodenan, the club welcomed Lavinia back from Sabah. Lavinia had been training with Nomad Floorball Club there.

The players set up the ad boards (international size minus one) while the floodlights slowly warmed up. Once fully bright, the players started immediately on their 2-on-1's, the exact same drill done last week.

The standard of play had not gone up by much, though, the keepers easily saving 9 out of 10 shots. Kuan Yang called the players around twice, releasing them to do the same drill again, then finally called for match time.

Michael awestruck by the size of the court. The players were divided into three lines, one junior, one past-junior-not-so-senior, and one senior. The second line played without rest while the junior and senior interchanged.

Predictably, the seniors bossed the second line, and the seconds bossed the juniors. There were few goals scored by the seniors thanks to excellent defending by Sanjeevan, but the juniors were totally outmatched.

However, they did manage to get one shot on goal on the counter after the seconds' defence was nowhere to be seen. The last laugh was by a rapidly-improving Su Rong, however, as he scored the final goal before Kuan Yang called time.

After training, the tired Frontliners sat back to watch the Penang Ladies' team batter Springfield from Singapore 15-0. Springfield's players were tough and not overawed in the least, often letting their aggression get the better of them (two minutes called twice), but their inexperience showed as Penang scored again and again.

They managed to get a few shots on goal as the game progressed, though Sharron saved Penang the blushes, as even Penang's defenders were going forward, looking for goals.

The match ended with Valerie scoring four, Charmaine and Sheryn three, Serene and Penny two, and Sarah one.

Exodus to Balik Pulau

Frontliners will be having their training in the prestigious Balik Pulau Stadium(prestigious by Penang standards) this coming Saturday on the 22nd November 2008. Training will start from 7.45am in the morning. Please be found in RGBC by 7.05am. The van will transport us to the land of durians and will wait for no one. After reaching, first things first, go get the boards and fix it first. Training will end by 9.30am so lets not waste time. In between, there will be a friendly match between Penang Woman squad vs Team from Singapore. We will give our support to our Penang Woman squad until the game ends. The van will transport us back to RGBC by 12pm. See you all there.



* Please confirm your attendance to Coach Jason at 012-251 2460 by 21st November 2008, tomorrow.

The Million Dollar Question. Inspired By Mike.

Penang Floorball League 2009 (PFL'09) is just around the corner. In fact, Division 2 starts in Jan, and the club has decided to come out with a new kit for the league next year.

The plan is for the players to own the away kit which will be redo every year. All players are required to bring RM50 during the next training for the new kit. Any extras will be returned to the players. Any players with financial difficulties can discuss with the Manager to pay in installments.

As for the Million Dollar Question brought up by MIKE(blame him!!), the club has decided to post the question up for all member to debate.

"SHOULD OR SHOULD WE NOT PRINT INDIVIDUAL NAMES ON THE JERSEYS AND WHY??"

All comments to be post as comments in this post with your true identity if not, it will not be entertain. All your thoughts will determine the fate of your jersey, so THINK TWICE, THINK WISE.

Good Luck!!

p/s: the numbers and individual names(to be printed if we decide so) will be update for final confirmation. Stay tune.

1. -
2. CALVIN
3. VERINA
4. ADRIAN
5. TANIA
6. OLGA
7. KENNY
8. PEI LI
9. TRISTAN
10. NICHOLAS
11. ROSELYN
12. STEVEN
13. MARK
14. SACHIN
15. LAWREN
16. BRYAN
17. SONIA
18. SU RONG
19. MING HWEE
20. SANJEEVAN
21. YI LIN
22. SOON KHAI
23. MICHAEL
24. MEGAN
25. LOGAN
26. -
27. JUNE
28. KYLE
29. KUAN YANG
30. KENNETH
31. GABRIEL
32. JULIAN
66. SHARRON

Training 151108

Ramshackle goals and coverless drains: So What?

Frontliners Floorball Club again held training outdoors with the belief that fresh air and lovely breezes are good for health. This time, training was held not-so-in Kompleks Belia dan Sukan. Hardly any puddles compared to training last week, to the relief of some.

Fifteen people made it to training which started off with short passing. Now, most of the drains were considerably dry, but there was one that had God-knows-what blackish goo inside, and some players were unfortunate enough to have their balls sink into it.

Training then progressed to Beat the Keeper, where the players had to shoot within a certain distance, first with forehand and then with backhand. For the forehand part, Kuan Yang gave a quick demo as in how to shoot accurately, then stood behind the goal to point out the spot where the players had to shoot.

It took some time for the players to get used to the different, rougher surface.

In the 2-on-1 and 3-on-2 drills, Kuan Yang emphasised on the attackers' speed, demanding that the players either score or take a shot as fast as they could. And in match time, it was Forwards vs Defenders. However, as one goal was missing, Kuan Yang balanced one cone on top of two and said the ball had to touch it for the Defenders to score.

The sun was getting higher and higher, and the players were getting sapped. Trips to the canteen for water became more frequent, and finally, match time was called to an end.

The players then tried out penalties, where Pei Li scored her first penalty ever and Steven successfully pulled off an airhook-goal.

Training was quite laid-back, in a nutshell.

The BIG-E

It's the time for the biggest event of the year!

As you are having your HOLIDAYS now,

DON'T WASTE IT! Come and have fun in

BIG-E camp 2008

...you've been seeing these pictures on the sidebar for weeks now, so how about taking that extra step and signing up for it?

The forms can be gotten from Coach Jason/Steven/Pei Li.

Do HURRY, the closing date for registration is this Sunday.

Hope to see you there!

For more info please contact:
RGBC: 04 82803224, Reservoir Garden Road,11500 Air Itam, Penang rgbc@streamyx.com
Pastor Tom: 016 4699691
Steven: 016 4334910

Playground Floorball

Training last Saturday was held up above, in the basketball court in Taman Gelugor (according to Mikey). Fears that it would rain and interfere with training were quashed as it turned out to be great weather for floorball: not too hot nor too wet.

However, Miss Communication did put a tiny damper on the day as somehow or other, Kyle did not get the message that training was held here, but SuperChan (a.k.a. Coach Jason) flew to the rescue and brought him right over.

There were a couple of faces missing; Roselyn from fever, and both Tania and Sonia being unavailable, but so were there old, familiar, long-time-no-see faces in Steven, Sharron and Sanjeevan and Loga (as shown above). Altogether, a total of 20 people turned up.

Training started with jogging and warm-up led by Kuan Yang, up and down the road beside the court.


However, Tim Duncan and Yao Ming (not in picture) had rights to one end of the court, so the Frontliners had to be content with short passing at the other end.

"I want 30 passes to forehand. And look up!" said Kuan Yang.
(passpasspass)
"Okay! (big sigh) Kuan Yang, finished 30 passes already!" Pei Li said.
"Hah? Okay, now give me 40!"

Overall, it was kind of tough, passing on the uneven surface, and Pei Li kept checking her new blade to see if it was okay. No one reached the target, in Kuan Yang's eyes, and whoever claimed to do so was quickly squelched under his rapidfire demand to know whether they looked up and passed to forehand.


Duncan and Yao were still not done slam-dunking, so Kuan Yang had the Frontliners line up in three rows. Sadly, it was not to be t'ai-chi as Kenny so thought, but taekwando-style ball control. Most of the Frontliners had no problem keeping the ball under control thanks to Coach Jason's mad fixation on the importance of ball control.

And in between ball-controlling and waiting for the b-ball stars to disappear, Steven impressed the people around with his airhooks, more often failing than succeeding.

With the court finally empty, the players paired up and did a lobbing exercise. Slow to grasp it at first, they managed to get the ball to fly a considerable height, and in no time, balls were flying anywhere and everywhere. Sanjeevan, in particular, had lovely technique in lobbing.


With about one hour plus gone, the coaches decided it was time for the players to strut their stuff. Still no goalposts, and neither were there benches, so Coach Jason decided to go with the old-fashioned cones apart. Or wait... too easy for the players. He pulled them together and decreed that the ball had to touch the cones for the players to score.

Kuan Yang added that whoever lost had 20 pushups in store for them.


And so it started! Pei Li discovered, to her utmost shock, that people actually do slip when running through puddles. Once, twice and thrice. Suffice to say she was soaked through when the match ended.

Sanjeevan showed he had not lost touch, scoring a cracker of a goal from distance, knocking over both cones. A first-timer too. There was also good interplay between Kenny, Loga and Pei Li. Sanjeevan quickly added another with a carbon copy of his first after a lay-off from Kenny.


The juniors were getting bored, so Coach Jason called for change. More energy, more enthusiasm... less fluidity. Kyle was another player who got soaked in clean rainwater, hopefully. Play continued, even though the ball frequently flew out of court and onto the grass. This was where the lobbing practice came useful in plenty.

The slides and monkey-bars offered plenty of distraction, not only for juniors like Julian and Gabriel, but also for Kenny, who used the slide as a napping-ground.

Mikey eventually pulled one back for the Saints 'All-Stars' team, enjoying his goal to the max, but they were well and truly beaten 4-2 in the end.

It had begun to rain, so the Frontliners quickly gathered under the largest tree in sight, where the coaches talked briefly about next year's Penang League and then let the team go off. Although both PBSM and Kompleks Belia were unavailable, the players clearly enjoyed themselves, which was good to see.

Impossible IS Something, Sometimes

In a time when most clubs would have less players due to exams, Frontliners Floorball Club had a relatively good record of 21 people coming for training last Saturday. There was one new face: Jeffery Lim, though some originally mistook him for Jason Lim as the younger brother wore the exact same shirt Jason wears.

Kuan Yang led the players in warm-up then set the seniors on passing drills, stressing that

1. No first-timers allowed.
2. Look up!
3. Pass to forehand.

In that order. The juniors did ball-control drills with Coach Jason supervising.

Training continued with some more passing as the goalposts somehow contrived to go missing that day, and the club had to settle with two benches for one goal. The goalkeepers, Bryan and Soon Khai, did some movement and catching drills in one corner.

The juniors and seniors then combined to do a circuit drill involving shots, passes, spin-offs and flips.

"Front flip or backflip?" asked Adrian.

"Forehand flip!" came the curt reply from Kuan Yang.

Having made sure each player had four goes already, Kuan Yang then called for match time. With no goalies, the juniors had to shoot the ball through the top bench to score, and the seniors had to knock off either one of the two tiny cones balanced on the top bench to score.

Talk about ketidakadilan yang melampau.

However, the impossible did happen when Kenny smashed off a cone from a rebound after good work by Su Rong. What was more impressive, however, was newcomer Jeffery's speed and willingness to run, intercepting more than one ball in his attacking half. What was even more impressive? The new sticks Coach Jason brought that came in all shapes and sizes: from killer waves to crazy curves and to literal holes-in-shaft.

Coach Jason then called match-time to a close and the players lined up for the customary... complimentary ice cream provided by the wonderful Coach.

No such luck. As always for the past few weeks, the players did three rounds of killers.

One can always dream:)

Traning 251008: Fashion-Conscious Frontliners

Training was held at the same time at the same place. Frontliners set a new record of 20 attendees this week (applause) beating the previous record of 18 set not too long ago. Let's keep that up and smash more attendance records! This week, we welcome Derrick to the Frontliners family. One notable absentee was Pei Li, still out due to illness. Get well soon, Pei Li! Hope to see you back on the courts next week!

Training started with the usual warm-up. The players were then paired up to do passing. Players were then separated: juniors under Coach Jason and seniors under Kuan Yang. The juniors were taught the basic stuff while on the other side of the court; the seniors' drills were emphasized a lot on passing, movement and shooting. The pace started slowly but soon picked up once players were familiar with the drill. The seniors were paired up to do more passing. This time, looking down at the ball was not allowed.

At 11 pm, it was game time. 4-on-4 (juniors) and 5-on-5 (seniors). It looked like the juniors were enjoying themselves very much, running for every ball and never seemed to be tired.

Training came to a close at 12.00 pm. After some talk from Coach Jason and Kuan Yang, the players were dismissed. Many of them were checking out sticks and commented on how they did not like the colour of some sticks. (Don't be fussy, guys, colour is not important, it's how you use the stick; whether for playing floorball or making it match your clothes or eyes, you decide.) Overall, training was good and hope to see all of you next week. OooOOOO FRONTLINERS!!

The F Words

F is for Floorball. Training, same time, same place.

F is for Flooded. Heavy rain the night before meant wet court and soaked grass all around.

F is for Friends. Many new Frontliners, invited by their friends, turned up again this week.

F is for Family. Blood relations and floorball relations galore.

F is for Fun. Ex-coach turned wise man Steven Tay was the coach-for-the-day. And what a surprise it was, when he said the whole training was devoted to game time.

F is for Four-on-Four.

F is for Fledglings. Fresh floorballers showing off on the court, with fresh captains, Tania Loke and Sonia Frances.

F is for Fish. Michael (Mikey) obviously felt like one, slipping on the court and getting his behind all soaked in rainwater.

F is for Frustration. The juniors expressed disapproval when called in for substitution.

F is for Faraway. Kenny and Nicholas were evidently in their own happy world, joking around and having light moments while playing on the court.

F is for Finally. After an hour or so, Roselyn Ewe decided to show up.

F is for Farewell. Training ended at about 11:30a.m. when everyone left.

F is for Frontliners.

The joy of UPSRers is the envy of PMRers

UPSR students fresh from completing their exams are now back roaming the courts in PBSM. We welcome back our small cikus Julian and Tristan. Another small ciku Kyle has joined us for 3 consecutive weeks. Frontliners also welcome back our mercurial Sharron Tan whom has also returned to the courts after arranging time with her job.

An achievement to be proud of, this week Frontliners have an attendance of 18 people besides the fact that we are now in the exam seasons. Many of our regulars had to study and control their itchy hands from playing floorball as they face PMR.

A note to the PMRer, baca buku=ibubapa gembira=hidup floorball. Remember that, and keep that in your soul. A good mathematical model from our ex-nerd(still quite) coach Kuan Yang.

In addition to the return of our lost sheeps, we have 3 new recruits this week, Su Rong, Verina(Tristan’s sister) and Gabriel Ng. Drills are pretty much the same, as Senior coach continues to execute his P.M.S.(passing movement and shots) propaganda. The training was fast paced that keeper, Shun Kai’s knees have to wear out in half time.

300 Coach Jason as usual does the lame old beginners stuff. Being 300’s coach and dealing with immature kids is definitely a big challenge.

Newcomer Su Rong definitely had a hard time training with the kids and has expressed his desire to train with older kids like those in the Spartan troops. “I love everything here.. except… err training with kids? I mean… when will they ever be serious?” lamented Su Rong.

Spartan coach Kuan Yang commented that Su Rong may be more advanced that those kids even though he is a beginner. Perhaps Su Rong might be able to make it to the Spartans? Hint hint, we shall see.

Our new recruits seem to have lots of energy and enthusiasm for the game. Gabriel, is our most smallest ciku ever recruited at age 11. Has a pair of fast and athletic legs which can be developed. Its another smaller version of Julian. Verina seems to have a natural instinct when it comes to shooting and taking first timers.

Spartan coach, Kuan Yang gave every Spartan a constraint during game time, which is, no stealing ball and no dribbling and movement while possession. This got the Spartans quite irritated. “No fun one” states fellow Spartan, Kenny Ng. “Not tiring at all” lamented most of them. The response from coach Kuan Yang “ you are not tired because you choose not to run and stay static when you are not having the ball. Run more. You should feel tired!!!”. True enough… after obeying the command, the Spartans eventually wear out. Pei Li had to admit “I’m really tired !!”

Enough said, the whole purpose of the drill is to train our passing and movement under ideal conditions. Unfortunately, good stuffs are usually boring. We need to see it as a step to the next level rather than just playing for the “feel good” session. That is the only way to the top.

To PMRers, ALL THE BEST… See you after PMR.

(Out of Breath)

Training was...

...good.
...tiring.
...good but really tiring.

(Check the most accurate.)

A slew of Frontliners all confessed to late nights out thus explaining the loss of energy. That is, apart from Kenny, who was grey and sick; and Pei Li who happily announced she had had a great night's rest.

Not that Coach Kuan Yang pitied them in any way. He ruthlessly demanded lung-bursting sprints throughout a training that concentrated on first-timer shots. Even with fifteen attending, they were tough done by to keep the pace up.

Julian and Wayne reappeared in training after a long break; while Megan astounded everyone and actually attended training for two weeks consecutively. Kyle Matthews also came for his second training ever (add another Arsenal fan to the roster, yes?). The new face this week turned out to be Shaun Ong.

And even after game-time officially ended, Coach lined the players up and told them to run. And run. And run again.

Good for the soul, that.

TGFF: Thank God For Friends

1. If you do, great job and keep it up!
2. If you do not, you better start and Quick! (Coach Jason's indirect orders.)

Now why is this in a floorball blog, of all things?

'Floorball is about friendships', as quoted in Contact's blog. So if you do believe this, come to Frontliners Youth Meet on 4 October 2008 from 5.30-7.30pm and if you don't, all the more important for you to come.

Why?

Because The Coach said so.

(There'll be lots and lots and lots of food, so BE THERE!)


For more info, call Coach Jason.

Just Plain Weird

I've already written about feelings-oh-feelings, a very self-reflecting post; but this time, however, I would like to do a study on the weird names people come up with.

Let's go in alphabetical order and start with E&P. Elephants and Pineapples don't exactly go together, to state the obvious. Perhaps it was a reference to the players... fat and clumsy. Like Tania.

(pause for laughter)

Probably not. E&P had an average age of 14.9 years, and, if I'm right, none of them reached past 5'6. They could've done with someone bulkier to guard the goal, but had to make do with Eulene, a stick-thin thirteen-year-old. As it was, however talented Ivy was as a tennis player; however gifted Wei-Lynn might be as a ballerina, the only person who knew more than just how to hold a floorball stick was Tania.

Good effort, though I don't think I'll be seeing most of them anytime soon in floorball. Prove me wrong, girls.

(It actually started with an icebreaker Tania was doing during youth. When dividing them into two groups, she thought the 1 and 2 numbering system was boring, so she divided them into Elephants and Pineapples instead. Random, really. And when she was in a dilemma over the team name, Joyce just went ahead and wrote E&P on the form.)

Next up, Ednamodes and Violets. The names were ripped from the main characters of Pixar animation 'The Incredibles'. High school kids watching animated movies... what ever has the world come to?

The names did match, however. The ladies in Ednamodes shared the same vocal tendencies of Edna Mode, the super-fussy and loud character from the movie. Probably not as short, but incredibly comic, as some would attest to in Ednamode's game with UniHawks. Loyal also, supporting each other with screams that would burst the roof open though staring into the jaws of defeat.

Violets showed promise, Pei Yi for one, and should be a team to watch out for in the years to come.

(The names started long before when Sheryn was still in MGS. She suggested that they use superheroes for names and thought of The Incredibles, because she had watched it before signing up. Plus, she liked it.)

Fury and Inferno. No mistakes in pronouncing Inferno, but I cringe when people call Fury 'Furry' and twist it even further to make up 'McFlurry'. Then cue the whole line of Frontliners McChicken or Frontliners ApplePies jokes.

Frontliners performed credibly with the resources available though Pei Li tried too hard to do everything and simply exhausted herself. Sonia more wisely stuck to the job and did well to carry the team to 6th place.

Sugar. Gods above, of all names, why Sugar? Combine it with the name used in Youthwave earlier this year and you get Contact SugarPuffs. Though to take it at name value, Sugar was good. Outside of court.

Once they stepped inside, they transformed into scary beasts that fought and scrapped for every ball. Hardly any goals went in thanks to Penny's industrious performances, and Sheryn up front was bullying her opponents into submission. They didn't score many goals, didn't let in many either, and it worked.

(Turns out Sugar is another species of ants. Just like Fire Ants. Puffs, however, was random, coming from Powerpuff Girls to denote power. Yeah, it fits.)

And for the names that have been forever. UniHawks and Innebabes. I was bemused, to be frank: How in the world could UniHawks have not won the title? Looking at the stats: UniHawks scored sixteen and let in one, appearing unstoppable. To state more statistics, they were the oldest team in this category with an average age of 22.4 years, each had played floorball before and could run well enough.

Maybe some things just can't be explained.

Innebabes, well... the word would be solid. Their one weakness was defence, Kao Yi Lin prone to using illegal body parts to stop the ball. But usually their opponents concentrated too much on neutralizing the threat of the triumvirate of Valerie, Elaine and Cui Lin to threaten Innebabes.

Not so weird now, after the study. As always, most amazing mysteries have very ordinary explanations. It does add color to floorball... but it will remain now and forever: Weird.

Of course, it could be worse. Just think of all those people naming their kids what they named their teams.

Frontliner's Declassified Floorball Survival Guide. Guide to: Newbies.

*This post was written by fellow Frontliner Sonia Frances, on her personal experience in the Z'liners-PFA Floorball Challenge

When I received a text to join the Z'Liners-PFA Floorball Challenge I agreed. All to have fun and play floorball. Simple enough.

Right. But what's life without a little drama?

First, Manager draws up teams but players drop out like mosquitoes so Manager puts me into the other team as captain. (I only knew what captain means, not what captain does.)

TOURNAMENT DAY- After watching the juniors in action, I just couldn't wait for the women's game to begin. After frantically waiting and registering all the Infernos (sounds like there's a whole army of them) I told my teammates to just have fun and do their best.

Inferno's opening game was against FGA's Elephants and Pineapples (it was funny writing that -sorry, Tania) and I knew this was the only game we could salvage something from. I moved from my usual defensive position to forward. Not my preferred position but hey, why not try something new? Inferno scored the first but the joy was short-lived as Two-Faced Frontliner, Tania Loke equalized for E&P.

Final score: 1-1. Not bad, I would say. Unfortunate to score first and allow an equalizer.

For the game against MGS Ednamodes, I returned to guard the goal like gold. Unfortunately, I viewed it as a mere net, not gold, and conceded four. Ednamodes scored in less than a minute but we managed an equalizer. Ednamodes however scored three more to kill off the game.

Final score: 4-1. At least no telur ayam. I was pleased with the performance of Inferno. They played well for first-timers against a tough team.

The game against UniHawks was something like last year's FA Cup Final where Pompey faced Cardiff. We could be the giant-killers, make it a fairytale but all the pundits were with Pompey. I hate it when pundits are right.

Bad news: We lost. 4-0.
Good news: We played well! (Not to brag or anything.) Playing tactics doesn't do much on newbies, just gives them an idea. My teammates must be real smart (I know Eureka is) cause even I couldn't understand what I told them before the game. I only understood fun.

Inferno faced sister team, Fury for 5th/6th placing and being good sisters, we let Fury captain-cum-Inferno manager, Kew Pei Li score a hattrick. We even scored one for them! Talk about sisterly love. No clue on who scored the own goal though. Final score: 4-0.

Overall, we earned a respectable 6th. The Infernos found it hard to believe and kept asking, "You mean we're not last?!" and I would happily reply, "No." Can't really talk about what they lacked especially in movement and running because I myself am a blunder in that area. So I'll leave it to the Master Yodas to assess that.

I view every tournament as a chance to evaluate myself and see how much I've improved since the last. I would say there's a slight improvement in defending but there's still a long way to go. For now, I'd rather not be forward.

It's like a piece of patchwork. For four people, they did better than expected. -Tania Loke

Not bad la. Frontliners Inferno was like Sonia & Co. just like how E&P was like Tania and Co. -Kew Pei Li

It was better than expected. I got a bruise! -Eureka Foong

While other teams will roar out their team name with lots of semangat, we sounded like zombies with retarded giggles at the end.

Now time to kikis the Sonia and Co. thing.


(All Master Yodas, do assess how Sonia performed and give some feedback. Feel free-- no, obliged, to leave comments.)

From One Bee to Another

12.15 pm, 25 September 2008.

A bird and a bee were found in Dalat International School, engrossed in talk on the recent Z'Liners-PFA Floorball Challenge (Juniors).
[Unbeknownst to the bipeds, they had been watching the whole thing.]

Excerpts from their conversation:

Bee: ...and the kid they call 'Julian', he was buzzing around, he sure wazzzz.
Bird: When?
Bee: The first game. Even before that he was already--
Bird: Oh! Kestrels against F-Jr; I loved that match...
Bee: ...because the Kestrels won, that's why you loved it. 2-0. Fact is, Dalat's naturally stronger. Though you must admit, F-Jr did give it a reasonable shot.
Bird: I heard that Team Manager of theirs telling 'em not to burn themselves out because they had more of a chance to win in the next game.
Bee: You eavesdropper. Anyway, F-Jr was slightly clumped up, really. Didn't spread out enough. The Kestrels, now they knew how to play. Beautiful passes, great team-play on the whole.
Bird: F-Jr was a wee bit blur. Though their captain was running everywhere. But true enough, the Kestrels were more organized. F-Jr needs more training, that's all.
Bee: You think Dalat's overrated? Just cause they're all non-Malaysian?

**

Bird: I heard Lin Ken saying that the Juniors're boring. Slow-paced, actually.
Bee: Eavesdropper.
Bird: Now I'm no chicken (I'm a crow), but it didn't seem safe to go near F-Jr vs fireBrands I2.
Bee: Now that was like... the clash of the cat and the dog.
Bird: Cats and dogs don't fight. Why once, a dog was helping a cat catch me.
Bee: Both sides were pretty even, though F-Jr had a lil' more skils. Still, teamwork wasn't really their forte.
Bird: True. Credits to fireBrands I2 for a few nice passes and efforts at teamplay.
Bee: Both sides were warned for slashing. Just warned.
Bird: Interesting game. fireBrands I2 kept on making the score even. Close match.
Bee: And finally F-Jr delivered a goal. That boy Sachin was yelled at, though. Captain and Team Manager were busy reprimanding him for slack defending. Frankly, he was a bit blur.
Bird: Sachin still has many years to go. And so do all the other juniors. Let's just hope they stay at it.
Bee: fireBrands I2 just need more vigorous training. F-Jr could really do a lot more when it comes to teamplay and positioning.

**

Bee: Sachin has a sister --another floorballer. Sonia, I think. She could help him.
Bird: If she would.

**

Bee: They had to win this match, the F-Jr, to have a chance in the semis.
Bird: And they did. 1-0.
Bee: Somehow pulled off a win against the Hoppers. Learnt from their mistakes, perhaps.
Bird: A well-deserved win, I reckon.
Bee: You think so?

**

Bird: Pity, F-Jr didn't make the cut. At least they were 6th, after losing to the Jumpers.
Bee: 3-0. Slightly tired already. From where I saw 'em play. Though they did improve as compared to the first match.
Bird: 6th. Respectable enough?

(The unanswered questions from the dialogue art for thine own pondering.)

Z'liners-PFA Floorball Challenge 2008: Official Report

In the recent Z'Liners-PFA Floorball Challenge, blither-blather-blither...

A little too ordinary... so let's be unorthodox and go for a totally neutral, straightforward report on all the happenings of the last few weeks.

Frontliners Floorball Club and Ztec 8cers teamed up, along with Penang Floorball Association, to organize this tournament. This tournament was divided into three categories: Juniors, Women and Open. The first two are rather self-explanatory while the Open meant that anyone could play, even them tall and strong foreigners.

The Juniors and Women's games were held on the 13th of September; the Open one week later. The game format slightly differed for each category: Juniors being a 3v3, Women's a 4v4 and Open another 4v4 but with goalie.

In the Juniors' category, eight teams had registered: Two from Dalat, Contact and Firebrands, and one from Frontliners and Ztec. Of the lot, Dalat and Contact were probably the ones expected to fight it out for first place. Not many surprises, but there were some thrills, especially the hard-fought 3-2 seesaw win by F-Jr over fireBrands I2.

Dalat Kestrels (kestrel=small falcon), consisting of them not-so-tall but still taller than most players easily triumphed, with Dalat Falcons coming in second. Contact Hoppers defeated Ztec to win the bronze.

Jared Williams and Jordan Nagel of Falcons, and also Eythan Yeoh of Hoppers impressed the organizers enough to be named in the All-Star team.

Click below for results and standings.

The Junior's category officially ended, warming up whatever crowd there was for the Women's games. Again, there were eight teams: two from MGS and Frontliners, with USM, Contact, Innebandy and FGA all sending one team.

Looking at the registered names, it seemed that gold would be closely contested by Frontliners Fury, UniHawks, Contact Sugar and Innebabes, each boasting players of reasonable (comparative) quality: Fury with Kungfu Spartan Sharron and Pei Li; UniHawks with the almighty Sarah and sidekicks Wai Wai and Dawn; Sugar with hypermouse (term borrowed from Yi Lin) Penny and Sheryn, sister-of-almighty; plus Innebabes with sharpshooter Valerie and Elaine.

On that day itself it immediately became a three-horse race after Sharron pulled out of Fury, citing diarrhea and fever. Bar a miracle, it was impossible that Fury could muster a challenge on gold, being drawn into a group along with Sugar and Innebabes.

UniHawks kicked off the day with a great 7-0 rout of E&P of FGA. The Elephants and Pineapples were simply outrun, outplayed and outclassed. Tania was kept in constant check by the defence and, really, had no one to pass to anyway.

In the group that consisted of UniHawks, Ednamodes, E&P and Inferno, it was a race between the first two to score as many as possible. One that UniHawks easily won and went on to record an amazing 16 goals with just 1 against. Inferno took third spot with a lesser negative-goal-difference than E&P's.

In the other group, it was a more tightly-strung affair as Innebabes, Sugar and Fury all scrapped for the two qualifying places available. Innebabes did Sugar a favor, handing them the final qualifying spot, defeating Fury comfortably, 2-0.

E&P and Violets fought for the distinction of not being last, the former drawing first blood but Violets' equalizer meant penalties. From about 7m out, neither team seemed to be able to hit the target until Violets succeeded in rolling the ball across the line.

A delicious derby on the cards next: Fury, sorely-wounded animals against Inferno, who were hoping for an upset to claim bragging rights in Frontliners. Both playing with four and four players alone, Fury took advantage of their opponent's inexperience and ran out 4-0 winners; Inferno never once crossing their own half-way line.

It was in the semi-finals that the one genuine upset occurred: the game where UniHawks conceded their only goal and lost their only game, to Sugar. It all looked even throughout the match, Sheryn successfully neutralizing Sarah's threat and finding lots of joy in doing so, until an unfortunate mistake at the back by Wai Wai led to Sheryn scoring the only goal.

In the other semi-final, Innebabes defeated Ednamodes by a whisker of a goal, setting up a final clash with Sugar.

UniHawks gained scant consolation, thrashing Ednamodes 5-0 for bronze. A spate of own-goals did not help Ednamodes with their defence in shambles. Credit to them for being probably the loudest team that day, though.

Another closely-fought match -the final between Sugar and Innebabes, however, Sugar proved too much for Innebabes, and when they scored the one and only goal of the match, it never looked as if Innebabes were going to recover.

Sarah of UniHawks, predictably, ran out as top scorer with nine goals. Dawn also of UniHawks gained the Top Assists award (no such thing as Assist-er, is there?). The All-Star team comprised of Penny, Sarah, Valerie and Sheryn.

Click below for results, standings and charts.

Along came the rain, the crowd, and the action one week later. It poured in torrents, still Dalat was filled to the rafters. Fifteen teams had registered: an astounding four from Ztec, three from Contact and USM, two from Frontliners and Salibandy, and one from Dalat. Innebandy did not participate.

Group A consisted of Salibandy JJ, Contact Safari, Z3, UniHawks and 300 of Frontliners. UniHawks swept the competition away, winning all their matches and easily registering 11 goals for and none against, with the likes of the strapping Scandinavians Kimmo and Pirrka in the team.It was recorded as a 2-0 win, in UniHawks' match with Z3, though the ball had found its way into the net three times (the last an awesome drag shot!), a refereeing mix-up ensured the score remained as it was, to the fury of Edward.Group B had Salibandy JS, UnderDawgs Zirconium, Spartans, Z2 and Contact Army. The highlight of this group was when Zirconium, aided by good fortune and remarkable last-ditch defending, heroically held eventual champions Army to a goalless draw, thus sending Spartans through in first place.Group C contained Dalat Buzzards, Z4, UnderDawgs Titanium, Ztec 8cers and Contact Driver. One of the most thrilling games in the tournament happened here, when Titanium played Buzzards. It was an extremely physical battle as most of the players weren't small and tiny Malaysians but giant foreigners. Honours shared this game, and Buzzards went on to top the group.Valiant Salibandy JS lost to UniHawks 1-2 in the first quarter. The other three were goalless and had to go to penalties. The goalkeepers turned out to be the heroes; Suleen of Titanium and Sharron of Spartans, so it was UniHawks against Army and Titanium versus Spartans for the semi-finals.However, first to decide the 5th to 8th placings. The strangest thing the crowd witnessed was in the 7th/8th placing match where Jun Wooi was forced to pull on the goalie's jersey. This helped Salibandy JJ to snatch 7th place right from under Buzzards' noses, 1-0.Just as their ladies did, UniHawks did not make it to the final after Army put on a superb showing to keep Kimmo and Co. quiet. 1-0 to Army. In the other semi-final, it was a backs-to-the-wall job by Spartans as they defended desperately, riding their luck against the bigger and faster Titanium. It went to penalties, and SanJeevan scored the decisive penalty to send them through as Sharron again saved from the spot.

It was a breathtaking derby match; Titanium versus UniHawks. A fast paced-encounter, and five goals were scored, but the match finally ended in UniHawks' favor, 3-2.

A rematch of the earlier game in which both teams drew blanks, then. Spartans went ahead in the second minute after Pei Li smashed in the rebound after robbing David of the ball, but one lapse of concentration proved fatal and Nicholas equalized exquisitely in the seventh minute.

Army proved the more experienced and won 1-0 on penalties.

Kimmo won the Top Scorer award, notching up an amazing 12 goals (he scored 75% of UniHawks' goals!) and his teammate, Pirrka, won Top Assists. Sharron, Sanjeevan, James, Kimmo and Johannes made it into the All-Star team.

Click below for results, standings and charts.

*Coming up... it's been a little too neutral, so we'll have a little one-sided, uninterrupted and probably a little biased thinking session by Tania, Sonia and Pei Li.