Div 2, supposedly a training ground and arena to perform for newbies and reserve players but due to the lack of teams, stronger teams were forced to play in the division. Although this destroyed the stage for the Trojans to perform and definitely made it tonnes harder to maintain the morale, it proved to be a good training ground for the players and me as a manager.
PLAY OF THE LEAGUE: Play of the league is probably the most easy thing to comment on as the only fair game was with Contact Bullets. A Hansel and Gretel battle. Both are full of young and new players although Contact boasts a few regulars in State Training. Both young and inexperienced, both hammered by larger and meaner opponents, and both managers always ending up losing their voice for the day(haha).
All the other games were meant to cut down the deficits to make the scoreline look as respectable as possible, but against Contact was where the goals would come from. And it did, all 3 goals scored in the Trojans campagin were against the Bullets. No disrespect, but the fact is that there were only two Div 2 matches in the whole league and I believe it was a great experience for the players.
THE TROJANS: Individually, it was a pretty encouraging performance from all the newbies, and at least all of them lived up to a certain expectation target set.
Goalies, the last line of defense, a scarce and valuable talent in the game who always get the sticks when conceding and nothing when goals are scored. We're lucky to have two, both young and fresh and eager to learn the trade.
Felicia, our first choice goalie in my opinion did a great job cuz it is not easy to keep your sanity and play as a goalie for a team that leak goals like flowing water. The team may concede a lot of goals, some of them the defenders' fault, some the goalies' and some being just pure unlucky. Anyhow, her determination and never-say-die attitude deserve much praise. On the technical aspect, although a layman, I feel the basics are there but further refining and training would surely help. And never lose focus, you are definitely on the right track. Continue to emulate you "sifu", and one day you'll surpass him. Haha.
Emergency goalie
Bryan who was recruited from FGA to replace Felicia who was unavailable due to NS duties for the last two games gave a reasonable performance for a first timer with two training sessions under unqualified goalkeeping coaches (sweat...). From my point of view, with his football goalkeeping experience plus hard work and proper guidance, I see a lot potential waiting to be fulfilled.
Julian &
Wayne, both youngest in the club, were very energetic on the court though at times headless (as expected for kids of that age), portrays Frontliners' future if not Penang's. These two have bright futures and it would definitely be worthwhile to keep staying in Frontliners to watch them grow in to great players one day.
As for
Loga, the towering hockey-convert forward was impressive up front with bursts of pace and numerous on-goal attempts throughout the campaign. I wouldn't call them shots, but if he had mastered the basics of it, Trojan's goal tally would be much improved. As I mentioned,
Loga is "towering", but slightly soft at times and does not exploit his height as effective as possible in areas such as blocking the keeper during free hit attempts and shielding the ball more effectively, an area to be taken note of.
Tania on the hand although smaller in size has been quite a shocker with her dribbling and not to mention a few "nutmegs" here and there. Not yet the whole package cuz the dribbling always ended up with nothing, so do try and make passes from time to time, hopefully with a lot of hard work she might start to terrorize defenses next year.
Trojan's new defensive trio,
Sonia,
Lawren and
Lavinia did quite ok for first timers, and there is certainly obvious improvement throughout the games, in some basic defensive positioning eg. when the ball is behind the goal etc. and also other defenders' know-how like clearing the ball from the sides, moving the ball behind the goal post. Areas of improvements definitely include alertness, ball shielding and ball control for all three, more seasoning of the long legs for
Sonia(must execute Jason's training regime vigorously) whereas
Lawren needs to divert the aggression in basketball play to floorball. (And please stop wearing beach pants, reminds me of the Aussie's Swedish coach and gets me into trouble with PFA president Mr. James...)
Nareen, star defender for the Trojans, made good use of his towering presence, a hard runner at both ends of the court and with his experience, I definitely felt safer with him around the defensive end. However, his habit of venturing up in attack has to be less frequent as Trojans back line is way too fragile to be left with one behind. As a senior player, the "one-hand syndrome" has to be rectified and his passes were pretty woeful. Keep working hard!
If Nareen is the star at the back,
Roselyn would be the star up front. Hardworking up front, possessing deadly slap shots and to my surprise, able to help organise the forwards on court, it all prompted me to select her as a center for two games when Serene was away. Did pretty well in the middle of the park and tried her best to keep the formation compact. Maybe due to her lack of experience, she was pretty confused when she switched back to a forward role but no fear as experience will be gained via more involvement in the game. Similar to Nareen, improvements in passing is a must and more wrist shots please. Keep it up!
Last but not least, Captain Marvel
Serene Tan, the most experienced and skillful player of the team and who played all four games which she attended without resting. Bravo. Nothing much to complain or comment about, but it would definitely be good if she could attend training more, get to know the team more and help improve on the team play. Thank you for leading the team in this campaign!
THE OBJECTIVE: Objective wise, supposedly for exposure (expression, experience & entertainment), aka the lame 'E' cuz the majority of players were fresh brand new. Win or lose was never my concern, experience was not lacking but the platform for expression and entertainment(fun) was hampered with teams like Dalat and Ztec in the division. The trashing was not so nice, I admit, but we should not be beaten by it, we should rise from defeat, digest the experience, improve and face the next challenge, stronger.
For some it was bad for morale; I would say it was part of learning and building mental strength. For some we shouldn't have joined in the first place; I would say: then when will you be ready? We will never be ready unless we are always ready. Ready to face the challenge ahead. Win or lose should not always determine the purpose of joining a tournament, to learn and to improve should always be the main idea. Getting trashed and moving on with it is part and parcel of the learning curve.
I believe each and everyone is like an unearthed gem, full of potential to shine, and sometimes will just have to face hardship, defeats, grow with it and then when the outer layer that conceals the gem is removed, only then the glowing brightness of the gem can shine. Hence, the phrase of revealing one's potential is complete, now move on to fulfill it, which is another stage you Trojans will explore.
THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY: Here is a summary of the good, the bad and the ugly (like the Sun's sports column) of the Trojan's campaign in Penang Floorball League 2008 Division 2:
THE GOOD: Spirited, collective and diehard Trojans fought all the way to the final game. They fought, they bled, they crumbled, they rose and they fought again.
THE BAD: Four teams in Division 2 league with only Two Division 2 teams. A sad day for Penang Floorball.
THE UGLY: Lost. Lost on journey, lost count of time, lost their mind... Somehow, the Trojans never reached the battlefield and left their comrades to fight a lonely battle.
Overall, it was a good learning curve for most if not all the players. Individually, it was great to see them improve bit by bit throughout the league with some even exceeding expectations. Team wise as a whole, the Trojans were a collective lot, fighting till the end but tactically there is still loads of work to be done. Hopefully the matches will light up the fire in everyone of them and make them hungry for more action.
EAT, SLEEP & LIVE FLOORBALL!!! =)
Twenty-sixth day of the fourth month, 2008. Training as always. Frontliners Floorball Club welcomed in newcomers Lynden James Menon (of FGA, in blue) and Jason Lim (a break from Chan, finally), making a total of 19 floorballers that morning.
Moving on, Coach Jason Chan stated that the focus of the next few months will be passing, in order to have the Frontliners "play like a team". And so in tandem with that, a new drill was introduced. It was essentially two drills slapped together, involving passing in pairs and attempting score past Lin Ken (the latter being what the coach called "the thrill").
And whether old or new, teamwork was obviously crucial for both sides. Attackers had to communicate and pass, while the defenders kept a tight formation, fending off any incoming shot.
SPARTANS!!! WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSION???
We had a target, and that was to be the 1st Runner-up in Penang League 2008. We had that goal even before we started the campaign. Goals were set, at a Club level, Team level, Line level and even Individual level. Rewards and bonus schemes were launched. 
The pillar of the team is and has to be Sharron Tan aka Kungfu Spartan Keeper. She overcame herself throughout the whole league and performed so well that National Keeper Lin Ken was so impressed. Well... I wasn't surprised at all that she was mentally prepared, cause we as a team, we've always had faith in her. 
WISEMAN: Steven Tay, being the most senior player in the team is another valuable piece in the puzzle. This wiseman is the other most versatile player in the team besides Kuan Yang. However, being long gone from the floorball scene for some time has mellowed down his aggression. But I still love the way he slowed down the pace of the game once again. He's the calmest player in Frontliners so far with excellent ball control. Only problem, him being a little TOO calm and holding the ball too long. But I reckon that he has got very good floorball IQ, very good game intelligence. That's why I call him the Wiseman. 
