Sachin Gopal, 13 (2008-present)

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.