The RP Staff
Hockey Team took part in the ITIS-NUSS
6-a-side Hockey Competition on 10th Sept 05. Being the
very different institute that we are, we showed that not only are we unique
off the pitch, we were unique on the pitch as well. RP was the only
institute to field a mixed team, not because of a lack of respect for the
opponents, but we have as many enthusiastic women and men! With a team of
age ranging from 20+ to 40+, we showed that though we may be young, we can
still gave our opponents a difficult time. RP is definitely no easy
pushover!
RP was the 1st
team to arrive at the NYP hockey pitch in our bright orange jerseys and were
put through a crash course on hockey basics by our ex-national hockey
player, Soon Lan. Ranjit was very excited about the game as it was his 1st
time playing hockey in 30 years. Our goalkeeper, Choon Seng, however, didn’t
look quite as excited after he had put on his “Marshmallow man” suit and saw
how the other teams were whacking hockey balls at their keepers and knowing
he is soon going to be a human target board for the opponents.
Our 1st
game was against Temasek Polytechnic and the RP team worked very hard during
the game. What we lacked in skills, we more than made up with our
determination and work-rate. Our players ran like mad to cover the entire
pitch from our half to the opponent’s half. The team probably lost about 3kg
of water just based on this match. Choon Seng too showed his excellent
motoring skills and demonstrated his agility despite wearing such a huge
suit. He made many good saves and we managed to keep the score to 0-1. Not
bad for a new team with many beginners.
J
For our 2nd
game against Nanyang Polytechnic, we decided to change our strategy and made
some positional changes after we observed that NYP’s keeper did not wear
full keeper gear in their game against TP. Planning and strategy…that is how
we can win the opponents if our skills prove otherwise. Once we stepped onto
the pitch, we got the shock of our lives. NYP had put one up against us even
before the match has started! Their goalkeeper has put on his full gear and
was ready to face us. Nevertheless, being the forward-thinking team we are,
we reacted to the situation and organized ourselves on the pitch. This match
is of utter importance to us. As NYP lost to TP previously, we needed a draw
to get into the finals. You don’t need to have a PHD in mathematics to know
that and so, we went about like men possessed! In one of our chances, Ranjit
got into a good position and almost scored but unfortunately the ball went
wide. Lady luck was on NYP’s side and NYP scored a goal in the dying minutes
of the game and the final score stood at NYP 1 RP 0.
Although the
other teams were more experienced and fielded some club players, RP put up a
strong fight and managed to hold our opponents to lose by only 1 goal in
both our games. This result was better than expected and our performance
surprised the other teams. They commented that our players have very high
work-rate and the team had potential.
We would like to
thank NYP and TP for their hospitality and encouragement during the
competition and we hope to improve and do better the next time round.
J
Players:
:: Goy Soon Lan,
Martin Lee, Ranjit Singh, Yap Choon Seng, Simon Lau, Billy Tan, Leslie Kang,
Chen Xinjie, Olivia Chey, Lin Tze-Ing ::
