Story by REDintern Rachel Lim. Photos by Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports.
Republic Polytechnic Sports Complex, Friday, July 11, 2008 – The battle between Victoria Junior College and National JC continued right after Innova JC beat Temasek JC. The National A Division girls floorball game sure started off with much enthusiasm. From the start, nice and strong balls were shot with no mercy. However of course, there were better defense and good catches that denied the goals. Together with the excitement level of the match, the voices of the crowd went on and on till the end where NJC finally triumphed 7-3.
Two minutes into the game, VJC increased the the crowd’s volume when they scored straight into the top corner of the goalpost. Hugs of joy between the players conveyed the strong bond within the team. Such strong chemistry was also evident as at any point of time, VJC would be in formation.
There were many moments of brilliance in the entire game and significant good saves by the NJC goalkeeper #13, and beautiful catches by the VJC goalkeeper. More powerful than the will to win is the courage to begin. More than much determination were shown throughout. It was seen that nothing mattered much more than the match as even when NJC #19 tripped by accident, she simply picked herself up and continue bravely with the match.
After much visual commotion, there came another goal by VJC at the 10th minute. Every player was running across the court and firing shots after shots at their respective attacking goals. However, despite these strong shots, most of the shots went above the nets. Neither team was able to convert their chances into goals. Good defending by the goalkeepers using their shins also prevented scoring opportunities.
The second period saw NJC start with extra zeal. True enough, within the first minute, a sudden and sharp shot gave NJC a goal. This was the turning point of the match. The players had been trying hard and were rewarded. It must definitely been comforting to finally score one for the team. However, the score at this particular point of time increased the stakes between the two teams.
It was an awesome sight to see the girls striving to fight for their best. Moreover, both goalkeepers were giving on extra alert to look out for any incoming shots. In the last three minutes of the second period, NJC #99 was awarded a penalty. The crowd fell silent as all eyes were on her. She slowly guided the ball from centre court towards the goalkeeper. Tension was high as she neared the goal. The VJC goalkeeper was already down on her knees and tried to interfere with NJC #99’s approach. With a quick flick of the stick, the ball found its way into the net. Goal! Score, 3-2. At this point, the VJC crowd was cheering on their team with, “Fight on VJ, fight on!” Yet the NJ team was undaunted. At the last minute, the proudly scored another goal.
In the third period, VJC #4 also received a penalty for a chance to score a goal. She unfortunately missed the chance. Exciting game, it was, to have the rare penalty occuring again. With six minutes to go, another goal was brilliantly scored by NJC. To them, it seemed that optimism was the one quality more associated with success and happiness than any other. It was really pleasing to watch the comeback in the game.
After desperate trials and errors, VJC finally managed to score their third goal, their last tiny bliss. The lop-sided score did not fear the VJC girls as fought on hard, their shots all good and going. Nevertheless, the equally matched defense put up by the NJC team prevented more goals. NJC ended the game with their 7th goal, eliciting cheers from their supporters. Well done, girls!
More pictures in the gallery.
Editors note: If you recognise yourself or your team mates in any of the photos, feel free to leave the names behind in the comments section and we will update the captions accordingly. Thanks!
Elitism? Well, I just wrote a YJC and IJC article on floorball. Do proceed to read it here:
http://redsports.sg/2008/07/13/yjc-ijc-floorball/
Hey people,
Apologies for the mistaken thought for freehits instead of penalties. Will do better in time to come. Love.
To Floorballer,
Yes the matches fell on the same day. But that doesn’t necessary mean I am able to stay throughout to cover all four games.
There was still Track & Field Championships going on concurrently. I had to rush off halfway through the NJC-VJC match in order not to miss the entire Track session.
Are you suggesting that I should have stayed to cover the 2 additional games and forgo the other 18 events at track & field? And considering, one event lasts 10-15min which means I can churn out more stories for the site.
I think it is only fair that we give equal coverage for the sports. I spent 2 hours at floorball and 2 hours at Track & Field (minus transport time). If I spent all day covering floorball, the track & field people may jump up and call us bias for not covering their event. That’s why I shuttled between these two places.
Moreover, I applied leave just to cover the games on Friday. Would it have made everyone happier if I just stayed at home, did my own things or gone back to work, hence zero coverage?
With regards to your credibility being questioned, do not worry about it. You can either choose to give an impartial view or a personal recount of the game. No one will fault you for that. In fact, a player from the other team might even choose to provide his own account of the game, giving readers an extra perspective.
It will eventually become boring if we keep telling the stories from our perspective. That is why we are a reader-generated site. We want to hear from the readers and know the story from their perspective!
I understand your disappointment. I would be too if I was on either one of the teams.
There are a few more floorball stories in the queue and so your disappointment may be lessened.
As for credibility, you can always write anonymously or use a pen name.
If players don’t write, we’ll just have that fewer stories. Again it’s a numbers game. We don’t have enough volunteers, and never will have.
Well, I’m afraid my credibility would be questioned as I’m a player. I think it’s just one of the many dilemmas we players face.
I’ve always thought of redsports as the platform to showcase sports in schools and my friends who’ve missed the matches look towards redsports for coverage as well. No hard feelings and no offence meant, but it was just a little disappointing not to see the YJ-MI or MJ-RJ match here considering the other two matches that were covered both fell on the same day.
Well, I look forward to better coverage of the semis. Kudos to you guys nevertheless.
Not every game will be covered. That is the reality.
You may wish to send in your story on the game in question.
The charge of elitism is incorrect and unnecessary.
Our crew covers what they can cover cos we are not paid to do this and so we pick and choose.
If you send it, we post it.
http://redsports.sg/tell-your-story/ for details on what we are looking for.
Is it just me or why is coverage only given to these JCs? And not the YJ-MI match? It’s a shame to see that even such “elitism” is practised in sports. After all, MI and YJ were the first runner up and second runner up of last year’s competition respectively. It’s only fitting that they get some coverage too in school sports where even our local newspapers fall short at.
Yes, I know what you mean.
This is an issue sports writers have to wrestle with and so I had to dig around online to see what the standard is. It’s not the college that playing but the players representing the college.
In any case, I agree with you. Don’t have to argue over this.
Hahahaha i see. Because it’s a college. college is ONE college. so i thought should be singular. but anyway, don’t have to argue over this. Chill dude.
We are referring to the National Junior College players, therefore it should be “overcome”, as in, “The National Junior College players overcome Victoria JC 7-3.”
If the word “team” is used, then the singular is used, as in, “The National Junior College team overcomes Victoria JC 7-3.”
Any more coverage for the other games? How about any other girls/boys match on MI, YJC, ACJC, RJC, NYJC? hahahaha.
what do you guys think of the REFEREES?
Victory as National Junior College overcomes Victoria JC 7-3 not
Victory as National Junior College overcome Victoria JC 7-3
great story and coverage! thanks for covering the floorball season =) hope to see more
Photo 5: aretha lin #19
photo 7 : priscilia goh #23
wow, cant believe NJC won VJC, congrats to NJ!
oops sorry. =)
umm, the title’s wrong…
yeah, its victoria jc isnt it lol
hello (:
The title: Victory as National Junior College overcome Victoria Jc, not Temasek.
Names and numbers of NJ Floorballers in pictures (:
Photo 3: In white, Ho Hui Jun, #2, vice captain of Nj
Photo 5: aretha, #19
Photo 6: Ong Yi Ni, #22
Photo 8: Njc Player- Soh Sueping, #11
Photo 9: Ma Catherine, #99
Photo 10: njc player- Lee Chew Yan, #77
Photo 11: Njc Captain- Melissa Tham, #15
Photo 12: Chan Bingxin, #5
thank you for the wonderful coverage! (:
the title of the article is wrong. and those are not called free hits but penalties.