The Account of James as Stand-In Coach for the day.

FireBrands vs Ztec Phoenix

3 – 6

The Game of games we are to face. Placed at the top of the table the phoenix team have a greater advantage and experience on the court. I was faced with sleepless nights and distressing pressure on my part. The news came two nights before the game. To take note I was already trying to figure out what can the team do without a coach and not only that, the coach will be against us when we face the FL300. Then the coach let in the bomb.. “I won’t be around this sat.. coz of national training” my heart sank.. I was feeling desperate and now all hope is lost.. I couldn’t sleep for almost 2 weeks with the thought of facing 300 and now this.. the top team in the league. It was beyond belief or my imagination of worse things to happen in my sporting life. I was given the responsibility of taking over the coaching role of this team in a sport I hardly played for only once in the whole year against a more experienced team and this wasn’t a sport I’d come to personalize as I had with American football. Still I was already given the word which to me felt like weighed a ton on my already sleepless nights, on that night I couldn’t sleep till about 3 a.m. The only remedy I could think of was to somehow do something that would get rid of this feeling. So I called on our faithful goalie, Bryan the man who faithfully came to train with me for two days before the game Daniel and Gary were also there supporting and training at the same time. I really thank God for these two young men.

Finally the morning came I arose from my sleep feeling somewhat better from the past two days of extra effort training and letting out of my pumping adrenaline; I was calm and excited at the same time. I was confident that I could bring the team through. Gulp down a glass of creatine, went to Khaleel for breakfast with Daniel and Gary, and went on to the battle field or skills and mental health. The team was there early. I was preparing myself mentally and also thinking of what to say to boost the team. The younger boys were running around having fun with the ball that we split in half during training due the amount of beatings it took against the concrete wall. I was happy to see their carefree hearts as well as wanting them to get their head in the game that it’s no hobby thing that we’re doing out here but a competition that we are participating in.

I pulled myself together as I geared up myself with my guards(wrist, elbow, finger) to suppress the minor strains and injuries I sustained from the training the last 2 days. Got the team together for warm up, told them about the formation and play routes that were important to minimize the opponent’s score and gave some pep-talk before it all began. Alex prayed and we were off into the arena. My first team: Daniel, Per Yue, James(myself), Alex and Andrew. Everything felt still and quiet as I walked to face the opponent captain, I could almost hear my own heartbeat as we greeted each other somewhat silently, the wait for the whistle felt forever. I could almost laugh but nothing came out. It was so immense, thinking “c’mon ref we’re both ready, blow that thing already!!” As soon as the whistle went off everything passed like a whiff. Players running around the court chasing for the ball or guarding their assigned players. I was observing my line as I was hunting for the man coming with the ball hoping my team mates stayed in their course and thankfully they did. The ball went up and down the court swiftly, we were pressuring them as our forwards were trying to find an open space while our defense was also in the volley of tipping away the ball with our blades. After a series of attempts finally our team scored the first goal of the day. Even against a far superior team we managed to land the ball behind the net first 0:49 seconds into the game which came as a total surprise but quickly we settled down and played on and went on to a reverse in the score line as they returned us the favor 3 times over and the score was 3 – 1. Time was running short in the first half and we kept on pushing the line and trying to hold their offense away suddenly the ball was in their zone and unexpectedly a goal, for us; Per Yue our undersized forward line put the ball in their net the second time. The team, the fans, all were ecstatic, it was unbelievable as the Phoenix’s goal had only been broken once and by Dalat which was also a very good team last year’s reigning champion. We’ve made the score line close again. In minutes the halftime whistle blew, we were relieved at that, it meant a breather for us after running around the whole first half chasing scores.

After the first half and a close fight for scores at 3 – 2 the team deserved a pat on their backs. We all took a well deserved break and prepared for the next half with hopes of getting in more goals or preventing the other team from doing too much damage after seeing their spirits ready to give us a heck of a run. The ball rolled and I tried for a run for goal as soon as the ball left the face off but was met by 2 defensive players (=. They then kept the line of defense busy and being the centre trying to cover up for holes ended up taking shots from their forwards blades numerous times only to let one in the ball hit my foot and skipped over Bryan’s hands. The Phoenixes were keen on firing more shots at our goal, but our determined forward line were also eager to land as many shots as we can, so leaving the defensive player and the center behind Daniel managed to give their defense another run and this time managed to land another shot in the back of the net with the score now 3 – 5 and minutes left to go, we conceded another goal but tried to keep a balanced attack and defense routine however, the formation which held the team this far finally broke and the last score of the day was shot in by the Phoenixes. We were now playing to keep them from scoring anymore shots and then the whistle blew to our relief of holding up anymore, it is finished as I quote (=. Even though we physically the match in terms of score, we felt like winners inside. It was a great achievement for a team totally new to this game and the league to have maintained a 3 – 0 win and not more from the league leaders who only did the same to the two previous teams they faced.

OH and I finally got my sleep back!!

*taken from James personal account.

PFL - The League

Our first time as an official club joining the Penang Floorball League. Seen as the underdogs or rather the newbies to this league dominated by clubs that have been established at least 2 years or more. With the lack of experience the first game was a havoc as we saw a 8 - 0 defeat by Contact-Bullets who gave everything they had on a bunch of boys only supported by 2 older(in age) players. The result was devastating as we didn't expect a whopping and so much damage expescially by the underdogs of last year's league. Some of the players were benched due to lack of attendance for training so the young team literally in age and experience had to play with two players short of attendance.

But our spirits were not dampened by the fact that our first game went down the slope. Instead the boys got together to work harder for the next round and this time around more attendance was seen in the training sessions, much more effort was put in to picking up the game and teamwork. We were put up to face another experienced team in the league; the Z-tec Griffins. With only our past results to hold us in view of what the possibilities might be we hoped not to let the scoreline go any further. We managed to gain the first score in the first half just minutes into the game and then for the rest of the time left we conceded two goals. With Bryan our faithful keeper tending the goals we were able to keep the other team from bombarding the net and almost got a tie when our young aspiring forward Per Yue took a shot at the goal but was unlucky not to score as the ball landed right on the line in front of the net. the game ended with the score 1 - 2 against us.

The third game was a challenge. The real challenge for the team. Coachless and facing the giants of the league. Currently at the top of the table were the Z-tec Pheonix team, their previous games were against their comrades the Griffins and the defending champions Dalat with both games ending with the score aggregate of 3-0 each. Out team pitched at the bottom of the table were in surmountable pressure to stay afloat in this fight for our pride. With coach Jason delegating the job to James, the team somehow managed to pull together with a lot of persistance in each and everyone. All spirits were high and we didn't care too much of what was going on around. Everyone focused on what we had to do. As the game started, we were again the first to score only 49 seconds into the game. And of course the guy that landed the ball in was again Daniel Tan who scored the sole goal in the previous game. Then we were down to 3-1, the crowd asked for one more and this time Per Yue managed to land a goal. The first half ended 3-2. We managed to score another one in the second half as they pounded our defense on and on. the final scoreline 3 - 6 against us.

The Humble Beginnings

FireBrands Floorball Club started around March 2008 to play an involving part in the Triple-Challenge by Youthwave. It began when Alex saw the hearts of young teenagers who were interested in the game but could not find ways to get themselves involve with this relatively new sport that has been growing quite rapidly in Penang. He took the innitiative to start a group of floorballers among the youth in FGA and at the same time recruiting some of his students from the schools, evangelism being one of the vision of the ice-breaking introduction of this sport he formed a team of boys in a mix of culture and faith. With this vision and goal in mind, it was brought up to the church leadership and finally a budget was approved for the cost of the equipment needed to headstart this club.

The first few training were held in MBS where the group of young boys gather to practice and with Coach Jason's willingness to help in the developement of this program it drew the attention of some of the older ones who decided to give it a try. Although not all of them lasted very long but the young buys were persistent and continued their training week in and out under the scorching sun in the middle of the MBS basketball court. To help with the situation of numbers getting lesser and lesser due to heat and dehydration. Alex sought to find a better place for the member to train. Finally the training ground was moved to Hamid Khan school which provided more shade compared to MBS, with more trees around the court.

Still the hassle of being under the sun was taking it's toll slowly and a better place was needed if the numbers were to be helped and most of all the improvement of the players capability. Due to the rough terrains of the outdoor playing floorball just isn't that easy or in actuallity with the real court game. So again the heart and driving force of the team continued his search to encamp the team in a better environment to finally spotting a slot at the Red Crescent Society building which has an indoor badminton court which wasn't the full size floorball courth but rest than that it was indoor, comfortable, smooth floor.. perfect environment to get the players improving for a cost that wasn't too demanding alongside with the other clubs in Penang who also used this facility for their own respective training sessions.