Friday, September 14, 2012

EOY Reflections

You know what to do.

Where y=words requirement

y = [[50sin^2(x) + 50(1–sin^2(x))]+10sin90]cos(270)+500

54 comments:

  1. In this year, I have learnt a lot pertaining to soccer.

    I have learnt about communication. Not just shouting out to your teammate on the pitch, but rather telling where he could be so he would be at a better position to intercept a ball, perform a tackle or even to receive a pass. Communication is not about reprimanding your teammate when he makes a mistake on the pitch, it is about pointing them out and offering a solution to help solve it. Even if you cannot offer a solution to this problem, or you, as a teammate, are unsure of how your teammate can do to prevent himself from committing this mistake, you should encourage him and give him some confidence so at least he can still play without feeling bad about making a mistake. No matter how bad a mistake is committed, we should not be quick to judge as this is not how a team should communicate during a game. Communication is also about giving orders to some teammates who are unsure of what to do and helping them perform to the best of their abilities in that game. Some of our teammates may require some reminders now and then but it does not mean we reprimand them for needing reminders, but rather we remind them and help them get into their required positions. Communication is about talking to another in the pitch and moving fluidly as a whole team and not as a bit of a team here, a bit of a team there.

    I have also learnt that respect for one another is important as well as the coach, captains and Teacher-in-Charge. If a player does not respect his own teammate, he cannot perform well no matter how good he is. When you respect someone, you would trust them, believe in them and also have faith in them. These three parts that make up respecting a teammate is vital among a team. If players do not trust one another or believe in each other or do not have faith in their own teammates, defenders would all tackle one attacker for fear their fellow defenders are unable to win the ball from this attacker; a midfielder would not pass to fellow midfielders for fear they would not be able to bring to their attacker, and they would not even trust their fellow attackers to score and would try to do it themselves; and attackers would always be shooting at goal, rather than passing to a fellow attacker or midfielder who is in a better spot then himself to secure a goal. Of course the aforementioned are extreme scenarios but occurrences along that line could happen when there is no respect for one another in a team. If a player does not respect his coach, he would not be able to learn anything from his coach. No matter how well the coach can teach, if a player does not respect his coach, he will and cannot learn from his coach. Respect for a team’s captain, vice-captain and, in this case since we are students, Teacher-in-Charge is important as they not only have vital information for us student players about trainings and friendly matches, they are not only a figure of authority to us, but are also role models whom we can and should try to learn from if possible.

    And of course I have learnt a lot about ball work. But that is a definite as, if I did not, either the coach is not teaching us well, which he is teaching us well, or I am not paying attention during the drills and practices that coach conducts, which is not the case as I do pay attention. So I find it quite redundant and the least important thing to mention about what I have learnt during soccer this year.

    ~Jovan Ng~

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  2. From the beginning of the year until now, I have learnt many things in soccer. This includes, but is not limited to, new skill sets, tactics, communication methods. The most significant skill that I have learnt in CCA so far, is to play with my left leg. Prior to this year, I was totally unable to use my left leg to pass, dribble, etc. In contrast, now I am able to at least pass with my left leg, though the direction of control is limited. Even then, there is still much to practice on, such as the current, and most problematic weakness, being the inability to pass the ball or kick it at an angle from my body. Such a limitation would mean that I have to face my body towards the direction I wish to kick the ball to before being able to pass it, since I can only kick straight with my left foot so far.

    Other than that, I have also learnt the ability to control (specifically dribbling) the ball, without immediate pressure from the opponents. Such a skill has allowed for the ability to do passes for a longer distance than 15-25m marks. This is in contrast to the beginning of the year, where I was able to control the ball, but was unable to retain the confidence to pass do a repositioning and passing from the new position. Thus, this new skill allows for a greater angle of passes, thereby significantly increasing passing options. In addition, I am currently also able to tag-team passing (i.e, returning the ball that someone passed to me, and when the ball is passed back to me again, I am able to pass it to someone else that is not the same player). However, I still lack the ability to control (dribble) the ball under immediate pressure from the opponents. This is a limitation as it has led to multiple balls falling short of the supposed, intentional target, and after that, landing into opponent possession.

    Thirdly, is the ability to obtain a balance between advancing up the length of the field, and retreating. In recent months, I have been selected to play as a defending midfielder, instead of just a central defender. Through this, I am forced to strike a balance between assisting with the advancing players, and falling back to support the defenders when the ball is played back to our half of the field through drop kicks. This also forces me to have a greater fitness level, as I have to cover more distance, compared to a defender. This also promotes communication with not only the midfielders, but the defenders, promoting a larger communication field. Through the midfielder role, I find that I am communicating more as it becomes a essential requirement (I’m referring to a ‘you have to do it’, as compared to a ‘it’s not good to not do it’ when playing as a defender). These area applicable when I return to the defence, as it promotes more communication and a greater situational awareness (defenders need to fall back too, at times, though seldom).

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  3. From all the soccer trainings I attended in this year, I learnt a lot of things concerning soccer and attitude.

    

One of the most important things I learnt is communication. Communication is very important as it is most crucial in a match. We have to communicate with our team mates for many reasons. It may be because you want them to help cover you when you go forward to attack, because you want your team mate to know that the ball is yours and leave it or because you want to tell your them that you are going in for the tackle. It can also be because the ball is rolling into the penalty box, and the opponent is running, so you have to communicate with the keeper and ask him to come forward to get the ball. You must also be loud enough so that your team mate can hear you, otherwise, they would not be able to do the things that you tell them to. Communication is not about scolding a team mate for his mistakes, but instead it is about calling out for them to help you. It is also about encouraging and giving them some confidence when they make any mistakes. Overall, communication is about communicating with your team mates on the field and moving forward as a whole team to attack, or moving back as a whole team to defend.

    

The next thing I learnt is respect. It is important to respect one another, including the coach, Teacher-in-Charge and the captains. When the coach is teaching us what to do for the drills, we should give him and also our team mates respect, as we should not talk and disrupt those who are listening to the coach, and we should also pay attention to him, as the drills that he is teaching us may be important in a match. We must also give our Teacher-in-Charge and the captains the respect when he is talking as he may be telling us some information about soccer-related things, like upcoming friendlies, or even tips on how to improve during trainings, matches etc. They are also our role models to us whom we can learn from and improve if possible. So in conclusion, we must always respect our coach, captains and Teacher-in-Charge and pay attention to what they are saying, for we may miss out on some vital informations they said.



    Of course, I learnt a lot from the ball works that coach had taught us. From the ball works, I learnt a few different skills that are vital in going past the opponents in a game. For example, when we are approaching a defender, we can do some tricks that we learnt during training and apply it to go past the defender and score. We must also learn how to switch play from one flank to another as what coach taught us. This is important as the defenders may all come to one side and try to get the ball. And this is where you find your team mate on the other flank and cross it over to him. We must also play a one-two when necessary in the game, so that, after passing you the ball, your team mate can find open space, then get the return pass from you. To conclude this, the different skills that we acquired when doing ball works during trainings are quite crucial in a game in order for us to easily go past players of the opposing team and eventually score a goal.

    

~Gavin Ong~


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  4. In this nine months of training, I have gained more insight in football tactically, and I have also been able to hone my skills physically, though there is no doubt that there are still many rooms for improvement. In the previous two years of soccer training, our physicality and fitness has always been the focal point and we have had many trainings just to improve physical wise. For instance, Coach Peikang liked to put us through agility and occasional sprinting exercises, so we are actually quite okay in terms of the drills to hone and improve our physical strength.

    However, when the new coach came in, he brought in a blend of tactics and fitness. Not only did he emphasize on the importance of fitness, he also allowed me and the team to improve on other technical areas collectively, such as dribbling and passing. Despite making only a small improvement, it is fair to say that the tactical side of my game has improved; my build-up plays are beginning to come to fruition, although that part still needs to be worked on extensively.

    I also realized that an individual could never carry a team on his own; he needed everyone to come together collectively and help out one another. This allowed me to understand the importance of team camaraderie, team spirit, encouragement to my fellow team-mates and so on. I also learnt that communication is important to ensure that the team is a cohesive unit when attacking and a compact one when defending, and this will be beneficial to our team as a whole.

    Other than fitness-wise and technical-wise, I also grew mentally pertaining to the game play. I found out that commitment — coupled with sheer doggedness and determination — is especially vital to the progress of me as an individual and the team collectively as a whole. It allowed me to realize that it is important to put effort in our trainings or daily kick-abouts, and that has always been my personal maxim when I play football all the while; I also discovered a little improvement on my part can go a long way to help my team.

    Last but not least, I also learnt to "respect" my opponents, team-mates and myself, not to forget our school which we are representing. Donning the school colours means that we are given a responsibility to endeavour to excel, and I learnt that that is what we should strive — to do well to the best of our abilities. This means that we should also respect our team, by supporting the team and not making any stinging or sarcastic remarks on any of players in the team. This, I found out, was a good indication and epitome of our moral values — something which should be a given by now. Also, I also learnt to respect the coach's decision, by putting mistakes aside, as well as being willing to learn and gain more insight pertaining to football.

    All in all, I felt that the physical, technical and mental sides of my game has improved in the course of the past nine months, and I hope that my development as an individual will continue even beyond training, so that I can continue to enjoy the sport.

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  5. Throughout this year i have learnt many new stuff such as close control, dribbling. But the thing that i improved the most on is my stamina. At the beginning of the year, my stamina was quite low. Not able to last long in a game. But recently, i noticed that i could have lasted longer compared to before. Last time after a short time, my breathing started to get very heavy. But now it's better. in that same amount of time, i was still able to breathe quite normally. So i would like to say that the training has definitely helped me increase my stamina by a lot.

    I have also learn that commmunication is very important in the team. There is no such thing as a one man team. Regardless of how good we are. We are only as good as our weakest link. If our defence is very weak, there would be no chance for an attack because we are unable to get the ball. If our attack is weak and defence is strong how are we expected to score a goal.

    One other thing i learnt in this training is trust. We need to believe in each other and not fight against each other. If we are unable to trust each other how are supposed to pass the ball to each other. When we loose the ball due to a mistake, we can't scold the person for his wrong doing. We need to trust that the player that made the mistake is able to improve. Recover from there. If we scold the player how do we expect him to improve. It just demoralizes him.

    One other thing i learnt would be the confidence of a player. It is necessary for a player to be confident on the field but not over confident.

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  6. During this years training of soccer, I have learnt a lot about soccer, attitude and discipline.

    For soccer, I have learnt that it is not due to one man's efforts that the whole team can succeed; it is due to the whole teams efforts. As Jia Le said, the team is only as weak as its weakest link, that is true as you can see at the star of the year that even if we have strong attacking players, if the defenders cannot defend properly and cannot get the ball, the attacking players cannot get the ball and launch a successful assault. We cannot depend solely on Ryan to score a goal, we must all work together to attack as a team and not just pass the ball to Ryan and expect magic to happen. We can be good with the ball, but without physical strength, we cannot beat any team. So, the team must work together to improve the team's physical fitness. We must be disciplined enough to work on our own fitness and strength during the weekends and any free time available. As we are a team, we must act like a team and not put down each other. I know I am not good at this, but I have been trying and will continue to try. As a team, we must encourage each other to improve the team and strengthen the weak links.

    For attitude, I learnt that the team cannot afford to have pessimistic people. We must always have the will to win and the never say die attitude. We also must have the right attitude towards CCA and school life. We must have the right balance between school and CCA and cannot treat CCA more importantly than studies but also cannot treat studies as too important. As Mr Tan said, we are student athletes and we should treat school as first and CCA second. I also learnt to respect my teammates as well as my opponents. This is important as without respect for them, we will not know their abilities and will forever treat them as insignificant. With respect for our opponents, we will not underestimate them and end up losing. We also cannot blame people for every thing and not blame yourself for the mistakes that you make and even worse, start making excuses and pushing the blame. We must be able to be humble enough to admit our own faults and correct other people's faults properly and with the right attitude. As Darius says, Make sure you are perfect before blaming others. We also must have due respect for our captains, vice captains and leaders and not gossiping like sissies behind their backs saying how bad they are and how you should deserve to be captains (Adil). After all, we had a vote and they won fair and square.

    For discipline, I learnt that we cannot have a person that constantly does not come because of studies as that will affect the team. We must learn to balance our school life with other stuff like CCAs. Being disciplined also means that we cannot have a person that gets angry over little things and getting violent and bearing grudges (also Adil). This will damage the team as it will hurt people both physically and mentally. What if this happens during a match? It will not only bring shame to the person, it will bring shame to our soccer team and SST itself. I personally think that this sort of people should not be in the team.

    In all, I have learnt much both from good and bad examples.

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  7. Ever since the start of soccer training this year, many things have been "imparted". Be it knowledge, skillets, and even simple but important values, from player to player, etc.

    Firstly, soccer training has helped me to greatly improve on and refine my fitness level. Without soccer, I can say that i never would have did well for my Naphfa. While fitness level is never enough, it is safe to say that this has greatly benefited me in my personal life.

    Furthermore, I have learned many new things this year. Be it advanced ball control such as skill moves, and other not-so basic things. This includes, but is not limited to passing with your weaker foot, many other skills like the scissors, while also refining my passing, which is an integral skill and the base of a decent soccer player. Other skills like ball redirection are also important for layoffs. However, the most important skill-based thing I learnt this year has to be pressuring opponents. Without pressure, they are free to rain terror down on the entire team, given time and space to shoot. With pressure, they are less likely to shoot from afar, and this also makes them more susceptible to blunders.

    However, one very large aspect of soccer is that it is a team sport. The values we learnt through training include understanding, teamwork, etc. Values play an important part in training. I really hope to see the team work more as a team, understanding one another, and hopefully giving leeways to each other. While I understand I am one of the weaker players on the team, skills don't lie, I really want, and need to thank everyone that has been able to tolerate my fails and blunders, while also giving support to me, constantly helping me improve my skills. (and listening to the random crap I say)

    Communication is key in team sports. By this I dont only mean on the field, shouting across to get information across and to call for support. Communication is integral everywhere and anywhere in team sports. Players have to understand one another, while being able to know at a glance what teammates are going to do. Communication, in my opinion, means giving support when needed. While morales are low, and when it all seems dim, everyone really needs to keep encouraging one another, and to keep fighting all. One must learn to control one's emotions, and therefore not let them/it take control of yourself. While it is simple to say that you have control, showing it is another thing. Morale is integral, and I would say, the second most important aspect of most team sports. When morales are low, everyone under performs, that I am sure of.

    Last but definitely not least, is the value of respect. Respect can mean many things. While I feel that we should respect our leaders, the same has to go for the leaders to respect their followers.

    tldr;

    To summarise, Soccer has greatly enriched my life in many ways. Teaching me about moral values, and the value of morale.

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  8. From day one of our soccer training till now, I have learnt and improved on a lot of things in soccer.

    One thing I have improved on throughout the soccer trainings I have attended is my stamina. In the past, I was very unfit and would be tired just by running half the field. Now, I can run up till 2 laps without getting too exhausted to continue running. I hope I can further improve on my stamina as it will affect my performance not only in soccer, but in any other sports activities as well as my NAPFA test.

    One of the things I have learnt is communication. I find communication the most important and valuable aspect of soccer. Example if a player has the ball and 3 opposing players are racing towards him, and there is a player who is open in front of him, the player that has the ball will be too busy shaking off the opposing players off of him than to look around and find someone to pass to. But if the player that is open calls for the ball, the player with the ball can look towards the direction of the voice and make a swift pass to the open player.

    Another thing I learnt from soccer is different techniques and skills on how to shake off the opposing players or how not to loose the ball. I also learnt many techniques such as my control and my dribbling. Though I feel that my control still has a lot of room for improvement, my dribbling has definitely improved over the past few months of training.

    One more things I have learnt throughout the training is respect and sportsmanship. To me, respect is one of the key aspects of soccer. We got to respect our coach, captain, vice-captains, our teacher-in-charge, and our teammates. When we are doing drills or when the coach is talking, giving us tips, we should not interrupt him or have our own small little conversations. When the captain or vice-captain is speaking, we should not interrupt them as they might be giving us advice on our performance during matches or trainings.

    And last but not least, I have learnt about attitude. Example, if our school is against Jurongville again, if one of the player’s attitude is like “ Oh, we are against a strong team. We are going to lose for sure. “. That kind of attitude can really bring the whole team crumbling down, because if that player sticks with that attitude throughout the match, he will not put in effort to win. All players in the team has got to have a good attitude, no matter what team we are playing against. Remember, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If that player is a defender, and he has a thought in his mind saying that his team will not win, eventually he will affect the team’s performance as he might concede a goal because of his attitude.

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  9. Well, all the training sessions have been very useful to me. Since the start of the CCA, I have improved a lot in both goalkeeping and fitness, not forgetting ball control.

    The fitness training has helped me a great deal. At first, I could not run a single round around the field without stopping and now I can at least run two rounds. Even my reaction speed and pace has increased which has helped me a lot in passing my NAPFA. The ball work and goalkeeping training has helped too. The ball-work has taught me how to dribble and pass effectively with the keeper training helping me build my confidence to dive and save balls. This has also increased my reactions.

    However, the team lacks respect for each other and discipline. The team makes negative remarks especially when a keeper makes a mistake. Hey, we all are humans. I am not pointing any fingers to anyone but these handfuls are enough to disturb me mentally. Though, there are some who encourage us indirectly. The team lacks discipline as people talk when coach is explaining the drills. They have the guts to talk even when Jia Le is giving us advice. This is something we need to improve so that we can have a better amount of respect for everyone and a more positive approach for the game.

    More things I have learnt is how to have a good attitude. This is important to me so in every game I participate in we all need to have a good attitude towards the game so as to have a chance of even competing. Attitude has a significant importance in the game. A player with bad attitude is likely to falter at every step. In order to do this, we must have a better confidence and give the coach more attention when he is explaining drills to us. A player with good attitude will be confident on the ball and will be an asset to the team to help them in a good way through a positive impact regardless of his skill or fitness.

    Next, I have learnt the importance of communication in soccer. Especially, a keeper must learn how to communicate with his defenders to man-mark or take the post during a corner. The communication should be loud and clear to the defenders. Communication is not only vocal but can come in the form of signals like when to put a through pass to leave your teammate clear to score. It is also necessary to pass instructions from the coach via a substitution to change formation.

    I also learnt teamwork through the drills. I also learnt that a man cannot go and score by himself. Because a wise man once said that," no one is a one-man army". There is always and inspiration behind a hero in which it is the team of 10 other players in soccer. I have learnt how to work with the team regardless of their behaviour or attitude to the game and other players including myself.

    I believe that the team can improve just by improving their attitude and they might breakthrough even in the world's elite like Messi.

    -Rachit-

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  10. Basically, I feel that what we have learned and gone though this year has been a year with many ups and downs.

    Let’s take this example, when we were in the Delta league against many more larger, faster, stronger, skillful opponents and even though we didn’t manage to savage a single win, we didn’t give up any of our matches or be resigned to the other teams. We failed but never stopped trying. The matches tested our grit, determination, and wills, but we pulled through. In this year(But not limited), I learnt much: (IN THE COMMENTS BELOW)

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    1. Respect:

      Respect ourselves to start with:
      Don’t give up. Don’t get into a rage, control ourselves from doing anything rash. Give our very best we can give, if we make a mistake, don’t mull over it, just get over it and play better, and give back to the team, and the school. Don’t turn up late. We also should give every single last bit of our strength to the game.

      Respect for our team:
      We respect our team, don’t push and throw the blame around, don’t point fingers, as it never is solely one’s mistake: Football is a team game, a goal is a team effort, a victory is a team’s good work, a defeat comes from the team collectively as well, not just a fault from a person who was just conveniently accused and tossed the blame at. We keep our spirits high. Motivate each other, push each other through, because that’s what we ought to do as a team and what we ought to do as friends. We play as a team, not leaving anyone out. We respect our coaches and teachers, listen and learn, as they have much to offer and heed their advice.

      Respect our opponents:
      Win or lose, we don’t laugh at them or curse at them. We respect them just as much as we respect ourselves, even if they don’t show the same. We don’t overestimate them, or underestimate them. We don’t go intentionally hard, as if to break their legs, just to get back at them. We should play the game as clean as possible, to our best knowledge of the rules.

      Respect the facilities:
      After using balls and bibs, keep them back to where they rightfully belong. Keep what we use in the best condition possible. Don’t spit on the field, it reflects badly on ourselves, the team, the school. That is also respect for ourselves.

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    2. Determination:

      In match:
      We don’t give up, we it 5-0 down or 50-0 down. The more they score, the harder we fight. Show them we won’t just be pushovers. Even if our standard’s alot lower, we show them we can it back, show them our spirits, whether or not we win eventually. Also prepare beforehand for anything thrown at you.
      “A lot of football success is in the mind. You must believe you are the best and then make sure that you are.” ~Bill Shankly
      "Failure to prepare. Prepare to fail." ~Roy Keane

      In training:
      No matter how tough or rough it gets, force ourselves. I know I have been guilty of that, not being able to go on occasionally, but I have been making to effort to stop it, as it’s getting less frequent recently. Also give our best, and listen to all advice given.

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    3. Techniques:
      We honed plenty of our techniques. Dribbling. Passing. Shooting, to name a few. Our techniques are important. A stray pass can cause us to concede. A mis-clearance can cause us to concede. Bad shot at goal can cause us the valuable win to throw us forward. Honing these, we become more formidable. We should do our best at improving every aspect of ourselves in this beautiful game. We can waste 100 hours just kicking balls around like kids but we’ll never improve. Only through real practice will be be able improves ourselves, and the team.
      "Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do." ~Pele

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    4. Teamwork:
      Without a team, we’ll accomplish nothing. Messi and Ronaldo, both great players, but won’t be able to play without support. One man isn’t a team, and a team isn’t one man. We learned to bond, gel, stick as a team, although it’s still work in progress. Again, cheer each other on, cover for each other.

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    5. Commitment:
      We joined this CCA, whether it was our 1st, 2nd, or 3rd choice. The moment we wrote it on paper, we we already write down a ‘binding agreement’. We shouldn’t let our revision hinder us, everyone has 24 hours a day and 168 hours a week, more than enough to do our revision throughly. We can’t just push our revision time to our CCA time, it’s not right. We try to turn up as best, early as possible for all related events, as it is our responsibility and commitment. to do so.

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  11. What I learned during Soccer CCA :

    Endurance :
    Endurance is important . Having endurance meant that you could last longer in a match despite your fatigue . Not having endurance meant that you would easily give up on the match due to being slightly tired .When I first came to soccer CCA at SST , which was around June , the CCA sessions mostly consisted of the fitness training(The rounds around the field which took up the first half an hour of the training sessions . During CCA sessions during this period of time , soccer training was very tiring , but we had to endure throughout the half an hour or jogging/sprinting to improve our stamina and endurance, thus , learning how to endure the fatigue caused by the half an hour of running .

    Techniques :
    Some of the techniques-One touch passing , Cutting the ball
    One touch Passing :
    One thing that I have learned and found to be useful to me would be one touch passing . One touch passing is extremely important in a situation when you are under pressure and you need to receive a pass . One touch passing would allow to receive and pass the ball using minimal time , reducing the time the opponent has to tackle you . Doing it right would mean that your team would maintain possession of the ball . Doing it incorrectly would mean that the opponent would gain possession of the ball or your team would lose an opportunity .Although this was not really the focus of that training session , we had to pass around in a certain pattern using only one touch passes . What I learned was that to do a good one touch pass , I needed to get behind the ball in order to do a one touch pass that is firm and accurate . Also , we needed to plan who to pass to before passing the ball , this includes looking up to look for a team mate to pass to .
    Cutting the ball :
    Although in Soccer , having the speed is a advantage , there will always be a time when you cannot outrun the opponent , this is when cutting the ball becomes a vital skill . Cutting the ball well means that you can get the ball away from the opponent by changing your direction quickly and not letting the opponent enough time to react . But cutting a ball incorrectly could mean that there is a high chance of the opponent getting the ball . I learned that when you are trying to cut the ball , you need to push the ball the right amount of distance in the direction you want to change to . Insufficient distance means that you would have to make a extra touch , thus giving the opponent time to react and tackle you . Excessive distance means that you would lose control of the ball , once again giving the opponent time to react and tackle .

    ~Timothy

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    Replies
    1. Values :
      Values is important in both training and matches . Some aspects of values that I learned would be discipline , respect , courage , responsibility and commitment .
      Discipline :
      Discipline is important . It determines how we act and behave during matches and training sessions . In a training session , if discipline is absent , we would be fooling around all the time , not listening to the coach , resulting in us not doing the drills properly , thus not learning anything and wasting time . In matches , the lack of discipline would result in many horrible things , for example , we would have a fight with the opponent team over a trivial matter , resulting in a disqualification if it was a tournament match , causing the lost of reputation of both the soccer CCA and the school , if it was just a friendly match , word would spread fast and soon enough , there will be no schools who would want to play with us again , thus resulting in us losing the opportunity of gaining any game experience .
      Respect:
      Respect is a important part of soccer . In soccer , there is respect for your team mates and respect for the opponent . Respect for team mates is important as , it presence determines the mood and morale of the team , if the mood and morale is bad , it would have negative impacts on the team in both matches and training . Respect for the opponent is important as it will reflect the personality of the soccer CCA , which could result in lesser application for the soccer CCA or even the school.
      Courage :
      Courage is an important factor to our performance on the field , if you lack the courage to do something , for example tackling an opponent with a ball , you would never do it on the field , thus giving the opponent the space and time to score and win the game . The courage of which I speak of is not the absence of fear , but rather the judgement that something is more important than the fear . I too , am afraid of something - getting hit on the face by the ball , but I feel that that fear should never prevent me from giving my all during a match or during training .
      Responsibility:
      What I meant by responsibility is not only keeping the ball after using (which is still important as it determines the environment of which we play soccer in), but also taking responsibility for your actions on the field . I once heard from a senior (Jia le or Darius) " When you lose the ball or failing to tackle the opponent , I don not want to hear you saying sorry ! I want you to to run back and cover ! " As a defender , I find that this can be applied to how I play the game , when I failed to tackle the opponent , I would run back behind the next defender and cover him in case he failed too . If every defender were to do this , there would be an infinite number of defenders the opponent would have to go through before scoring , thus reducing the chance of them scoring .
      Commitment :
      Commitment in the soccer CCA can come in various forms . for example , attendance and attitude. Attendance means the number of times you attend training , having a bad attendance means that you skip the CCA regularly , which can result in you not improving . Attitude means the way you see the soccer CCA and how you react accordingly to your perspective , having a bad attitude means that you view the CCA negatively and act negatively during training and matches.

      These things are what I learned during my time in this soccer CCA
      ~Timothy

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  12. It's been a year since I've stepped onto this campus. It's been 2 years since I've represented SST, along with my teammates, for competitions and friendlies. It's been 3 years since I've become vice-captain for SST United FC. To begin with, I shall talk about how it feels like being part of this CCA.

    Firstly, I hate losing. I've always hated finishing second, and I still do. I've always thought that if only everybody was as good as me, our team would be formidable. Be it from the GK, or full backs, or playmaker, or winger, or striker. But what I've learnt that it's not their fault that they aren't born with such talents, much less physical attributes. However, it will be if they didn't train hard enough to improve, not only for themselves, but also for the team and the school. Donning the school's colours is one thing that everyone should be proud of, for you are representing as an ambassador of the school in an area you excel in. Thus, I've been constantly pushing the team, in terms of having the correct mindset about training and games.

    "If you have a good pre-season, you're gonna have an excellent season."

    Secondly, the basics. Sadly, the basics covers too much. Let's start of with communication. Simply speaking, fundamental talking. Projection of voice. Command of self and team. Encouragement. Next up is attitude. Determination. Discipline. Mindset. Following that are values. Responsibility. Respect. In a paragraph, there are so much terms that make up the basics. How many of us can proudly say they've achieved all?

    "Even with that talent of yours, how far can you go with that attitude? Attitude + Aptitude = Altitude."

    Thirdly, the skills. There is no such thing as 'limits' when it comes to skills. You can create your own tricks, combination play, tactics etc. However, without guidance, it is very difficult to get it right. Therefore, we have a Coach to lead us onto the right path. That includes personal training of whatever he has taught us. If we are only going to do a drill for 15 mins and forget about it, what's the point in doing so? That brings me to my next point, habits. Every single week, there will be at least one player who will not apply whatever is being taught before the 2 sided game. Let's talk about kicking away bad habits, much less applying. First touch, control, positioning, passing, supporting, covering, defensive stance. All sorts of mistakes can be pointed out again and again from the same person each training session, and he still doesn't learn.

    "Two wrongs don't make a right. Take it slow, get it right, and perform it well."

    Lastly, here is what I've gotta say to you guys. There is no such thing as coincidence; only the inevitable. If one is to make use of one's time and prioritizes it, there will be sufficient time. Student athletes are expected to balance and manage their time well while excelling in their studies and contributing to their CCAs.

    Why is it that when we complete the expected number of rounds, we stop running? It's because we tell ourselves that it's enough, we've reach the limit and we should stop. But why is it that when we are tasked to do more rounds than the previous time, we are still able to complete it?

    "We set our own boundaries. Don't tell me that the sky is the limit. Look at where Neil Armstrong went."

    ~Jia Le

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  13. What I've learnt during Soccer CCA:

    I have learnt a lot of things during soccer cca,from the first session I attended to the current one.I have learnt that we must respect the field and not spit on the field.I also learnt about communication.I find communication very important during game,so as to alert the player you are passing the ball to to get ready to receive the ball.I have tried to shout out to my teammates from time to time.

    Secondly,I have learnt alot about ball work.Learning about keeping the ball closer to me has been very beneficial to my training in soccer.I can now control the ball better now,as well as being able to juggle the ball at least 3-4 times now.(Using the laces).I have also learnt a series of ball control techniques,such as crossovers etc.We also must respect our coaches,teachers in charge and our seniors, as well as liten to the tips
    and help they give.We must respect our coach by listening to him while he is teaching us ball work and passing activities.I also learnt that one cannot simply just go solo and win everything.As soccer is a team game,we must learn how to work as a team.Without teamwork,we'll just be 11 players trying to solo a ball into the goal post.

    Attitude is also a huge part of soccer.We must learn how to have good attitude and also have confidence.If we go for a friendly match and someone says "Look how good their team is.We are going to lose!".This will cost our team to weaken in morale and thus we will not give our 100% during the game.We also must train hard during training with the right attitude,not why is coach making us do all this things.We have to build up our stamina and as Darius said last training, we must have enough stamina to be able to last a whole match.

    And sometimes, during the start of training,when we have to run,some people walk when they think that Coach is looking at them.I am also guilty of this myself occasionally.

    Also,about us losing the soccer balls during recess.I feel that we should lock up the cage.As sometimes I see non-soccer students taking out the balls to play soccer.I am not accusing them of losing the ball.Our soccer players also lose the ball during recess.(Not mentioning any names.)

    We also must not just respect the field,but also the facilities.We have the privalage of using the bibs,cones for our training but we need reminders to keep the cones and bibs into the cage.Sometimes,no one puts the cage back to its original spot,and we need reminders from our seniors before we move the cage back to its spot

    Finally,as student atheletes,we must be able to control our balance between studies,play and cca.If we cannot keep the balance,we will affect our school life badly.

    ~Jerrold.

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  14. My journey in soccer only started in Secondary 1, whereby before that, I’ve didn’t even know that soccer players wore boots. Throughout the 2 and a half years that I’ve played soccer as my CCA. I think I have learnt many things ranging from the technical aspects of soccer to the rules of soccer and most importantly the gameplay of soccer.

    I say the gameplay of soccer is the most important as it encompasses many aspects for it to be success. This includes the commitment by every player, the trust and teamwork shown by every player. To have a successful plot and team. It require ALL of your teammates to work together efficiently and Harmoniously. Your team is only as strong as it’s weakest link and I agree. The problem now is that the weakest link is not just one of two people, but a considerable amount of players. Put this all together and you end up with a team that only plays to the standards of a primary school soccer team.

    The reason behind this substantial amount weaker players can be attributed to various issues. To make it easier to understand, I will have a rating system where by level 1 are players who does not have attitude, absolutely desert soccer and does not take training seriously, at the same time tries his best to miss all soccer trainings. Level 2 are the players who have a neutral stand of soccer, puts his best into trainings, but does not take the considerable effort to learn outside of the training sessions. Level 3 are players who takes soccer very seriously and really puts effort to learn beyond the training sessions. Ideally all players should be level 3 players in our team. Unfortunately, we have a big number of level 1 and 2 players.

    I myself, is a level 2 player. I put my best into training, but do not really take much effort outside training to enhance myself. I think overall to become a team that doesn’t lose, I should at least put in some effort to train myself in the technical aspects. On the other hand, I think all the players should at minimum put their best into every single training during soccer. It’s bad enough we have little time every week to train. By not taking your training seriously, it is as if you don’t play soccer at all. I think we as players have a commitment to upgrade ourselves to serve our team.

    Another side effect of of our current situation is that our losing streak is not making an impact on how we act. After every match, we’re ok with losing and when the next training comes back around. We’re back to our original attitude. It’s almost as if we have given up on working hard to make our team better. We mustn't give up. Instead we should give more, because we are student athletes. We have the potential to do well, but because we don’t put effort. It’s all stuck somewhere other than in ourselves. It might not be easy to unleash these potentials, but to those that is willing to commit. What you gain at the end of the day might be more than soccer skills.

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  15. What i have learnt during during Soccer CCA :

    I have learnt a lot of things from soccer. From the first session I attended until now. And i hope to learn more in the future. I have learnt that we must firstly have Respect as well as we also must discipline. We must have respect for not only the coaches , seniors , teachers in charge but we must also have respect for the soccer field too. We often see bottles lying around the field not only after soccer training but also during recess. We often see that but we do not bother to pick it up thinking that it is not our property so we do not need to care about it. I myself is guilty of this occasionally. I think that we must pick up the things that we find on the field not because it is the right thing to do but its because we must respect the field. The field is where we hold our training on, not a rubbish bin.We also must give respect to our senior , coaches and also the teacher in charge. We should follow the advice that they give to us and give our upmost respect for them. Another thing that i noticed is that when we play soccer either after CCA or during recess , we would often kick the ball out of the field but a lot of times we wouldn't go pick up those balls. There used to be around twenty balls but now we are left with seven balls. This affects the time that we spend during training as we would be busy retrieving the ball after kicking it too far. Sometimes I also see non soccer players playing with the ball but not keeping them after using them and the soccer boys have to keep for them. I think locking up the cage is a good idea as it prevents the balls from being lost and also teaches us a lesson that if we want to play with the balls we must keep it after using them.

    And also , discipline is also plays a huge part in the CCA.We must have the discipline to listen to coach and not talk about irrelevant things during training. CCA is an activity that allows us to not think about school work for a while. We should give our one hundred percent to the CCA.Communication is also needed in the team as during a friendly or competition. We need to communicate within our own team in order for the team to improve. I think that our team can improve on this part.

    And finally we are students athletes and we must learn to balance our time between study and sports. But of course study is the top priority as a student athletes.If we cannot balance this two things, it will affect our studies very badly.Its best that we make a timetable so that we are sure of when and what to do what thing. This will ensure that we balance our time and sure of what are we doing and making sure that it would not affect our results in school and also not over work ourselves.

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  16. This entire year, I learnt a lot of stuffs, from how people think to new skills.
    Firstly, I'll like to start with how some people try to be a goody two shoes and spy on what I tell others in the team, yet misinterpret it. I never said that I should be the captain, those people that I was talking to should know. I only said some other stuff where those who are hurt in the bottom might get hurt more.
    I also learnt that you should try your best to not pass to some people (YAN ZHENG) as those kind of people will simply lose the ball and the attack will be broken down. I also learnt that some others (YAN ZHENG) will try to compensate for their lack of skill, composure, agility, aggression and speed by shouting at other people as if he was playing for the FAS or something. Other than that, I also learnt that people (YAN ZHENG) might get jealous of your abilities while playing a particular position, especially if that individual (YAN ZHENG) has not scored any goals, be it in training or friendlies, or even tournaments, as they are just not meant to, so they will vent their frustrations and envy in other ways, such as reflections in this blog. Those people (YAN ZHENG) are people who I believe I should never associate with, and I believe they should just stick to one CCA, like maybe wushu, and he should practice what he preaches, and not just quote people blindly, as I am pretty sure he's blamed more people than me. Also, I learnt that like what another player in the team has said, "elections can be rigged", and therefore another authority should intervene, especially if the captain is always late, arrive immediately after warm up, and has the abilities of a P6 student.
    I have also learnt co-ordination, as some good players will be able to work out a good and quick attack with the striker, in order to score a goal, something not everyone (YAN ZHENG) has done before. I have also learnt integrity, as some might be jealous of how much better others are, and in turn result to assault, only to blame it for an 'accident', or even fake injuries and come up with ridiculous stories that the other person has 'spit' on him/her. I have also learnt that power and accuracy is vital in the game, as only with power and accuracy a striker can score (NOT YAN ZHENG). Not to forget composure, as only with composure can a striker stay calm and think of his next move to work out the attack. Teamwork is also important, as only by passing you can get an opportunity to score, something most people (YAN ZHENG) do not know of, which results in the ball being in our team's half for most of the time. I also feel that the team lacks professionalism, as some of the players (YAN ZHENG) like to mix in their personal and emotional encounters into the game, and they feel that others feel the same way as them.
    I would like to feedback that the training we are going through right now might not be suitable for some, as other schools' teams train to improve and work on strategies, not how to control the ball and to pass straight, and that some players (YAN ZHENG) should work on their language, as due to their lack of experience in matches, they do not know that it is an offence to use crude languages in the game.
    I would also like to feedback that I feel like I'm a liability to the team, as one of the team's best winger has said it publicly that he will not pass to me due to the fact that his bottom is hurt and he needs aloe vera.
    Therefore, I would like to announce that I am trying my best to find myself a new CCA by January next year, so the team can calm down and take down the hate speech. Thank you.

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  17. Apparently it seems that I have a different view from others so far O.o.

    Hm, one of the greatest accomplishments I have so far in terms of soccer is the ability to be a better keeper than before. Frankly, I think I have improved so much from that position than being my main job, a defender.
    I am not that fond to give "expected" answers since I don't think that I have the authority to say that I learnt about it while I don't show it.

    So instead, I'll talk about the things that I've been through so far and the things I adjusted or felt at that moment.
    Firstly, its about the team. At the first day I saw the new juniors coming in, I didn't have much of any knowledge of them. Even though now I still can't remember their names. Other than that I find that I did not interact with them a lot, and even got caught in some rumor. Till now, I find that the rumor is damaging to the team, not to me (because I don't really care), but towards someone else in the team.

    Secondly, I remember someone saying that I'm stupid because of a passing drill. Well, I found it pretty damaging, since, there a something else bothering me outside soccer. Even that, I found no reason for that offensive remark, not even if I was in his shoes. I find myself as an average player, I don't see why my method would not work, I just need more speed. After that, I seem to see the distance between both of us. Simply because I don't see the need to damage my confidence just because to keep the strong bond in the team. I agree that the bond is important but its as though I find myself as an individual player after I stopped creating new group play and an emotional setback. (but i'll still give my thanks to darius who encouraged me that night :D)

    Thirdly, for some reason, someone kind of freaked out during practice. I've heard rumors but I wouldn't confirm on it. He begun sprouting vulgarities on the field when he was beaten by a defender, though he left the match eventually, I find the vulgarities spoken not as necessary.

    Fourthly, its about the friendly with Mr Tan's friends. During the de-brief, I was reprimanded but it was followed up with other remarks. I have seen it happened to Gregory before, and this made me want to increase the gap we had even further. It felt that there was a gap of superiority and inferiority and fear was instilled. I doubt thats the way for someone to strengthen the bond between players. Therefore, from then on, I already had in mind not to join games unless necessary. Pretty immature I guess, but I shouldn't risk it either way. It happened again recently, I felt that I was not needed in the team anyway.

    Fifthly, I feel that I'm bonding more with Bryan, another defender who has the same position as me (being defender generally). He seem to share same thoughts as I do as a defender. I felt that the bond was growing from there. It was further encouraged with the practice matches we held.

    As an individual, I think I have grew stronger in goalkeeping and thats about all there is to it.

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  18. I have been in this campus for a year now and I have been representing SST as part of its soccer team for the past few months. During these few months, I have learnt many things which can be useful to me in the field and out of it. These range the technical aspects of the game to important life skills.

    There are many aspects that make a team succeed in every game. The teams who succeed may not have the most skillful players, but they put in effort in everything they do and they have the drive to improve themselves after each game/ training session. I believe that all of us are not professionals, but if we have the determination to succeed and we make an effort to improve ourselves during each training session, then we can be a team that is as good as any other out there in Singapore.

    Trust is one factor that is, in my opinion, the most important factor in the game. Soccer can only be played by teams who trust and have faith in each other as this will boost their confidence when playing a game and will make the team gel together easily.

    Discipline is also another key factor that comes into play in the field and out of it. In a game, players have to be disciplined by listening carefully to instructions given by the captain/ coach and by carrying it out with dedication and for the benefit of the team. After all, soccer is a team game and the team will just fall apart if there a couple of people who do not practice discipline.

    Lastly, Communication is also an important factor in a team game. Most of the people in our team are very soft spoken and seem very afraid to voice out their thoughts. If we are very soft when asked to speak, then our voices in the field would be ineffective and therefore, there will be very little/ no communication in the field.Without communication, each individual is playing with no confidence as he is lost and all the other members will be in the same situation as him.

    Also, I feel that most of our teammates do not feel that they have a responsibility. We used to have about 20 soccer balls at the start of the year but 9 months later we only have 5-7 soccer balls. Students who take the balls out of the cage never seem to put it back and there seems to be a lot of balls that seem to fly out of the school boundaries and people just do not bother to go and retrieve it.

    I also learnt that we are all student athletes, and as the name suggests, we should put our studies first. We have to manage our time between studies and soccer training or our academics will suffer. So we cannot make excuses by saying that CCA is taking too much time as we are expected to manage our time effectively.

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  19. When the CCA form came to me, the first thing i thought was of soccer. My soccer skills were never that good compared to other people, and i wanted to train more and learn more about soccer. Hence i joined the soccer CCA. There i learnt many things, discipline, punctuality, skills, respect and teamwork.

    For discipline, i learnt that we must know when is the time to have fun, but when is the time to be serious. We cannot fool around and make mistakes later on just because of not paying attention or anything else. For me, that would be quite stupid as just because of a small thing someone makes a mistake that can cost the whole team a game loss.

    For punctuality, i learnt that we must be on time for training, if not we would be loosing out in some things that coach can be trying to teach us, or miss the warm up to get some cramps or pains later on. Therefore punctuality is very important, and i try my best to be as puntual as possible.

    For skills, coach tries to teach us a new skill or two every training, and he even allows us to play a match at the end of training sessions so we can apply what we have learnt to that matches, therefore it will be much easier to apply them to friendly matches or tournaments. For me, i have learnt 3 skills - passing, shooting and dribbling.

    When i joined soccer, one of the main reasons why i did so was because of my passing skills being not very good. When i joined i learnt how to pass the proper way, which was not just whacking the ball away.
    When I learnt shooting, i learnt to use more power to make the ball fly higher and faster.
    When i learnt dribbling, i learnt some of the many skills that could be applied to the game and tried my best to apply them.

    One most important thing in soccer is respect. Respect in soccer can come in many ways, be it shaking hands after a game (also can be sportsmanship), caring for the field, caring for the team, yourself or the coach. I learnt that we must listen to coach when he is talking, as we will make mistakes in what we would be doing later on.

    The last thing i learnt was teamwork. As a single player, he cannot take on a whole team and win. He must be with a whole team so he can play together and win together. They must stay bonded so as to win the game.

    ~Clemens Chua S1-05

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  20. I’d like to start off the reflection on something that has been bugging me ever since I joined the team. Leaders of the team: the Captain and Vice-Captain. The captain a player that is chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team, usually being more experienced that the other members, or sometimes being able to heavily influence the game. A vice-captain is a player that is expected to captain the side when the club's captain is not included in the starting eleven, or if, during a game, the captain is substituted or sent off. This must mean that the captain and vice-captain, from now on referred to as “leaders”, have a big responsibility and are role models for the team. While this is evident in our more senior leaders, whereby they have fulfilled all the above-mentioned criteria, it is not very evident, or rather, non-existent in the more junior captains, whereby they only fulfill the first mentioned characteristic: chosen. Even now, there is some error in my words. They were not chosen based on skill or leadership capabilities, but they were chosen because they went around asking their teammates to choose them as the leaders of the team. Is this how real leaders are chosen?

    Until now, during all our trainings where the Secondary Ones and Twos, from now on referred to as “us”, were instructed to do our warm-ups and were to be lead by our leaders, I do not see the same amount of commanding in them as compared to the senior leaders. “Chop-chop”, apparently, is meant to be a phrase where everyone will get to know the intentions of the leaders without them even saying a single word. I do not think we are disciplined enough to do our routines on our own, evident from the incessant chatter from some and the lackluster behavior of some others. Even when Coach is talking, many are having their own conversations. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that the leaders understand that we will be able to do our routines by ourselves. If this continues, I am afraid to think what would happen to the team if our senior leaders graduate.

    Some people who read this may think I have a grudge on our leaders, and I will not bother to prove them wrong. If by pointing out mistakes signifies bearing a grudge, they may well continue to live in their protected world where everybody is perfect. That being said, I have no intention to phrase this reflection so as to make myself seem like the best. I am not even capable of diving far enough to reach the ball, or guarding my far/near posts, but I am trying. I believe with a little more practice, I should be able to grasps these techniques fairly easily. For the outfield players, they really have to work on their and not fake injuries or fatigue in order to gain sympathy or whatever they are out for. Instead, they should push on and do their best, maybe even outshining some of the best players that we have now.

    For me, playing as a goalkeeper, I have learnt that flexibility, agility and reflexes are key.
    Without flexibility, there is little chance that i can stretch out far enough to tap the ball out when I cannot get a good grip on it. Without agility, I am not able to reach the ball fast enough to pull off a save. Without reflexes, I am not able to dive towards the correct side of the goal when a shot is hard and fast. These three points work in tandem to ensure that I am able to be a good keeper. However, I also need to learn how to guard my near and far posts properly, or there will be lots of space for the opposing striker to shoot through, causing me to be unable to get to the ball on time if I am not fast enough.

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    Replies
    1. I have also learnt a great deal about discipline. Discipline is the fundamental in football. Without discipline, the team will not do well together as everyone wants to show off whatever they can do, disregarding the whole essence of a team sport. Punctuality is one of the ways discipline in a person can be measured. If one is constantly late and only shows up after all the tiring drills during training, I feel it is safe to say that he is very ill-disciplined. The entire purpose of training is to improve, not show up during the last half an hour or so with some lame excuse just to play during a 2-side game. If football is about playing without learning, it is certainly very useless for one to stay in the CCA for the “fun” of it. Discipline can also be shown by paying attention to the seniors or Coach is talking, so as to get the fullest of what they have to say.

      Courage is another thing I find the team to be lacking in. Even for myself, I am sometimes afraid of the ball, but as I said before, I am learning. In football, it is very likely that one would get hurt. But when you get injured, what do you do? Do you get butthurt and start yelling? Or do you walk it off and continue playing? For me, I am more inclined towards the second option, as I chose this sport. I should very well know the dangers in it and how to handle it.

      As I am playing as a goalkeeper, it is hard for me to comment on the other aspects of football such as dribbling as I have very little practice in those areas. Therefore, I will end my reflections here and I hope that no one will take offense to my words, as some already have, towards another player’s words.

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  21. Throughout the course of this year, I have learnt so much from soccer that it would be so hard to describe them all in a plain essay. What I do is to just touch on some key aspects on what I found meaningful to me. To start off, I would like to talk about how soccer made me realise that to do well in this sport, it requires passion. After being in this CCA for three and a half years, I find myself beginning to grow on this sport, not just physically but also emotionally. This emotional aspect is what many thinks sets a team sport apart from an individual sport. The feeling of being and playing as a team, begin to build on each player’s responsibility. It’s not just simply a game anymore. A connection and bond would be forged as we go through the thick and thin together. One would feel that to represent the school and team in a match is a honorable opportunity and would also want to give it their all. This is what sparks the flame within our souls, passion gradually growing.

    With this strong chemistry between the individual, the sport and the team, the next key aspect is determination. For one to be able to contribute to this sport, its not just simply about having passion. Passion is the foundation to having the determination to master the skills to play the sport well. Not everyone is perfect. It is easy to be one of the lucky fews to be selected as first team. What’s difficult is the question of whether you can maintain your position as the first eleven. Substitutes are not always the weaker ones in the sport. Everyone has the potential to make a difference on the field. With passion and determination, substitutes can actually threaten the throne of the first team. This healthy competition can push the first team forward in terms of their performance to ensure that they still sit comfortably on their ‘thrones’. Those unfortunate ones will be replaced with better substitutes. This vicious cycle repeats and can propel the entire team’s ability to its utmost maximum.

    These internal competition can be good to a certain extend but conflict will so arise. Hence, the team is required to move on to the next phase of discipline and respect. For the team to maintain a positive and healthy competition internally, it is important for the mentality to be equal. Respect for others can prevent the team’s bonds from crumbling. No doubt that patience will also have to come into play.

    From construction of the foundation for passion, forging perseverance and determination, to developing respect for each other. These are the three main aspects which have enlightened me over the years of participating in this sport. To me, soccer is not just plainly about the skills and tricks. Neither is it about the goals and saves. It is simply a challenge to one’s mentality. Requiring the player to strike a balance between physical and emotional aspects of the game, a balance between play and work. To put it simply, its all about attitude. This is what determines truly who really gains the most from the game. I believe that no matter how weak or strong you are when it comes to soccer skills, we would still be united as a team.

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  22. I've learnt a lot from training over the past three years, mainly in the categories of Skills, Tactics/Management and Attitude/Discipline/Mentality. Some of these things weren't taught, I had to learn through my mistakes.

    Skills
    From our various coaches over the years, I've learnt a lot of different skills. Matthew's Step (Is that the correct term?), Ronaldo's flick, crossover etc. Though I've yet to successfully apply any of these in an actual game, I'm sure these skills will help me work towards my goal of playing professionally. These skills are actually just bonuses, actions executed to make the game more interesting. A simple body feint or a good first touch is sometimes enough to beat the defender. Other than Coach Vaira, our other coaches emphasized a lot on first touches as well. Also, in the context of first touches, our controls were trained a lot too, especially by Coach Peikang. I daresay that my control is very good, but even then I do not stop there. I keep practicing, to make sure that my control will never be poorer, only better.

    We also did a lot on off-the-ball movement/support play when training under both Coach Peikang and Coach Vaira. Under Coach Vaira, we also did a lot of one touch passing, laying off and playing through balls. All these have helped me improve my game, no matter as a defender or midfielder. Also, under Coach Peikang, we trained quite a bit on long passing/lob passes. Although I more or less had the basics beforehand, those training sessions helped me improve my overall performance.

    Through all those training sessions, I've also learnt that the basics are very, very important. Without our basic passing techniques, how can we string together many many passes to control possession? Without our basic passing techniques, how can we apply the drills we learnt in training?

    To sum up, I've learnt skills to beat players, body feint, first touches, controls, off-the-ball movement, support play, one touch passing, laying off, through balls long passing, and the importance of my basics.

    Tactics/Management
    Under this category, the main things learnt were the things that happened in the game. I learnt about the shifting of the team, how to properly shift according to the flank in which our opponents are attacking. When my teammates are beaten, Eg ODS gets beaten when opponents attack down our right, I have to react quickly to close him down and slow him down to give ODS time to recover. When we have that kind of chemistry and can work well that way, we can reduce the number of goals we concede, and soon we attack more, and slowly work towards a win instead of holding out for a goalless draw.

    Also, when planning for the Sec 1s/2s friendlies, I've learnt quite a bit about team management. I've learnt not to make too many changes at once, and to keep a few starters to let the rest settle in first, before taking them off. Mistakes like such can make a big change to the tempo of the game, and can cost us the game eventually, which was what happened against Hwa Chong in the Sec 1s/2s first home friendly.

    Captain, Darius

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Attitude/Mentality/Discipline
      Attitude makes a big difference in a player. One can be as good as Jia Le or Ryan, but if one's attitude is not good, he wouldn't be a good player at all. In this team, some are good and lack the attitude, which I can understand but do not like at all, and there are some who don't have the attitude nor the skills. This I cannot stand. Players like Jovan, Elgin Patt and many others never had past soccer experiences, but because they worked hard, they have become the better few in the team. Players like Gregory, Johanan and a few others, can play well and have the skills, but don't work hard and never really improved much. Attitude makes a difference.

      Our mentality going into a game is important too. Not only when playing, when in training too. If we think of ourselves as a weak team who can never win, we never will, because with that mentality, we will never strive to work hard, and if we don't work hard, we will never win. On the other hand if we think of ourselves as an average team, with teams weaker and teams stronger than us, we will make ourselves work harder to become one of those stronger teams. Many times before a friendly, I hear some players talking about how strong the other team is, what achievements they have, how they did in the last tournament etc. Stop those. How does that help you playing in the game? Does it motivate you to try and win? Or does it simply demoralize you? I think, players like that are simply finding excuses for the loss, even though the game hasn't even started.

      And finally, discipline. This is something many players lack in the team. Not only during training, but also in friendlies and tournaments. Lack of discipline in training is very obvious. Players arriving late, not listening when coach is giving instructions, talking about irrelevant stuff etc. That list can go on forever. I honestly cannot find more than 10 players in the team that can remain totally focused during training. Jia Le, Mr Tan and myself have said a lot of this during training, and I can only is one more time: Soccer is all about discipline. Without it, no matter how good you are, you will never make it big. On the pitch, during games, it takes a lot of discipline to simply play by your position. Some players lack this. I can see my LM playing down the right, but the problem there is that both my wingers are on the right. This may not be very obvious, but it will be if one observes closely. It takes discipline to sprint box-to-box to counterattack, and immediately drop back to defend if possession is lost. It takes discipline to practice, and train one's fitness when one isn't training. Everything is linked to the discipline of a player.

      Captain, Darius

      Delete
  23. 2012. New field, new teammates. New coach, new teachers in charge. New everything.

    It has been the year where a lot of things have been learned. Firstly, I would like to start off with the biggest, most annoying and useless thing. Fighting between teammates. I don't see how you can hate someone for half a year. Even if the person fought or argued or insulted you, I don't see how you can hold a grudge on someone for so long. I have fought with people before, I have met people who I once thought were going to be a my biggest enemies but now, they are my friends. I don't see why they cannot see that once this thing is over, it would be much better for the team. What has either person done to the other to make you mad at each other for so long. I can only think of one thing which would make a person be so angry at someone for a long period of time which is harming a relative or someone in your family and I don't think that has happened. Therefore, I feel that we should put behind our arguments and just forgive each other. I'm not asking for them to become best friends, I just feel that with this conflict gone, it would benefit the team.

    On to the next thing, discipline. Well, I can’t say that our (Sec 2) discipline have become worse as I feel that this year, discipline has been emphasised on more. Saying so doesn’t mean our discipline is good, it just means that we have not improved or deproved.

    Now, on to skill-related learning. As I said earlier, there have been many changes this year and one of the major changes for me is the change of position. Last year, I was playing in a central role as a striker or center attacking midfielder but this year, I have shifted to the wings. I find myself being placed more on the right wing due to my crossing being better than Matthias (no offense :D) but for me, I prefer playing on the left. I think that my ability to cut in pass defenders is better that me going on the outside. If I played on the right and I cut in, I would be on my weaker foot and thus wouldn’t be able to make a good cross or shot. While on the other hand, if I played on the left, I could cut in and take a shot or even give an in swinging cross. In the last training where we lost 1-0 to the Sec 1s and some Sec 2s, me and Matthias switched flanks when they scored. When the game resumed, I could see that the ball was always on the right flank. But at the closing moments of the match, I managed to get the ball. I found myself face to face with a defender but I cut to the byline and got past him. Soon, I was met by another defender. I did the Matthews’ step or something like that and I got past him but since my touch was too strong another defender almost got it but I managed to get a touch in a knick it further forward, pass the defender. At this point, I was in shooting range and another opponent was charging for the ball therefore I decided to take a shot but it was off target as I did not manage to wrap my foot around it. This incident is what made me think that maybe, I should play on the left more.

    Lastly, well this is more of a suggestion then a reflection but, I would like for us to have more shooting practices. More of like which part of the foot to use for what types of shots or passes as I find many of the players using only one part of their foot for all types of passes and shots and some, still using their toes. I think that at this stage, we should not be even using our toes to kick unless it is a situation where you just need to use your toes.

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  24. What I have learnt in the CCA:

    I think we have learnt a lot in the CCA. I think we have learnt, not just soccer skills. but also life skills, playing an important role in succeeding in life. I've learnt to work with others be it as a soccer team or group members. I've learnt to be confident be it with the ball or in my presentation. I've learnt to be responsible, fair, , vigilant, in my activities be it in soccer or in life. Finally, through being honoured as captain, I learn the skills of a leader. Maybe I am still bad at being a captain, but I am still learning. And I believe that in the next two years in this CCA I will learn and grow into a good captain. But, I think, personally, the most important life skill I have learnt in this CCA is perseverance. I believe that life equates to hope and will power. If you think, this works for every activity you want to improve and succeed in, like soccer. You hope to be as good as Messi and you persevere training and after sometime, you will achieve your dream. I believe, with these useful life lessons from soccer, I believe that I will go a long way in life and soccer.

    I have also learnt new tricks and tips from this CCA. I have learnt things such as to control the ball better, or even place the ball precisely for a pass, a shot or any other thing. This is especially useful as if this touch is good, you can get away from defenders or make a good through pass to an attacker. I have also learnt different dribbling technique. Even though coach have only taught us a few, I have learnt from friends. This is an opportunity for me to learn and improve in my touches. Coach have also taught me other tips that is equally important, but more prone to be forgotten. Simple things such as covering players, communicating with teammates and even as simple as facing the ball, are usually neglected in a game. I think I wouldn’t be cautious about these little things if I hadn’t been reminded by coach. This is a crucial set of steps to take as these ‘little’ things can go a long way in keeping or even getting possession of the ball. Coach had also taught me that I shouldn’t give up, literally. When I lose the ball, it is important that I try to win the ball back again. If not, there would practically one less player on the pitch when defending. Coach have also taught me movements. This makes my life a lot easier as a playmaker. This is because when coach teaches people different movements that can be done, the team can think as one and I can expect when is the chance for that through pass, or long pass or any kind of pass that can prove deadly. The last thing that I have gained from this CCA is fitness. When I was sec 1, I was a weakling. But now, I am more fit. I believe, if I continue to persevere in this CCA, I can achieve great success before I leave SST

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  25. For the past few months since I joined this CCA, I felt that it was very tiring and boring at first, having to run the eight-figure around for several times. But as I realised gradually beyond the mundane warm-ups it became a very dynamic sport.

    I believe that everyone has the initiative to do things instead of being told to. We always seem reluctant or afraid to go and get a card Also, we lack responsibility as we do not seem very concerned about our training as we run and talk, and when more balls are lost we do not seem to care anymore. When Coach Vaira, Mr Tan, Darius or Jiale is talking to the rest of the team, there will definitely be someone else talking at the same time until someone scolds us. That is the only time we stop. I feel embarrassed and humbled in front of passers-by watching us because of our lack of discipline.

    I learnt to communicate with the other players as it is useless gesturing to them to, for example, mark an opponent or cover me. I also learnt to back off so as to give a goalkeeper time to prepare to catch the ball, but strangely, for some reason, no one has used it at all to great effect. I notice that at times, I am afraid I get injured or get a card for trying to take the ball from an opponent. That might have cost the team a goal. However, I know sometimes courage is very important so as to ensure the team will not lose and I keep telling myself not to be a faggot. Facing the ball has become a must for me for the reason that we will lose the ball. I see a few people doing so every time we play matches.

    I also learnt not to take things in my stride. It is okay to make mistakes, you are only human, you can’t do everything. When I did not defend a place properly, people would be screaming in my ears. I learnt to respect the team and have sportsmanship. During the Hwa Chong game, I felt bitter for the loss. But I realised that there will be more, why fret over such a little thing, if some people win, some people must lose. It is part and parcel of life.

    I felt that the ball work and fitness training have benefitted me the most. With fitness training, I was able to keep up with much more people than when I used to play street soccer. Ball work has allowed me to play the game in a more diversified way than ever before.

    Finally, I believe that as we are student athletes, the main thing right now is to manage your time well and to study well, because it affects just about everything around you, from the homework you have to do to your involvement in your CCA. This is what I have learnt from the training.

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  26. I had learnt a lot during our CCA training over this past months, almost a year though. From soccer stuff to life and personnel stuff. Definitely, not everything was taught, but experienced and learnt by myself, sometimes through mistakes.

    I feel that i’ve improved by a lot in soccer. From skills and knowledge. The first few training sessions i had at the start of the year was with coach Peikang. During the first few training lessons, i had a glimpse of my problems and mistakes. From then on i started to practice myself. I had a slight problem with passing hard and accurately. Now i guess i’ve improved because i feel a difference though i’ve not perfected my mistakes such as occasionally lousy control and such. I guess we mostly did passing and dribbling this year mainly. I learnt how to easily dribble and get pass the opponent(s) swiftly, being quick to get pass. I’ve learnt simple body feints and good touches with the ball to easily get pass the defender. When we’re playing outside of training time i like to try to dribble to get used to certain tricks and stuff because i feel thats i could use those times to train myself too, even though a lot of others like to just say i’m just ‘solo-ing’. I’m still not good at a lot of stuff but i’m trying to identify all of them and get them improved.

    Before, when coach Vaira had the sec 3s train for an hour and the C Div train for the other hour, i liked the physical training we did ( the c div) with Mr. Tan during our free hour as it was helpful and yet fun! We had to race up and down in the figure of eight and their were penalties for those who came 2nd, 3rd or last. It was very tiring but i still thought it was beneficial. I know i’m not that fit as i had even came in last once or twice before so now i try to train at home.

    I also had to develop my attitude and discipline towards training. I’ve come in late sometimes usually because of some school work or something asked by teachers ( though i know it isn’t an excuse). I try my best to come to training quickly and i’m usually ready a lot earlier, unless of some unforeseen circumstances. My mum always tells me to eat during recess and I do instead of eating after school because i might get sick or something during training. I’ve learned to balance my life, with my school life in particular and including CCA. Its my CCA and i’ve learnt to sacrifice for it like discarding almost all my free time on monday as i only have a few hours once i return home to complete all my work. I’m ‘at-risk’ and i’m trying to change that and for me, i never blame my CCA.

    Occasionally i talk to my friends when we’re not doing anything, not always, and when i get caught with my mouth open, to be honest i’m talking about what we’re doing, as in the training itself. Sometimes finding a group fast or just asking for help on what we’re doing if coach is going too fast sometimes.

    Overall i’ve got a lot to do for myself, so i’ll have to try but i think we’ve all got a lot to work on, all on the same things.

    -Luke

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  27. Soccer was a sport, a game, something I picked up just before our PSLE when I played for fun and of course, to bond with my classmates which know I’m still good friends with even after we part our ways. Soccer, or any other sport for the matter was something I thought could bring people together, form a team, whether strong or weak, it didn’t matter because as long as the players worked hard together, nothing was impossible.

    Just take my lower sec class as an example, s2-01 FC. We knew we had a challenge in front of us when inter-class was announced. We knew it would be hard, and we were the underdogs. Yet from people who played soccer for fun, just laugh about it when we did something really wrong, or funny. We turned into one that finished second. What we did was tiring, tough, but above all, we still included the fun element inside it. That’s because as we played, train, and Ming En and I imparted skills to our friends, we knew we were all there to learn from each other. I was named Captain because they thought I was the best, but I learn from others, I learnt from my teammates. It was that mutual understanding and respect which brought all of us together. 3 Months was all it takes, we became a TEAM, one force to be reckoned with. It has already been over a year, and s2-01 FC still spends its time together, whether during recess, or even during holidays together even if we are from different classes now…

    The point I’m trying to bring up is the respect and understanding that everyone needs. I’ve learnt this not only from my classmates but from the soccer team itself. The reason why we are not able to improve as a team is easy. Scolding and lecturing isn’t the way to go. If that player has a problem, bring him out, talk to him, coach him for 5-10 mins on his problem, until he gets the hang of it, then introduce him back into the training. He will never improve if he does the same thing over and over again without the foundations. Inside ourselves, I believe we understand our teammates, in the way that we know their weaknesses and their strengths. Use your strengths and help to improve others weaknesses and we can improve as a team. It’s a win-win situation. Yet the reason why many of times we failed to do that is because we never had that attitude.

    “Your Attitude determines your altitude” ~Ms Ooi, my chinese teacher once said. Training sessions are just that short amount of time we spent each week practising as much as we can. If we never try to practise them on our own, build on those skills, we will never improve. My fitness has always been rubbish. My first and second years napfa had always been between 12 and 13 mins. Around the March period, my 2.4km timing dropped to 16 mins. That was rubbish considering the fact that we just finish the season, it was a timing no soccer player should have. I knew I needed to improve, I knew fitness was important from whatever was explained to us by coach. From then on, I ran myself, once, twice a week. It was little, but bit by bit, I improved. And Finally when the real Napfa 2.4km season came, I smashed my own records again and again, pushed myself every training session to improved and finally earned a respectable 10:20. That was fitness alone…

    Skills we learnt the agility drills we did. I’m never seen doing them in school alone, but when I’m at home, I use whatever time and space I have to train alone. Coach has always emphasised the need to practise, and I understood that. My recess games for s2-01 FC was also a platform for me to improve and put into practise what I learned. Practice was key in my opinion.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. I’ll be honest. Losing is never a word in my dictionary, unless we lost not because we didn’t put in effort and the other team was truthfully better than us. Yet, everytime we played a match, and lost one after another. Players blaming each other, I can’t help but think “Another match lost not because we are off form, but because we have never really improved” And it’s true in the way that in training sessions, people would always find ways to skip them. Commitment was always lacking. Sloppy efforts always let us down. Many of us weren’t playing soccer regularly in Primary school, many only started in Secondary school, and that is why we have an even bigger gap to fill in, yet we always lacked them.

      Lastly, a responsibility that many of us lack. We are responsible for the teams equipment. With no equipment, we cannot train as a team. I am guilty of kicking balls out of the school before, but I’ve always retrieved them immediately when something like that happens. How could balls keep disappearing, I do not understand how. The balls’ state are all ours to look after, it is our responsibility as players to respect and look after them.

      To sum it all up, Respect, Understanding, Attitude, Practice, Commitment and Responsibility was what I appreciated and learned in greater detail.

      Delete
  28. Maybe some of you should take note.
    Its not keeping a grudge if you were provoked first.
    I know why some of you people like to hold grudges against others, as desperation, jealousy and envy is part of human nature, and no one can escape it. But to be so desperate, butthurt, jealous to come up with some other fake stories to get me in trouble like spitting at your face, "kicking and injuring" Ryan, and all those bullcrap, it really reflects upon yourself. Go ahead. Get me suspended, caned, expelled for all I care. But just remember one thing, no one and nothing can un-butthurt you and make you forget how suckish you are, even now and last year. I may have not said it to you as I had nothing against you then and didn't want you to go complaining to a teacher or principal, but maybe you should know, you are nothing like Van Der Sar, you suck at tackling, you can't dribble properly, your control is crap, and it doesn't matter how fast it takes you to run around a field, all that is nothing if you can't even last half a match and ask coach to sub you out cause your tired little butt need to go back to your favourite position the bench.
    And I forgave you people a long time ago, since jealousy is human nature, but I am just following Mr Tan's instructions, and I don't see why doing that means that I have a grudge or anything, unless you really badly want me to get in trouble again so you can finally get to be the first eleven.

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  29. To start of with this reflection, I have learnt a lot about discipline, fitness, punctuality, respect and many more in this eight to nine months of training. In this reflection, I would like to mostly talk about my slacking attitude. During the warm-up where we have to run around the field, I did not give my 100% effort to run/jog, instead I would just give up when my legs start to ache, no matter whether I am at my first round or not, and would just walk. And during the running/jogging session, I would get tired easily so I would stop running/jogging and start walking. I would just chat with my team-mates and finish my rounds either last or second-last walking and not running to join my team-mates in the stretches and dynamic movement drills.

    And to make things worse, I did not try to improve my fitness by doing runs during the weekends and depended on the S&W lessons during the school week to improve it.

    Even during keeper training, which was by some people's opinions the most 'slacky training, I would laze around and try to cut down on the drills we were supposed and during the drills, I did not try my best to do them. Kang Xiong would be familiar with this as i was always his partner in keeper training. And during the game at the end of training, I would make up excuses to not participate as the starting keeper. During the match, I did not watch the match and would chat with my fellow team-mates about topics which were irrelevant to soccer and when I was called to substitute the current keeper, I would just keep half-heartedly.

    Sometimes, I feel tempted to skip training as I was very tired but I resisted them as I knew even if one of our team-mates is absent, the team would be affected. Upon reflecting on this negative behavior, I would like to set a personal goal to improve my fitness so as to play goal-keeper better and help my team-mates in defending the goal and I also set a goal to give 100% commitment to the drills Coach set for the keepers to do every training and not slack. My involvement in this CCA is not for fun and the teachers who put me in this CCA even though it was my third choice must have had a reason to put me in here and I must not take this for granted as if my behavior worsens, it can result in me getting kicked out of this CCA.

    Lastly, I would like to thank the teachers who put me in this soccer CCA as I have mentioned earlier, I had learnt a lot about punctuality where everybody have to report for CCA at a certain time unless we have a valid reason; respect for our opponents and the field; fitness which affects our performance in training and matches etc.

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  30. I have learnt a lot about discipline, punctuality, teamwork, commitment, techniques and most importantly, determination because without determination and commitment all the other parts will not be fulfilled to the best of one's ability. I feel that something the team is lacking is the determination. I think that some of us are just in soccer to pass the time and probably have way better things to do. We should enhance team spirit and not just keep practicing skills such as techniques because without the spirit to win and to work hard. Everything that the leaders work hard to put in such as punishment and different new fun ways to learn things, the players will not be able to appreciate because of the lack of spirit and determination. Determination is like the engine to the team, without it just adding in more “fuel” will not help in running the engine if there isn’t a good engine. We should work as a team to bring in this passion for being there during soccer. We should all be able to watch each others backs like brothers. And to bring in this spirit, there must be more respect for each and every player. We should try every single method to improve each of us one by one. We cannot allow the better of the players to proceed and advance on their owns. We should let the better players help each of the lousier players in their own way according to character and personality of the 2. We should allow things such as a buddy system and pacemaker system, this will allow everyone to advance at the approximately the same pace as everyone else. The soccer team is really not much about the skills, it is about the heart to help each and everyone in the team. It also must not be because of a rule to be set that we help each other, it must be straight out of our hearts that we help each player. I feel that we should be able to impart a stronger bonding system because basically during training everyone is doing their own thing. nobody actually cares about each other. Our soccer team wants to improve on their own meaning that everyone is going about doing their own improvement and if they succeed thats good but if one of us is doing it on their own without anyone to rectify their mistakes, that person’s efforts will continue on without anyone else knowing. This will continue on until that person’s Mistakes are known and everyone else especially the leaders will start scolding and reprimanding and in actual fact its not even that guy’s fault its just because there is not team spirit. If you were to read my reflection please look above me and see if everyone is writing this just to get this over with or maybe just to improve on their own. I hope the numbers that share the same view as me will increase because we need to improve on our team spirit and the ways we can depend on one another.

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  31. Reflections:

    This year iv learnt so much more from coach vaira than from coach peikang. Its not because coach peikang is not a good coach but it is because he focused too much on defense which i honestly think is still really weak after all that work. All the first team member’s i can see deserve their places in the first team but the reserves are the ones who are really not giving their fullest during training. I could hear some of them talking about their games and other unrelated things during training. Although darius always reminds them, they ignore him and continue. I think this is an attitude problem and they are greatly hurting the team because of it. Even though we work on defense, we still work on agility from coach peikang which i can see people doing it half heartedly like where coach peikang asked people to push themselves but only some people listened. Others just did not give a crap about it and continued with their little chats this is a major discipline problem with the team and i think we should conduct stricter trainings.

    When coach vaira was coaching us, i feel that I have learnt much more than coach peikang as he works on more ball work and individual skills like passing and skills like crossovers. He also works on set pieces and how we are supposed to run after passing but alot of people are not listening, talking among themselves and not listening to coach explain. During the drills, most of them would not know what they are doing and they would have to be shouted at and corrected and re-demonstrated many times till they do it right. By that time, they would only have done it correctly once or twice and they are rotated with others. This really waste those who really want to work and those who really want to do their ball work properly and they are hindered by these inconsiderate people.

    I am very sure in this year I gave my 100% for every drill at least 90% of the time and i had always listened to coach when he was talking and when i missed something out, i would always ask my fellow teammates about how the drill is done so i would not hinder the team but this is not a case with alot of my teammates.

    I agree with matthew and i think we should have more shooting practice as we cannot get near to the goal, we should learn to shoot properly so that we can try from far and have a percentage of chance at goal instead of 0 percent while attacking and losing the ball. Soccer is a very interesting sport and i loved it all the way from primary school although I cannot make everyone like soccer, i tink everyone should take pride in their choice of putting soccer as a CCA and they should work hard instead of slack off

    JQ

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  32. This year is my third year in School of Science and Technology which is also my third year in the soccer CCA. Being in this CCA for three years means I am one of the seniors and pioneers of the Soccer CCA. In fact I was the first person to bring a soccer ball in school which in turn made people play together. Soon we all decided to apply for the Soccer CCA and everyone got in. From then on, we trained as a team, a team of 19 initially. Soon 2nd year came and a new batch of juniors joined the Soccer CCA too.This added to our soccer team. Finally, this year, the third year, a new batch of sec 1 students joined and we had a larger Soccer team now as compared to 2 years ago when we all just started. I still remembered that during our year two, when we were told that we were going to join the national inter-school soccer tournament. We were all definitely excited and soon we were choosing our jersey numbers and getting our jerseys. We all trained, hoping we could bring something out of the tournament that we were going to compete. In our first match, our mentality was to get the win, our first win. We are all waiting, hoping that the coach would announce our name on the first eleven team. That game ended as a defeat. From that experience, I learnt how tough it’s going to be. We were a newly formed club without experience and without much training. I realized our team was lacking in many of the aspect required of a good soccer team. However one positive thing I believed that we had was our “never-die” attitude. Just like Mr Lam said, we just kept going , defeats after defeats.We tried to keep our spirit up, in training, in buses to matches, hoping that something would change and we would do better. Apparently we did improve however our first win was still not near enough for us to reach. A few times we came close, just to fail to get it. However I am 100% positive that I definitely improved as a player and as a person. I used to toe-poke the ball forward to shoot,pass,dribble. To dribble and beat players I would just push the ball as far as possible and run as fast as possible. But now, through 3 years of training and coaching from different coaches, I learnt how to cut,how to turn,how to pass,how to receive,how to shoot,how to cross,how to support a fellow teammate, how to play soccer,the sport I chose to join and the sport I enjoy with my fellow teammates and friends. At times in training I would slack at times. I am sure everyone had their tired and frustrated or moody days where we would show it in our attitude,our speech, our training. I hope that the following trainings and next year, we would do better. I don’t mind if we don’t perform as good in competitions as robotics or whatever not but I hope that we would improve as a team,as a player and as a student athletic. I hope that everyone would have an attitude that help the team and themselves to improve. As pioneers and seniors I hope that the sec 3s will be good role models for our juniors. This is my reflection of my three years in SST’s soccer team.

    Matthias Lee

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  33. Through this whole year, I learnt a lot from all the soccer lessons I attended. 

Some of the things I learnt about is respect, determination, confidence and communication.



    Respect:
    
Respect is one of the most important aspects in soccer. No matter what, we must have respect for our team mates, coach, Teacher-in-Charge and captains.
When the coach is teaching us how to do the drills, we must not engage in our own conversations or disrupt him as he is trying his best to teach all of us what he can, instead, we must show respect to him and pay attention and listen to what he is teaching us. We must also respect our Teacher-in-Charge and captains when they are talking because they might be giving us important informations or teaching us how we can improve during a match, so we should not talk or do other stuff when they are talking as we might miss out on some of these important things.



    Determination:
    
Determination is something that everyone in the team must have. In a match, you must have determination to win it, and not just think that your opponents are too strong and you cannot beat them. Even if you know that your team is going to lose the match, you must still be determined and give it all you got until the end, because you never know what might happen. At the start of every match, you must be determined to win it, and not just be like “The opponent is too strong for us. They are bigger, taller, stronger. You will never be able to win the match.” If every players are like that, the whole team will just start crumbling down as no one has the determination to win the match, and will not give it all they got, leading to a loss in the game.



    Confidence:

    Every player must have confidence when in a match. We must have the confidence to call out for our fellow team mates for them to pass the ball, or to go in for the challenge. If we lack the aspect, the whole team will be affected as your team mate may have the ball and a few players start to tackle him, and if you have the confidence to call for him to pass you the ball, he may be unable to see you and just lose possession to the opponent. We must also not be over confident as that may lead to the whole team being affected. If you are over confident, you may just get the ball from your team mate then dribble from your half to the other thinking that you are so good, then lose the ball halfway through as you did not pass to your team mates when you had the chance too, and may just cause the whole team a loss. 

Communication:
Communication is the most important thing during a match. It is important for everyone to have communication, as you may then be able to call out for your team mate to ask him to cover you while you go upfront, to tell him that you will go in for the challenge, that the person is for him to mark etc. It is also crucial in calling for the goalkeeper to come out the ball is near the penalty box and there is no defenders there. If anyone in the team lacks this aspect, there will be difficulties in getting the ball from the opponent which may decide if the team wins or loses the match.

    -

Pides Low-

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  34. For the whole of this year, I learnt many things, wether it has to do with football it, sportsmanship or being with a team. Before I came into the SST football team, I never knew what it was like to be in a real team. My primary school never had a team and though my soccer school had a team, we were not really a team. However when I became part of the SST football team, I knew what it was like, to rely on each other, to play as a team. Now some other things I learnt throughout the course of this year:

    Gaining Confidence- Before this I had no confidence and did not dare to take on defenders and dribble or even shoot. When i participated in competitions we always lost and I learnt and contributed nothing, but when I came to SST I received encouragement and slowly I gained confidence and slowly I could dribble past players and generally improve. This also allowed me to gain confidence in shooting at the goal, I had never been confident in shooting as my shots do not have the power to shoot, but now i am able to take some shots at goal and instead of power, i substitute it for accuracy.
    Step-overs- Preferably my favorite skill of all time. This skill had always been my favorite and I practiced it a lot. However, learning a skill is one thing, performing the skill infront of an opponent, in a competition and beating him. Thats a whole different thing. It was the same for me. This simple skill during a competition became an impossible task. Then slowly I began to start using these skills first at the training ground, then slowly i used them to beat defenders in competitions and I think this was one of the main things I have learnt this year.
    Team spirit- I learnt that when you are in a team, its all for one and one for all. When someone does something badly, the whole team gets punished, and also when someone makes a mistake, we do not shout at them, no one wants to make mistakes, it will be more helpful and beneficial if we just tell them what the did wrong and how to improve, which I will admit is something that I have not been doing and will look to improve on. When we are in a team, we do not just do things for ourselves, we do it for the rest of our team too. This is what a team is for, to stand by each other and to help our fellow teammates.
    Fitness- This is another thing we have to to be very focused on. Skills can be improved but if our fitness is not there, we cannot do much, which includes playing the full game. Amazingly, since joining this CCA, my fitness has improved tremendously. I am now able to play a longer game and run faster. I think this will aid any player in their game if their fitness was high, so fitness is one of the main aspects of football.

    So with this it concludes most or the more important things that I have learnt this year in my time at SST United.. I hope to learn more and improve further in the coming years.

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  35. This year, I’ve learnt a number of things from soccer CCA. Not only the abilities that have helped me improve as soccer player but also the qualities that a soccer player or a team should have.

    Regarding abilities and skills, coach have taught me how to be a better soccer player. The drills and practice which were conducted to help us improve were mostly done repeatedly throughout a couple of sessions in order for us to do well. For example the ‘rectangular’ passing drill taught me how to control our first touch and do a through pass with accuracy.
    We have been taught basics such as passing and simple dribbling drills to more complicated drills such as the step over. Needless to say, drills and practice is important for us to improve as a soccer player. Our coaches have also tried their best to implement fun games into our training so as to make our training enjoyable while also improving on our abilities.

    Coach Vaira also had intention to train us in terms of stamina and fitness although it not as evident now. The timed lap runs that we did was probably useful to us as many of us still lack fitness to play in a full match. Fitness is of sole importance besides improving our soccer abilities and skills.

    Besides our soccer abilities I have also learnt that there are qualities that every one in our soccer team needs to have minimally for our team to improve.

    Discipline is the most important for us to have. Discipline encompasses simple duties such as coming to soccer on time, paying attention to coach when he is talking and participating the training with utmost effort. I feel that our team really have to work on this although it might be present, it is not present in substantial amount especially with the intake of this year’s soccer players where a some of the players lacked the motivation to do their best.

    Respect for your teammates is also important. A good soccer player is one that does not hold grudges against each other. Also, harsh criticism is mostly likely not going to allow the player to improve while constructive criticism along with words of encouragement is important to help each other improve.

    Last but not least, I also learned the importance of balancing between academics and soccer CCA. Although our school work and studies are of more importance, our effort that we put in for soccer cannot be lacking. As Mr Tan said, we are ‘student athletes’ where we are supposed to put our studies first but also put in effort to do well in our CCA.

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  36. There are many aspects that are important for us, the SST United FC needs these aspects so as to become a better team. I too, lack this aspects. Soccer is a great sport and if you play, as you get better, you will find it is intensely competitive, also. Becoming a great soccer player and a good team mate requires a lot of hard work. You can not practice just once a week and expect to be good at what you are doing. It takes hard work and determination to play well. Even young children can acquire a great benefit from good practices and practicing a wide range of skills to do well.

    Talent is a great aspect to becoming a soccer player. You need talent to succeed and be a good team. You need talent to be able to dribble, keep possession of the ball, and be able to know the right time to pass and shoot and also, play at a skillful and average level. An example of a time where talent was needed is when my best friend, Haziq and I were in Tampines Rovers and was about nine years old. Our team was going to play against one of the better in the tournament. It happened to be that the two boys who played forward with us had to miss the game. We had to prove, through his talent, to the other team that he could overcome the fact that he didn’t have his partners and lead his team to victory. Hence I think that talent is also quite important.

    Passion is the motivates me to support and give it my best during play. Passion is also something that has helped me perform. If you play with passion you really will be able to accomplish anything. You need passion to play the game well! Also, a player needs to have a positive attitude, because if not, it can cause a loss or a drop in enthusiasm. For example, at one of my games while I was in Tampines Rovers, our goalie called Seif, went into the game with a bad attitude, and that caused everyone to become upset and lose motivation. As a result of his bad attitude, he got goals scored on him and we lost the game.

    Leadership, another value a player must have, is also a great aspect to becoming a great player. Every team needs a strong and firm leader. Without leadership there is not much organization or unity as a team. Just as our team captain Darius is a good captain, he guides us and lead us.

    Next, you have to work on your body. One of the primary things you can do to become a better soccer player is to develop your body. This means that you must take good care of yourself both on and off the soccer field. You should eat right and healthy foods and stay in shape. Many soccer players that are very good do not just practice soccer, they also take part in other training such as physical endurance, and even weight lifting to meet their goal. You must have the capacity to run and keep up with your team while a game is going on and in order to do this, you must be in the best possible physical status.

    You have to be a good listener. When you listen well enough, you are also taking a big step in being a good player. That means that you must work well with your team and listen to your coach effectively. There have been many players that just do not take advice well and this is a huge downside if you are playing on any team. You must have the capacity to do this; else, no one will want to work with you. You must also be able to take the advice and criticism your coach is giving you and use it to your advantage.

    You have to work on your skills. When you play soccer, you will also have to work tirelessly on your skills. You must be able to show up and work hard for your practices and practice every aspect of the game and with that, you will become a better soccer player!

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  37. What I have learned from the CCA and my feelings for the CCA:

    What I have learned

    I have learned that every player in the team is important as in the past before getting into this CCA , I felt that if the striker does not score, the team will lose because of him. I found out that my thinking was wrong when the coach talked about tactical play and if the tactics are wrongly applied, then the team will lose.

    I also learned how to dribble, some thing that I could not do it correctly before I came to this CCA. I also learned to pass the ball properly as I used to "toe poke" the ball to pass it to someone else. I also learned the goalkeeping techniques like catching and diving etc.

    I also learned that fitness is very important for a sportsman no matter which positions they are in as if they have no fitness, they will also be not able to have the stamina to complete one whole match (That’s me).

    I have learned that I need to persevere in this CCA as the Sec 1s are the ones that will form the bulk of the C division team for next years inter school tournament and we are representing the school, so we have a great responsibility on our shoulders
    What I feel of the team

    I feel that firstly, the players in the team should have a balance between their studies and their CCA commitments and not getting supervised studies so often. I also feel that the players also should watch out of our actions, no matter in the real world or virtual world to avoid getting into trouble and facing disiplinary actions like suspensions and MOUs or etc.

    I feel that the team should have better attitudes while training like for example giving their 101% while training. We should also not talk about unnecessary stuff during training( I admit I have do it several times.) We should also not talk when the captain or coach is speaking to us.

    I feel that we should also have more team spirit and we should not be separated like into our own groups of our skills or ability. Like for example, people have been making sarcastic remarks of others as their skills are not as good as theirs just because they learned how to play soccer earlier.( I don’t want to reveal any names) I also feel that we should not be scolding our team mates just because they have made a mistake. I am sure they would not want to be treated in this way and I hope they put themselves in other shoes.( Not mentioning any names again.)

    I feel that we should also learn how to put the balls back after playing after training as some people will just put the balls in the field and after school, the ball mysteriously goes missing and a fact that we do not report the losses to the respective captains is quiet an irony.

    In conclusion, I honestly think that if the team continues to have this type of a attitude, the team will fall apart and the team will not be united and does his own thing and does not care about the feelings of the other players.

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  38. I have learnt many things since joining the Soccer CCA. At first I thought it was just an ordinary sport CCA but then I realised there was more meaning to the CCA besides having to tire our socks out.

    Firstly, I feel that I have improved in ball control since joining the CCA. I feel that I have improved in ball control, as I seem to have better touches on the ball. I learnt new skills that I feel were very difficult to use, but seems simple when I tried it. I have learnt lots relating to passing. I learnt how to manage my power for passing, for one touch I have to adjust the weight of my pass according to how far my team-mate is. I have learnt to pass accurately to my team-mate.

    Secondly, I think that I have improved on my fitness. I think that the drills that Mr Tan did with us for that 1 hour last time were very fun and helpful. Mr Tan would usually ask us to run around Block D ( I think, I don’t take notice of the names of the blocks in SST ) . Often, he would time us, which spurred us to go faster, and ask the Secondary 2s to run after us. I think that fitness is important because it determines how well you perform, for example, if you are a good player but you have no fitness, you will probably not be in the starting eleven because if an average player with good fitness starts, he will more likely to create more chances in a whole match than the good player with no fitness, who can probably create a few chances then get tired. Also, it would be a wastage of substitutions in the match.

    Thirdly, I learnt that communication is very important in a match. Without communication, we would not be able to tell where our team-mate wants the ball to be played and we might lose possession of the ball to the opposing team. We must also learn each others’ playing style, as we might have different types of training in primary school.

    Fourthly, I learnt that attitude is important, in training and in matches. If we are consistently late for training, we might be dropped from the first team because it reflects on how you are going to be on match days, which will be coming when the bus has left ( on away games ) . If that becomes a habit, we might not get a job as we might be late for a job interview or consistently late for a job in the future. We also must have respect. Lets take an example from the EPL: Suarez called Evra ‘negro’ , which means black in Spanish. Obviously, Suarez had not respect for Evra and it resulted in a 8 game ban. We must also not blame others if they did something wrong. We must put ourselves in the person’s shoes and think if you would do better in that kind of situation. We must also think of the person’s reaction when you blame him. He might be very stressed and you might be putting more pressure on him.

    Next, I learnt that determination and confidence are key to a player’s performance. They determine how you want to perform. For example, if an attacker who has no determination and confidence wants to get pass a defender with determination and confidence, the attacker will never do it, even though he has lots of skills and the defender might not have experience to attackers like that. Like my former principal always said, “If you don’t persevere and have no confidence, you will never be the best.” We should never look down on other players as they might just be out of form. They might even take your place in the first team, if you are ( in the first team ) .

    Finally, as student-athletes, we must learn to manage our time wisely. We cannot skip CCA just to study for exams. Although studies come first, we are supposed to learn to use the time that we have effectively.

    CCAs were meant to be engaging, as well as to prepare younger generations of Singaporeans for the working world ahead, and I think that the Soccer CCA has thought me lots of traits that I need to continue my life.

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  39. I have learned many this since I joined the soccer team. One of the most important and always emphasized is that I chose to join this CCA so it is my responsibility not only because I am a player but because that soccer is a team sport. I never want to let the team down so I know that I have to do my best and participate actively.
    I was never the best at it so I know I have to work on both my physical strength and my ball skills as if a soccer play would lack either, he would not be fit to play and not only failed as a player but he would also cause the team problems. I know as I have always been told off again and again by many people so I have to try and live up to their standards and prove to them that I can also be a good soccer player. But I learnt to take this criticism as feedback for me to improve.
    I also learned that for every good player on the field there is always a team supporting that player. No one can be a one man team and just by himself, soccer is a team game where player work together to win. So if there is a exceptionally good player in the team than his teammates should try to follow his example but if there is a bad player on the team then it is that player’s responsibility to improve himself.
    Hence, I learned that it is our responsibilities as student athletes to manage our daily lives. So if one of us has to go to SS and miss out a session of soccer practice then that person is at fault. Or if one of us skips a session of soccer practice then it is his fault for all of us go through that same examination yet we can still come for soccer practice.
    I too learned communication. For example is we are open and no opponent is marking us then we should cal for the ball, or if your teammate is having possession of the ball and there is a opponent defender coming to tackle him then it is we should warn him.
    I also learn respect, for the team captain, the vice-captain, the coach, the teacher in charge and the team. Without respect no one would be listening to each other, there will be no teamwork so there will be no team at all.
    I also learned that attitude and mindset is important. For example on the field when you teammate tries to correct you, just accept it and not argue back as they are only trying to help you. When coach is teaching, listen so you can do the exercise and improve as coach is also trying to help you. Also if you are losing the match or made a mistake, learn form them, don’t give up and try to work on it.
    Now honestly, I know that everyone has their own way of thinking, be it good or bad, the only way we can get the whole team to improve is to start with yourselves.

    -Markus

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  40. What's the similarity between good fitness, good teamwork, good communication, good ball skills, good stamina etc.? Yea, SST don't posses any of them.

    What's the similarity between average fitness, average teamwork, average communication, average ball skills, average stamina etc.? SST posses them? Let's not flatter ourselves over here shall we? We're much worse than that.

    Firstly, fitness. SST have a perfect team to compete against Barcelona and the Great Britain Olympic Diving team. Except for the fact that we aren't intentional when we dive. Most of yall tumble over like some cheap-ass half-grade dominoes made in China by blind people who happened to be unnecessarily blindfolded. Seriously. Not being critical here, just saying the truth.

    When people pushes you with their hand, drag you to the ground, you start complaining and saying that's a foul? Was the supposed to be a joke? There is nothing wrong with people elbowing you, 'arm-ing' you away, pushing you away etc. It's all part and parcel of the game. So I suggest you shut your mouths, or apply sticky tape, or whatever works best for you, stop complaining, and actually make a successful pass for once.

    Secondly, teamwork. Woah I haven't seen that word in quite a long time ever since I stepped foot into SST. No but seriously? Where's the communication? To be honest, if we are playing against a team whose players are mute, and there are no supporters, I can hear a pin drop. How do you expect you expect to convey a message across the field without raising your voice? With your hands? With your body? Wow. I can see Neptune with my naked eye.

    Thirdly, ball skills. How many people can actually pass properly? How many people can juggle at least 10 times? How many people can do a long pass accurately? How many people can kick a high ball? How many people can shoot? How many people can do all of the above without actually looking like an under-developed idiot? Not trying to be critical again. But seriously? This message is more towards to the Sec 3s. Some Sec 2s and Sec 1s are already up to our standards. For those who currently are, no offence, lousy, I can see the passion in them. I can see them practicing on their own. No matter how much people critisize them, they'll still turn up for training, have fun etc. Sec 3s? "I love warming the bench".

    Fourthly, discipline. Seriously? You're tired? You're shagged? You're lazy? What kind of excuses are those? Taken out of the rubbish bin? Crap? Again, this part is towards specific people only, so if you have been attending training, or skipping training with valid reasons, you don't have to feel guilty. LOL. There is an obvious improvement in attendance, but the attendacy of some people are puzzling. If you're one of the "higher authorities", shouldn't you be attending training? So what if you have something going on earlier? Does being in a higher position give you privileges? Unless you're excused, you jolly well come down, and do some light training and all. Don't give lousy excuses of how you want to go back home and shit.

    I'm being sarcastic and crude in this reflection because I need a good laugh, and hopefully you guys will wake up and start taking initiative to make yourself a better player? No one is perfect (my name is no one btw, nice to meet you), so why not help each other? People who are good at high balls, teach the juniors or people who needs help etc....

    "Teamwork is important on the field, but equally important off the field." - Future Arsenal FC legend, Lhu Wen Kai.

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  41. Training, something that the entire team had to go through together for throughout the entire year. For me, training as a whole for this year in itself has probably been the period of time in which I learnt the most about my role as a goalkeeper and what is expected from me. Why? This is mainly because through this entire year, there were 3 coaches that had come in and taken us for training. At the start of the year, when the Secondary 3 team was taking part in the West Zone Inter-school tournament, Coach Pei Kang had varied the training given to us according to how we played during the matches. And it was evident that as the tournament progressed, the team as a whole ended up playing much better as compared with the start of the tournament.

    Firstly, I learnt that the most fundamental aspect of being a goalkeeper is to maintain constant communication with my own defense. As the goalkeeper is standing in goal and not constantly running around the field, he naturally has the biggest field of view of the entire field. This allows the goalkeeper to spot many gaps in the defense which the defense might not see. Thus, during training, I have been thought to call out to my defenders to shift into position. Following communication, Coach Pei Kang also taught the team about shifting as a whole.

    Defensive shifting was vital, as it taught the defense how to move according to where the opponent is playing the ball. And also, on the flip side, shifting is also applied by the rest of the players when the goalkeeper has possession of the ball. This is to mainly let us play the ball down the flanks, thus, stretching the opponent's defense.

    Coach Pei Kang also had goalkeeper training which mainly focused on agility and reaction time. I learnt that being a goalkeeper, I always have to be on my toes so that I can quickly react to any ball that is coming towards the goal. Being on my toes will also allow me to get off to a faster start when sprinting toward a ball that the opponent striker might have mis-controlled.

    Also during training when Coach Pei Kang wasn't present, I learnt many things from the other coach's training as well. He focused more on diving and receiving the ball. I learnt that being a goalkeeper, I cannot be afraid of the ball or the striker. When receiving a high ball, I have to jump upwards with my hands stretched outwards from me. One of my knees also have to be lifted up. This will allow me to protect myself from players which my run into me. Also, I learnt a lot on how to position myself in front of my goal. When the opponent is approaching my goal, I have to move forward in order to close down the angle in which the opponent can shoot. Once I get close enough, or if the opponent controls the ball wrongly, I can lunge for the ball and either try and grab it or push it out of the danger zone.

    Finally, when the current coach took over, he focused on catching the ball and diving. I learnt that in order to be a good goalkeeper, one must really master the basics before moving on to more sophisticated things. I learnt that the correct technique of diving was to side shuffle in the direction I was going to dive in before bending down towards that side and pushing off with my legs. Even though these were some things that I already knew about, it was a nice change of pace to go back to learning the basics as I do admit that I have been falling behind in terms of my skills in between the gap of the tournament period and now.

    All in all, training has been a place where the whole team could come together and learn together, not only learn about better techniques and skills, but also learn about each others' playstyle. This in turn allows the team as a whole to have a better understanding of one another, thus, allowing the team to play the players in positions more suited to their skill set and abilities.

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  42. Reflections:

    Over the last 3 years in this CCA, I think a great deal of things, both positive and negative have happened. I have learnt a lot of new skills, made some new friends and I think my 3 years spent in this CCA was beneficial to my holistic learning experience.

    When I first joined this CCA 3 years ago, I honestly did not know what to expect from it as I had no prior football experience except for playing casually during recess and after school in primary school, even so, it was on a hard court half the size of a soccer field. The first year was pretty eventful. I realized playing actual football was way harder than it seemed. The main thing for me at that time was stamina, which along with many other people on the team clearly lacked in order to play a full game properly. We were also disorganized as many of us had little prior experience as well. Training for me was tougher than expected as well, mainly because I lacked stamina at first but I somehow I managed to persevere through it, learning a lot of things in the process. The 2nd year was even more impactful, we played our first official tournament, and that just made the team and myself realize how much we actually lacked, from stamina to ball control and even trivial skills we were expected to know like passing were still not that good at that point of time. However, over the span of this 2 years, I think I learnt a lot of new skills, from making passes, increased power in my shots and even better ball control than when I first joined this CCA. The most important takeaway however from this CCA is the increase in my stamina and overall physique. When I first joined this CCA I could hardly endure an entire training session, and my first match played was a torture physically. However overtime, I managed to build up my stamina both through official training sessions and running during the holidays to last through training and whatever time I was required to play during matches. This motivation and increase in my stamina and physique also benefitted me in other ways especially during NAPFA tests. Apart from these benefits and things I managed to learn over the years in this CCA, I also face some difficulties and challenges. One of the main challenges I and I believe many others faced too was juggling time between school work and CCA, especially prevalent at beginning of CCA as back then I did not manage my time as well. This was especially a problem on mondays when CCA would at at around 6 and after traveling home and eating dinner I would be left with very little time to do homework, not to mention physically exhausted from training. This made it very hard to focus and get work done, but over time I managed to prioritize my time and plan my work accordingly, helping overcome the problem of time management. Come sec 3, with the introduction of a new coach and a large batch of juniors, I think this year has been an extremely challenging one, with the team facing many problems along the way. One of which I believe is the sheer number of people training together, which results in a lot of time spent waiting and not doing anything productive. I believe splitting our training session into 2 parts like what we did before is still more beneficial for us, rather than wasting time while waiting for the other group to finish their drills before we can join in. I also feel that there have been a lot of disagreements between people in the team and there are tensions between certain people in the team. I think this is one of the reasons why our team isn’t united anymore, with different parties having conflicting views and opinions on various issues. I believe this will not only affect our team chemistry and morale which is at an all time low but also affect our performance when working together in the future.

    Gregory Chew

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  43. This year during soccer CCA, I have learnt many things that can be applied on the field and out of the field.

    During training, when coach instructs us to do the drills and physical training, it is all beneficial to us as the physical training will increase our stamina, which is vital when we are playing a full game as we would need to run and sprint constantly for about 90 minutes. However, another critical element physical training helps to cultivate would be our mental strength. During PT we were always pushed very hard, way beyond our comfort zone. It was easy for us to just half-ass the entire training, as we were not watched for most of the training. However, those with enough discipline would push themselves without the need of external pressure as they would truly want to help themselves. Discipline is another important factor that I have learnt during CCA. With it, it has helped me to set my mind and fixate it to a certain task or thing, for example, when doing challenging tasks it helps me to put in my 100% efforts and not to give up. It is also useful in soccer as when we play our matches/friendlies, we have to constantly push ourselves to fight against our competitors and not to give up, no matter how big the margin of the scores are. Discipline is also useful out of the field, as we are student athletes, we are expected to balance our studies along with commitment to our CCA. Discipline would help us to concentrate on our revision/homework or whatever we require to do in order to keep us with our studies and not get distracted easily.
    During our drills, we learn new skills on the field. For example, this year some important skills I have learnt would be to be able to dribble the ball better and learn some new tricks I could use to get pass a defender. I also increase my ball control, and I am able to pass better. However, I still feel that I lack willpower during my training. I have to admit that I am not putting in 100% effort into my trainings all the time, which is horrible as a 100% should be the minimum requirement for a soccer player. I know that during our drills and trainings I could put in much more effort, but then I get lazy and walk when I have to run, or I don’t pay attention during the drills. One thing that I think I constantly forgot would be when I slack, it is not only me who will suffer, but everybody else who is playing with me. Thus we my actions, I am pulling the whole team down. This is not how we should work as a team, in fact far from it.
    Lastly, another skill I can learn from CCA is respect and trust. I have to trust my teammates in order to work as a team. If I were not to co-operate, then how would I be able to face up to my teammates that are dependent on me to play my role on the team? Respect would play a part in CCA. I dare say that so far I have been attending training sessions whenever I am not preoccupied by another major task. But I feel that I do not show respect to my teachers in charge and even the coach. For example, when coach is teaching other members, I sometimes take theses opportunities to strike up conversations with friends or just to fool around.

    These skills here all can be considered very simple. However, I feel that most of us in the team are lacking in one or more of these qualities. I am no exception. In fact, I think I may very well be the weakest of the 2nd stream B-division boys. However, that does not give me any reason to accept this. Not just me, but as a team, we should all embrace our weaknesses and improve. I have a long way to becoming a efficient soccer player on the team, but I believe with help from all my teammates and teachers, along with my self-motivation, we all can improve ourselves.

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  44. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  45. Here are my completed set of EOY reflections. In order to be able to better organise the points into well-defined structures, the actual document has been exported into a pdf document, which may be downloaded for reference as follows:

    http://goo.gl/0Oh6v

    Neo Weihong

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