By Ashley Low, 20S07A (Girls’ Captain), Lew Zhiyi, 20S06P, Foo Wen Xin, 20S03P (Girls’ Vice-Captains), Chong Xin Wei, 20S06P (Boys’ Captain), Jayden Tan, Muhammad Anafiya, 20S03J (Boys’ Vice-Captains)
Nothing is impossible. Here in Raffles Floorball, we are firm believers in this mantra. Once you step on court, you have 45 seconds to challenge your limits and make magic happen. Throw away all your preconceived notions about matches being lengthy and boring—not a second goes by in this game without some form of intense and fast-paced action. In this game, you will be challenged in far more ways than you can imagine. This game will teach you to outwit and outdo your opponents by being determined and creative.
However, far beyond the 45 minutes on court, constant effort has to be put in in the months of training leading up to our season. We train for countless hours to perfect our ball control, increase our speed and master playups. In floorball, maintaining peak physical condition is crucial. We train three times a week (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) for the crucial months before our season. After our season ends, our trainings reduce to just twice a week. Training is split into court and physical training. Court training involves intense drills to hone our skills for use during a match, while physical training challenges us to improve our level of fitness. Our training is helmed by legendary coach Jill Quek, former National Women’s player and all-star.
All this may sound daunting and impossible. You’re probably clicking away from this page, thinking, “There’s no way I will be good enough.” Halt in your tracks, for here in floorball, we believe that attitude rather than aptitude makes the player. Maybe you’ve always failed your PE classes. Maybe you’ve only ever run the 2.4km required for NAPFA. Maybe the closest thing to a floorball stick you’ve ever held in your life is a broomstick. Fret not, for so long as you dare to learn, we believe that floorball is the sport for you. Almost half the team comes from a non-sporting background, diverse in our own ways, all united under our passion for floorball. Trainings will be tough. Limits will be tested. You will want to give up. However, your CCA journey will be all the more fulfilling because of your hard work and progress.
Not only will you walk away from this CCA feeling fulfilled, but you will also form invaluable friendships as you go through trials together as a team. In this family, we strive to outdo ourselves both mentally and physically, knowing that we have a team to support us. After all, it’s not about the outcome, but the experience. Even after you’ve graduated from JC and moved on from Floorball, the bonds with your teammates forged in the toughest of trainings will make you reminisce about the times spent in this CCA. At the end of your journey, regardless of the team’s final placing in the National School Games, it’s not the goal count that you will remember, but the memories and experiences shared with the rest of the team that will make you want to turn back the clock and live it all again.
Ultimately, players may make up the team, but the team is what defines the player. Far more than individual skills and physical fitness, the essence of floorball lies in the team. As the saying goes, teamwork makes the dream work. Without our teammates to encourage and support us on or off-court, we would be nothing. Alone we are merely regular people passionate about the sport, but together, we are a family who will face any challenge head on, never leaving any man behind. Honestly, it is never easy to be part of this family, but nothing worth having ever comes easy. After all, the toughest steel is forged under the hottest fire, and we promise that floorball will make all the blood, sweat, and tears well worth it.