This article is part of the CCA Previews for 2016.

By Maisarah Mydin (16S03L), Captain; Lim Wan Ling (16A01D), Vice-Captain; Leanne Kayla Rebecca Shaw M-Y (16S03B), Secretary

It’s a lazy Tuesday afternoon. You have just finished an exhausting day of lessons, but you rush to the field, lace up your boots, spray on your sunscreen… BEAST MODE ON.

As you face the sweltering sun, you need a power-up. Time for… POWER STEPS! This includes a variety of exercises like high-knees, lunges and high kicks. But in touch, you cannot just have power alone. You need agility as well! We then proceed to do drills on the agility ladder, climbing closer to our fitness goals week by week. With that, we move on to the most tiring yet rewarding part of trainings—fitness tests. Though they sound daunting, the suicides, interval sprints and circuit core exercises push us beyond our limits to be the best players we can be. With your team by your side, the encouraging “jia you!”s and support get us through the tough drills.

After going through the toughest part of training, we move on to laterals! Laterals start with the basics, in which we learn how to pass and dump the ball. These drills may initially seem repetitive, but it is during this time where we lay the foundation of learning to play and love the sport, as well as your team.

Every week, we will learn new attacking and defending techniques to outsmart opponents during a game. Such moves include backdoor, quelink and quemiddle. Even though they may sound foreign to you, through consistent practice, you will be able to familiarise yourself with the strategies and skills you need to eventually play a full game of touch on the field.

Though this may be a new sport to you, you will get the chance to participate in various competitions such as the NTU Touch Attack and Todaks Dive Touch, and also friendly matches with other JCs. These opportunities will allow you to familiarise yourself with the game, work together with your teammates and of course, have a great time as a team! These games will enable you to work on your skills and strategies as a team, all in preparation for the annual National Junior College Touch Football League, where you get to represent our school and fight for a top position after months of hard work!

Lastly, here are some words from us on why YOU should join Touch:

“Even though we only meet up for trainings twice a week, there is still a very familial community within the touch rugby family. We treat each other like our sisters and we come together despite our different personalities as one big happy family! Even out of CCA sessions, we often meet up to self train and have fun while throwing balls and running, as dreadful as that may sound. Through our strenuous CCA sessions, we still manage to find the fun in everything and to cheer on each other through the demanding drills during CCA, forging closer bonds and making time spent with our fellow batchmates really warm and fuzzy. :-)” – Samantha Lim, 16S06R

“Joining Touch, a completely new sport to me, was initially daunting. However, I quickly began to enjoy it a lot because of my teammates and because of how thrilling the game is! Though trainings may get tough at times, it has helped us forge stronger bonds with one another and also made us mentally stronger as individuals. Also, although trainings are short and tiring, the sense of accomplishment and fun we have playing together makes it all worth it in the end! :) So if you’re looking for a new CCA where you can have a break from school, have a blast and challenge yourself at the same time, come join us! :)” – Maisarah Mydin, 16S03L