Finishing with a Flourish: Floorball Finals 2016

Reading Time: 5 minutes

By: Ada Lim (17S03B), Elyn Tzen (17S03B), Nadiya Nesseer (17S03B) and Yeo Jun Wei (17S03B)

Photographs contributed by Raffles Photographic Society

On 27 May 2016, Friday, Delta Sports Hall was aroar with loud shrieks of joy and cheers as defending champions Raffles Institution (RI) defeated Meridian Junior College (MJC) with a narrow margin of 2-1 in the National A Division Floorball Championship finals to secure the top spot in their season.

The pressure was palpable even before the match began. MJC, known to be a powerhouse in the sport, had scored 55 goals in winning all six of their preliminary round fixtures, while only losing 6 in the process. Their reputation of a three-year title-winning streak from 2010 to 2012 was also fresh in many people’s minds. Previously, they had edged out Anglo-Chinese Junior College (ACJC) 8-0 to qualify for the finals, whereas RI had only narrowly defeated Victoria Junior College (VJC) 5-3.

Against all odds, the RI team remained calm and composed to emerge as the top dogs. In the 1st period, neither team managed to score a goal. If the MJC defense was tight, the RI defense was even tighter; when MJC attacked aggressively, RI reciprocated with even more perfectly-executed moves to keep the ball in possession. In several nerve-wrecking instances during the period, MJC’s offence came too close to scoring for comfort. Fortunately, their attempts were thwarted by RI’s highly competent goalie, Jared Tan [16S03K]. His spectacular saves earned relieved cheers from the RI spectators, as our team rallied on in an especially difficult game.

Goalie Jared Tan [16S03K] hurling the ball back into the arena, thwarting yet another attempt by MJC to score.

RI scored the first goal of the game during the 2nd period, to the great delight of fellow Rafflesians. However, MJC was quick in levelling up the playing field by responding with a goal of their own, placing even more pressure on RI as they headed into the 3rd period. RI’s determination was written on the players’ faces, as they kept up an aggressive offence even though one of their players had injured himself.

Player Silas Choe [16S03P] hurtling after the ball with an MJC player close behind in pursuit.

RI and MJC were neck and neck as soon as the 3rd period began, and it was probable that the game would have to go into overtime as it appeared that neither teams were able to break through the other’s defence. But in the closing minutes of the period, RI managed to score their second goal. Despite the tension building up, each RI team player remained focused, never once being complacent of the fact that they were in the lead. In the remaining minutes of the game, the strategic RI defense prevented MJC from levelling out the score, and as the seconds dwindled down, so did MJC’s hopes of dethroning RI. When the umpire sounded the whistle to signal the end of the game, RI team players flooded onto the court in exuberance as supporters cheered with wild pride, Rafflesians coming together as one large family to celebrate our victory in the last game of the season.

Player Muhammad Haziq [16A03A], guarding the ball against an MJC player closely.

It was a difficult game, but a game well-fought. Indeed, according to Captain Jared Tan [16S03K]: “I’m very proud of the team’s performance. In the semis, we didn’t play well against VJ, but for the final, we managed to bounce back stronger. The game was extremely tight and could have gone either way. After MJ scored the equalizer it would actually have been very easy for us to crumble, as we had before in previous years. Thankfully, we were able to rely on one another without any fear and pull through together.

I’m especially proud of the J1s who stepped up a lot this year. The J2s can leave knowing that the team is in good hands.

It’s been a privilege to train under our Coach, Ms Jill Quek, she has helped us to mature and bring our game to the next level.

We also want to thank our teachers in charge Mr Eric Lee and Mr Ali Faisal for working tirelessly behind the scenes to arrange everything for us, and also thanks to everyone for coming down to support us, the cheers were really awesome. Most iportantly, I want to thank God for making all this possible.”

Triumph, pride and joy was evident on each player’s face as they rushed into a group hug following their victory.

Congratulations to the RI Floorball team, for bringing pride and glory to our school as the sports season comes to a close. In retrospect, as we celebrate our victory in the last game of the season as one Rafflesian community, the 2016 Sports Season has been a tumultuous journey filled with ups and downs for Raffles Institution. Yet it was precisely in the face of seemingly hopeless adversity that the Rafflesian spirit burned bigger and brighter, doing much justice to this season’s tagline: Dream, Fight, Unite. We dared to dream big, we fought with an unconquerable determination, and we united as one large family, pushing one another to exceed our boundaries and do our school proud. Good job to all the sports CCAs for a season well fought, and let us ride the waves of success to do even better in the rest of the competitions for the year.

Score by Period (RI vs MJC)

1st Period: 0-0

2nd Period: 1-1 (1-1)

3rd Period: 1-0 (2-1)

RI Floorball Team Roster