Thursday, April 1, 2010

Some thoughts on Sporting Light Football League

Dear team,

First, please take a look at this.

Match played

5pm My Saviour’s Church 1 – 4 Everyday Sunday (Blk 367, Yishun Ring Road)
3pm Amos 3:8 0 – 6 Everyday Sunday (Bedok Green Secondary)
5pm Frolic 1 – 7 Everyday Sunday (Blk 367, Yishun Ring Road)

Match to be played

3pm Everyday Sunday v Rebels United (Bowen Secondary)
3pm Everyday Sunday v Salem (Blk 367, Yishun Ring Road)

I hope that you have noticed out of the 5 matches, 3 of em' took (are taking) place at Yishun Ring Road and even if we have an opportunity to play on astroturf pitches, Bedok Green Secondary does not really pass off as a good pitch because of its size. It is quite frustrating to always play at Yishun Ring Road because of the condition of the pitch though some may agree that its not as bad as before. But then again, why must we play on a pitch that normally costs $80 if we used it for friendly games? Furthermore, prior to joining this competition, the organizers have promised that we would play on one of the top pitches in Singapore such as Temasek Sec, Meridian JC, First TPY Sec and etc.

On top of all this, the quality of our opponents is clearly not the level that we would like to play against. For the 3 matches played so far, these opponents are basically little boys who are of a much lower level than us. How long must we carry on playing sub-standard opponents? Right now, we are at the peak (for some, already starting to decline) condition of our sad footballing lives and I feel that we should be playing against quality opponents which will test the mettle of our team. Winning is part of enjoyment but winning with style and substance, not against a group of small boys who look like they just started out, is another different level of satisfaction.

I know that for some, this is just a sort of weekend football activity that provides an avenue of escape and hence would not like to be so competitive but I always believe that we should make the most of our short span of time on the football pitch and achieve something like how we did in our first Espzen season. I cannot describe those feelings well but when we won against East Coast FC, i felt a sense of accomplishment and really proud of our team. We really played as a team and our beloved ex-captain Ethan even managed to steer clear of the occasional Red Card.

In sum, with the few pointers that I have mentioned above, please take a vote and decide whether we should stay on in this league or quit mid-way and move on to another league which is more competitive and more value-added in terms of the pitch. I would even love to get back to Espzen, provided everyone stays fully committed behind the cause for a few more years before we can say farewell to football.

You may not share the opinion as I do but please take a serious consideration to what I have mentioned.

Thank you for reading.

Disclaimer: I do not look down on our opponents but they are really at a different level as us and I'm sure some of u share the same sentiment as me. I'm not boasting the ability of our team but in fact I'm envious that nowadays, younger boys have the opportunity to be exposed to the rough terrain of amateur football, unlike, my time where everything just stayed within the school compound. More exposure means further strengthening of quality and this theory also fits into our team.