B-Div Soccer Finals (Victoria School vs Singapore Sports School)

To our Victorian warriors who kept our school pride flying high, here is the coverage from today's game as promised.

Today, was our eagerly awaited soccer rematch against our esteemed opponents from the Singapore Sports School. Last year we met them as well in the finals and lost 4-0to them. It was an agonising 30 year wait to be in the finals again last year and to suffer defeat left a bitter taste in our mouths.

But this year, our boys pushed through and forged their way through the national competition in the hopes of having a chance to face our esteemed rivals from Sports School on the field of competition again.

And indeed, the Victorian spirit prevailed and we fought our way through to finally meet up with Singapore Sports Schools in the finals today. Unfortunately, two of our key players Dilip Thapa and Bijaya were down with flu and unable to play today. But the boys never backed down, never looked back and stood strong to face the challenge presented by our wortht opponents from the Singapore Sports School.

By the time I made it down to the pitch, VS was down 2-1 and I felt disappointed that I was unable to be there earlier to cheer them on. Yet in a few moments, my spirits were buoyed up when Santosh Magar scored an amazing equalising goal to bring the score to 2-2. See it here!

Immediately our spirits soared and the grandstand rocked with the resounding cheering from our Victorian supporters.

What followed was an intense period of quick attacks and counter-attacks from both sides. Sports School were swift, firm and dominated the field; yet our VS boys challenged them for every ball and kept going and going.

We saw some courageous goal-keeping from Daniel Adam Lightfoot as well as some beautiful runs from Ryson and Amsyar

However, VS conceded another 2 points and Sports School relentlessly drew their lead ahead to 4-2. With the clock-ticking, VS was awarded a free-kick and.....

What a header!!! Iskandar managed to close the gap with that shot bring us 1 point closer to Sports School. We would now fight to equalise with them.

With about 15min to go, Sports School knew that they controlled the game and worked hard to consolidate their position by keeping control of the ball and playing for time to draw out the clock.

With every second, tension and spirits were high as VS sought for equalising opportunities only to face denial at every turn by Sports School who skillfully played to their advantage and kept the pressure up.

Kudos must go to our skipper for the game Amsyar Omar, who ran for every ball- even till the final moments of the game, he never gave up.

I watched with a lot of pride and a little envy as I saw the way Amsyar moved with the ball. I envied the way our boys played with such grace and fluidity- how I wish I had taken to team sports in my youth; but being able to teach and be apart of the Serious PE class of 2009 is something I hold dear to my heart (yes, even when I'm scolding you all- I am still proud of what you can have achieved and will continue to achieve in VS)

And so our match end- not in Victory, for Sports School had indeed played the better game; but even in defeat it was a game that lifted the spirits of all who had come to watch. We pitted ourselves against the best and played our hearts out.
And right before my eyes, I saw our boys grow up.
They did not walk away from the field with their heads down as I feared- no, they looked each other in the eye and congratulated their team-mates for a fitting conclusion to their 4 years in Victoria School.

As I watched, Amsyar came over to Daniel to clasp his hand and congratulate him- this gesture was repeated throughout the team by players, supporters- with many of our players expressing their thanks to our teachers Mr Donald Leo and Mr Wong Wailit as well as our Coaches Mr Teo Yang Song and Mr Arasu.
The game ended in defeat but for us teachers we know that we succeeded in teaching you all the right values and in teaching them to you well.


That is why, win or lose, when we sing the Victorian Anthem we know that we are indeed something more...

If you ask me to find me a school where the Principal himself will come down and stand in the midst of all the boys and sing the anthem with all his heart and cheer with all his might, I know only of one and that is Victoria School- the last remaining government all-boys school in Singapore and we are going to keep it that way so that we continue to produce men of calibre with character, vision and passion. Men that keep going even when the fight is tough and the odds are slim.

"Victoria in Singapore,
there are other schools we know.
Victoria is something more,
the school that watched us grow"

I have grown, played, laughed, cried, cheered, scolded, in my years here as a teacher in Victoria School and I would not trade the experience here for anything else in the world.

In the words of the Serious PE Class "HAR LER"