Closing Of 2021 !

 In a blink of an eye, another year is coming to a close. With most of 2021 being interrupted by the various restrictions, we had to cramp almost everything in the last quarter of the year.

Nonetheless, we had the privilege of playing many Saturday grass hockey session, well participated by our section members and astroturf sessions on weekday nights - thanks to our ever diligent convenor, Simon See, who has worked hard behind the scenes to make sure the section had activities and games every week.

Last 2 friendly games at RSC Kiara with PJ Club and ex UMBC Sambas team

We held our annual makan kecil on 27^th Nov 2021 at the RSC Kiara poolside, which was well attended by our section members despite having the home-vs-home game rained out.

Makan kecil on 27^th Nov 2021, a year-end tradition for the Hockey section

The last “game” at RSC Kiara was supposed to be played against our Royal Sg Ujong Club (RSUC) friends from Seremban, but the field was again unplayable due to the continuous rain on the weekend of 18^th Dec 2021. Nonetheless, the RSUC boys displayed great clubsmanship and still showed up for a very enjoyable dinner hosted by RSC.

The return match with Royal Sg Ujong Club (RSUC) was rained out on 18^th Dec 2021, but we still had a great time at our poolside dinner and looking forward to RSUC coming again next year!

For all the above, we thank the club, the sport department and all the section members for supporting and participating in all our activities despite the short notice and limited resources in these recent months. Looking forward to a better 2022 and more hockey action!

For all RSC hockey articles please visit http://rschockey.blogspot.com/

A rainy affair - RSUC visits RSC Kiara on 18th December 2021

 It was a match that was not meant to be, as it had been raining continuously for 2 days resulting in floods in several states, including Selangor, rendering our field unplayable this Saturday evening on 18^th Dec 2021.

The Malaysia Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) has even issued yellow and orange alerts indicating that the downpour was not stopping anytime soon, as reported in several news portals.

But even this could not deter the entourage from Royal Sg Ujong Club (RSUC) from making the trip to RSC Kiara and still enjoyed a wonderful dinner by our poolside amidst the pouring rain.

After the makan, the usual formalities followed, as Simon See presented the visiting team captain and manager with a token of appreciation. Thank you Chin Chin for graciously being the MC for the night.

Thank you RSUC for making it all the way here despite the rain

Although there were discussions on whether we were to proceed to penalty strokes or a game of billiards to decide the winner of this match, speeches by Simon and the RSUC captain made it clear that we still owed RSUC a hockey match and we will be happy to host them again. 

With or without hockey, makan minum will proceed!

It was also suggested that the next game should be played with mixed teams from both sides, as many felt that the camaraderie between our clubs built over the years is more important than the result or score of the match.

Some singing soon ensued with Gurbachan Singh from RSUC’s rendition of “Country Roads”. This was followed by a Hindi song by Harcharan Singh which seemed quite popular judging from the crowd’s reaction! The duo then became a trio, with Sarban Singh from RSUC joining in.

The singing trio that entertained us after dinner

The evening was made more merry once the music started playing, thanks to Hutch from RSUC, who kicked it off with the popular song “Kau Ilhamku” by Man Bai, which prompted a few unplanned sing-a-longs when other familiar songs were played.

We sincerely thank RSUC team members for the effort in driving over an hour in the wet conditions to get here, and then having to make the drive back after the dinner. It was a pleasure to host you!

With this final “match” concluded, the RSC Hockey Section Committee would like to say thank you to all our section members for your support and participation in 2021, and also our appreciation to the RSC Sports Department and the Sports Chairman for working tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure our activities continue throughout the year.

Looking forward to a better 2022 and more hockey adventures (and makan minum, of course) in the coming year!

YEAR END MAKAN KECIL 2021

 In a blink of an eye, another year is coming to a close. With most of 2021 being interrupted by the various restrictions, we had to cramp almost everything in the last quarter of the year.

Nonetheless, we had the privilege of playing many Saturday grass hockey session, well participated by our section members and astroturf sessions on weekday nights - thanks to our ever diligent convenor, Simon See, for making the arrangements with our opponents, booking of stadium, arranging for our padang and organising the post-game beverages.

To add the icing to the cake, we had friendly games with Royal Sg Ujong Club, ex UMBC players and PJ Club played at Kiara Sports Annexe followed by our usual makan minum at the club.

Mixed team photo before the PJ Club game

RSC with the ex UMBC Sambas Hockey team

For all the above, we thank the club, the sport department and all the section members for supporting and participating in all our activities despite the short notice and limited resources in these recent months.

As a standing tradition of the hockey section, we held our section makan kecil on 27^th Nov 2021 (Saturday). Unfortunately, the unusually heavy and continuous rain meant we could not get on with our home vs home game, as it poured relentlessly for almost an hour.

It rained so hard, we could hardly see the clubhouse from our car

So, we turned our eyes to our screens instead, as we took this opportunity to watch the Malaysia vs South Africa game at the on-going 2021 Men’s FIH Hockey Junior World Cup played at Bhubaneswar. The hockey section had never been so quiet for a prolonged period, sipping on their teh tarik, with their eyes fixed on their phones!

Quietly watching the game on their phones

In the end, the Malaysian junior hockey team, managed by our hockey section member - I.Vikneswaran, won this crucial game 4-3 and qualified for the quarterfinals.

We may have had the game called off, but the poolside makan kecil was definitely ON!

The dinner theme was “Your Favourite Football Team” and it was refreshing to see the diversity of team jerseys being worn that night (although some didn’t seem to have received the memo!). 

Always working behind the scenes - Convenor and Sport Chairman keep the wheels turning 

Derek and Judith – Good to see you…. whilst Ranjit keep the rival supporters in check!

Nothing stops our section members from attending our makan kecil (CP – Spurs on crutches)

A real family affair - with and without the alcoholic beverage!

You Never Walk Alone – Vegetarians included!

It was also really great to see the family and partners of our section members, as well as a few not-so-regular guys turning up for the makan kecil. We hope to see more of you!

A special note of appreciation to the RSC Kiara F&B team for the delicious food, fantastic service and for being on the ball with the beverages. Keep up the good work! 

RSUC Friendly Match in Seremban

 With the opening up of interstate travel for the fully vaccinated, it didn’t take too long for us to be invited by Royal Sg Ujong Club (RSUC) to Seremban for a friendly game on Saturday, 13 November 2021.

The response was fantastic with over 20 players signing up! 

 

We played at the newly laid out Astroturf Seremban stadium on a beautiful cloudy evening.

Fantastic evening for a game of hockey – team photo before the game

It was a reunion of sorts for the RSC and RSUC captains, Sanjay and Kali, who played together in 1989 for Majlis Perbandaran Seremban. Sanjay was just a teenage rookie, whilst Kali was already a seasoned veteran back then.

 

All travelling RSC players were given a fair share of playing time over 4 x 20 minute sessions and the game was played in a competitive, yet friendly manner.

 

Mohindar and Grewal, who recently made a comeback to RSC hockey, showed us that age did not matter as they impressed with their running, chasing and creating play from the midfield.

Grewal commanding play from the midfield

Mohindar blazing down the right side of the midfield

However, RSC still found it difficult to break into the tough RSUC defence, who thoroughly marked out our forwards and cutting off the passes from our midfielders.

It took our attacking defensive player, Bernard, who pushed forward many times, to eventually earn us a penalty stroke – taken by Sanjay.

 

Alas, our luck did not get better as Sanjay’s powerful flick flew past the goalie’s stick and smashed into the back wall of the stadium, missing by just a “couple” of inches. 

Sanjay watched in disbelief as the ball missed the mark

Despite the tight marking, Rohit and Ray still managed to take advantage of the rare gaps in concentration by the RSUC defence and goalie to squeeze in a goal each. Well done guys!

Rohit harassing the RSUC defence   

Gerard not giving the opponent even an inch

Ray chasing… who got to the ball first?     

Surinder attempting to stop the RSUC forward

Vishnu first off the block!

Sukhdev keeping a close eye on the ball

Unfortunately, with the frequent rotation of players in the RSC defence, RSUC capitalised on their opportunities in our D, as they scored 4 goals to eventually win 4-2. Congratulations RSUC!

After the game, we adjourned to the beautiful RSUC clubhouse for dinner and the usual formalities. New friends were made and old friends were reacquainted, after many months of MCO. It was indeed a delightful evening for players from both teams.

 

All smiles now after the game - Charles and his marker Ragu

Rohit and Ray - Goal scorers’ rewarded 

Thank you RSUC for being such great hosts. We shall see you again in RSC soon for our return game!

A Most Memorable Hockey Fiesta on 16th Oct 2021 at Kiara Sports Annexe!

 In the Hockey AGMs of recent years, the one recurring theme has always been 5-a-side hockey at Kiara. An idea mooted and reminded yearly by Dato R.Yogeswaran after Malaysia had won the Hockey 5-a-side competition in the Olympic Youth 2019, held in Barcelona.

With the support of the then Sports Chairman, Charlie Chelliah, the field in front of the Pavilion was allocated for 5-a-side hockey field, and our Saturday grass hockey sessions became a popular activity amongst our section members thereafter.

However, it was at the dinner after the 2021 Hockey Section AGM on 9^th April 2021, that a group of our young sports members (Allan, Greg, Agilan and Brian) finally agreed to organise the home RSC 5-a-side activity. The organising team was then expanded to include Gagan, Harvinder and Taranveer.

Organising team “off-site” discussion 

The initial date for the event was set on 26^th June 2021 with over 40 section members confirming their participation. But alas, this was not to be, as all team sports was called off due to the pandemic until further notice from the government.

We finally received the green light in September to re-start this activity and 16^th October 2021 (Saturday) was the chosen date agreed by the RSC Hockey Section Committee. With this, the organising team immediately contacted all section members to reconfirm their availability for this much anticipated event, including many who had not played with us for a long time.

Due the good response and huge turnout for this activity, we had organized the players in 6 teams as we have limited playing time from 4-7pm only. 

6 mixed teams of equal ability were formed 

Sports Manager, Ganeshan and Jayakanthan ensuring the field is ready

The pitch was in great condition. Thank you to our groundsmen for doing a great job!  

To keep some order and fun during the matches, some interesting rules were drawn up by Harvinder.

Amongst the rules of the game were as follows:

* Every player (including reserves) must play in each match. Rotation is a must, if never complied, yellow card will given to Team Captain and he will be suspended for 2mins at start of next game.

* Strictly NO Hitting.  Any harsh/ deliberate tackle made in the D, a Penalty Stroke will be given

*Team Captain is responsible for the behaviour of his teammates during the entire tournament.

* No foul language should be used at any time during the entire tournament

*This tournament is organised to create Brotherhood and greater bond for the entire hockey section under RSC as well as to close the gaps between the "Veterans" and the "Young Chaps"*

* Finally, anyone uses the sentence that begins with "Last time, Uncle used to…" will be fined 5 JUGS of TIGER Beer

The intention was to keep the atmosphere friendly and social whilst enjoying a nice evening of grass hockey at Kiara Sports Annexe, and we achieved exactly that! 

There were no winners or losers on this day, as everyone has taken home something that money can’t buy – good old sportsmanship and camaderie amongst fellow hockey players.

A big “Thank You!” to the team that helped organize this activity (and who agreed to do it again!), Cikgu Tan Chin Chin for helping out with administrative tasks, the RSC Sports Department for the field arrangements, the RSC F&B department for the dinner arrangements, and all the participants from the RSC Hockey Section for making this a success.

Special note of thanks to Allan Netto for sponsoring the beautiful and creative jerseys to commemorate and remember this day. We will treasure these jerseys for a long time to come!

Finally, our appreciation also to the Cricket Section for finishing up earlier than usual to accommodate our hockey section activity. We are looking forward to our cricket-hockey weekend!

So, for now…. let sit back and the photos do the talking!

The RSC Dogs Teams (missing in action were the Pitbulls!)

 

The mighty Chihuahuas

The Rottweilers

The Huskies

         The Bulldogs

The Poodles      

 

 Hockey boys putting on a show!

A rare “breed” of hockey players, and an even rarer group of hockey stalwarts!

They say Goalies should always stay on their feet!

But sometimes the plan changes… 

Dio and Harvinder showing they can still perform with their skill and speed

The Bobby Ho style – there can only be one!

Everyone is a winner! 

Speeches from Hockey Convenor, Simon See and Sports Chairman, Ranjit Singh 

The theme was suppose to be Hawaiian… guess some didn’t get the memo!

The organising team with Dato R. Yogeswaran and the special awards recipients with Dato Poon

The Chihuahuas with the Dato R.Yogewaran Challenge trophy

The howling Huskies and Bulldogs with the fruits of their labour

Poodles and Pitbulls enjoying their fruity moment 

RSC Hockey Home vs Home Sessions

 With team sports being allowed again for players who completed their vaccination and clearance period of 14 days, we are happy to see the section members back in action…. at the KLHA hockey stadium and also at Kiara Sports Annexe.

We decided to re-start our hockey sessions with home vs home games to slowly get back into the game as we build up our game fitness again.

Some signs of rustiness were obvious due to the long layoff, but with a few more games under our belt, we are confident that we will soon be back to our full potential!

We also happy to see some new faces who have decided to join us again for our regular sessions, and hope to see you all more often from now onwards!

All lined up and eager to start!

Good to be back on the turf and seeing Greg playing hockey again after his knee injury

Saturday grass hockey sessions are back too! Welcome back Mohindar and Gary!