AyyuB’s journey of LiFe

My mentor… Abang

At the age of 8, i was trained personally by Yusuf Kay, my elder brother in the backyards of the squash courts at Toh Tuck Road, Green Lodge Condominium. While we were staying there, Abang( what i call my elder brother, Yusuf) trained me on the basics of soccer: Passing, Trapping, Shooting. Of the 3 Attributes, i excelled in shooting. At such a small frame of size, together with me being short at that time, i can only relied on speed and finishing.

Being trained by Abang was not easy. Abang would give me drills continuously until i lay flat on the grass, gasping for air. More significantly, it was Abang who taught me the technique of shooting and ensuring my basic foundations are in tact, the rest was all up to me.

My funny start to playing footie…

At Pei Tong Primary School, i got picked to play in the school team. It was the first of many trials that i got selected in the squad in my vastly social soccer career. I was thrilled to be in the school team, as excited as a little boy who got his candy. But at the same time, i feared for the worst as my parents were strict on me and objected to me playing soccer at that time. My 1st game for Pei Tong Primary wasnt a memorable one, as i was asked to play as right-back, most probably due to my small sized body and lacking of height. We got thrashed by Clementi Town Primary School and i didnt bothered what was the final scoreline. A team mate of mine lent me his soccer boots and at half time, i was having bad blisters on both of my heels and was in lots of pain, i asked my coach to be sub me. That was the only time i ever asked to be subbed because i gave up on myself. Soon after 2 more matches, i was sacked from the soccer team. Reason: my soccer jersey wasnt washed (properly)! I hid the fact of playing for the school team from my parents. So, i only tried to wash the jersey in the early hours of 5am in the toilet and i used soap. So, a silly story really… but i continued to play soccer everyday before and after school. I love playing soccer, more than anything else. Often, i was caught playing soccer after school in the void decks with more than 20 playing mates by my beloved Dad. I was bashed and being disciplined by Papa, but all that never stopped me from playing the beautiful game.

By the end of primary 6, at 11yrs old, i was deemed as a forward with speed and fine finishing. I remember fondly during the final year in the primary school, i was top scorer with 18 goals in the inter-class competition. Of course, i counted the goals myself and i also counted how many goals my competitors were scoring too. The closest competition came from my own striking partner, Fadly, who lost to me just by a couple of goals. Hehe..My very first soccer buddy was, Abdul Rasyid Bin Hamid, the ”Captain Marvel” of our school. He was more of a midfielder and a really excellent goal-keeper. To me, he was the only person in school that was better than me in soccer.

Soccer in Yusof Ishak Secondary…

To my big dismay upon joining YISS, there was no school team for soccer. I went for the Sepak Takraw trials, failed to make the cut. So, it’s soccer with my classmates who were all Chinese and me being the only person with Malay blood. During Sec 1 and 2, we played soccer on the field very regularly. We always lost to the Malays from the express team but we always relished the challenge. I took the opportunity to teach many of them how to play soccer too, which resulted in many of them improving beyond their own expectations.

In 1996, there was an inter-class soccer tournament. My class, 3B combined with 3A to compete in that tournament as underdogs. The favourites were the classes of the Normal Technical Stream and Normal Acadamic Stream. We did very well in the table stages and qualified for the semi-finals. Then we lost narrowly to 3D and E combined 1-0. I missed a sitter that match and their goalie, Jabar, went down at that moment for cramps! It was such a funny moment, we managed to launch a counter-attack and i ran half the field to go one-on-one with Jabar and i tried to chip the ball, i did, it went wide. Next moment, Jabar was screaming for help. His legs cramped up as he tried to cover my shot.

Then, we played for the 3rd place. 3rd place was a BIG deal to my class as nobody in school, even our teachers didnt expect us to survive the 1st stages. We didnt played for the 3rd place trophy, we played for pride. Our opponents: A class from the Normal Technical Stream, took a 3-0 lead early in the first half. Before half-time, i pulled a goal back to make it 1-3. The second half was a very nervy period for my team. Just seconds before the awaited final whistle, we were 3-4 down. I got my Hat-trick and we got a freekick outside their penalty box.

”Shane, my Myanmar classmate, was with me for the freekick. I whispered to him to push the ball to my right so that i can whack the ball on my stronger foot. The whistle blew, Shane somehow touched the ball to my LEFT! I had no time to think, so i just swinged my left leg, the ball flew towards the top-left corner. It lacked some power was my thought as i watched the ball flew. Their keeper had his hands hurling towards the ball… and he missed the ball completely! We did it! 4-4!”

We celebrated wildly as if we have won the game, as our opponents had their heads sunk. The game went into ”Golden goal extra-time”: first team to score wins. After just around 10minutes into the re-start, i managed to dribble past their defence line and went one-on-one with their on-rushing goalie. I faked a shot and tapped the ball into the empty goal. As i turn to celebrate, all my classmates ran to me and hugged me. It was one of the magical moments in my soccer life. I scored 5 goals incredibly in a game and i guessed that was the time i became a little more famous in school. I love that moment, not because of how many goals i scored, but because we were written-off by everyone and we proved many people wrong.We didnt have gifted individuals in our team, what we had was a TEAM.

Shadow West SC….

In the same year in 1996, the Malay guys from the express stream approached me to play for them: Shadow West SC. They had friendly matches every Saturday against teams around the West area, something i had been admiring them every Saturday morning. Zul (Aziz), Erwan and Faizal(Kamil) were all from Pei Tong Primary. Zul was in fact, my classmate during Primary 6. Them being not total strangers to me got me to accept joining their team.

Shadow West SC managed to build their credibility as they enjoyed their football and win a huge majority of their games. Little that i know, i will be playing with them for 9 more years. Towards the end, more than half the team were already gone. I finally played my last game with them in 2007 when they are known as ”Warriors”. The best moments with Shadow West will always be playing on YISS field at West Coast. It was like our Home ground and opponents coming were like entering the lion’s den.

My favourite striking partner of all time has to be HerWandy. We scored countless number of goals together! We had that crucial telepathy understanding as a pair and both of us can score using any leg or even by headers. Playing football with friends like Erwan, Nizahar, Shaq, Wandy, Zul, Jabar was worth 9 years. Today, all of them remains as my close friends, and the friendship is worth a lifetime.

My 1st Professional Club….

At the tender age of 15, Imran(Halimi), who was a childhood friend and the closest friend i have, got me to join Kaki Bukit SC to play in the FAS under-16 NFL Tournament. I considered Kaki Bukit SC to be my 1st professional club as it was the first time i went training, got free track suits and don a club’s jersey.

Kaki Bukit SC finished runners up in the 2 legged league. Tampines Rovers under 16 was top and they beat us 2-1 in the opening match. That match, i scored my first professional goal through a penalty.I finished top scorer for Kaki Bukit SC with 16 goals to my name. My most memorable game for Kaki Bukit SC was the return game against Tampines Rovers under-16, a match we won 4-1 and i bagged a brace. I was happy to put goals past them in open play as i was marked out of the game the first time round by this indian stopper.

My Sweet-Bitter Prime League Affair…

After my ‘O’ Levels, Abang was actively involved with S-League Club: Tiong Bahru FC Fan Club. I became one of their loyal supporters at the lovely Queenstown Stadium. After 2 friendlies for Tiong Bahru Fan Club, Abang helped me to get into the trials for the Prime League squad. The first trial, had more than 40 players, mostly played before for any club and about 10 of them all Lion City Cup players! Lion City Cup used to be held yearly against International youth teams. So, those who either played in the Lion City A or B are representing Singapore Youth in the Competition.

After estimated more than 2 months of trials, i was selected for the final Prime League Squad! I was really happy to be selected and got squad number 41. It was the first year S-League introduced Prime League as a reserve league to scout for more local youth talents. However, my huge bubble burst after slightly more than 6 months with the re-named: Tanjong Pagar FC Prime League.

My position then was Striker. I was vying for a spot in the first eleven with 4 other Lion City Cup players. I was the youngest in the squad and soon, i begun to struggle to cope with the lifestyle of a professional footballer. Lacking in discipline, i often stayed up late instead of resting my body. During the few games i was given the nod, i wasnt in a proper physique condition to compete with the fittest. I never got to play a single minute in the Prime League, which was exactly what i deserved. I thought naively that having talent alone is enough. Til this day, i yearned for a mentor like Abang to help me develop my football. Many times, i thought,” If only i had a mentor to listen to while playing Prime…” Hehe… well i dont regret because i got to find my other half, baby! If i continued playing soccer professionally, life would have been so different and worse, i might not get to meet Baby at all! Anyway, Tanjong Pagar Prime League changed coaches thrice during that six months period. I wasnt the first few players to ‘jump ship’ and i didnt find another club in the end.

Regular 1st XI for NP…

I only played for Ngee Ann Polytechnic for 2 years before going for National Service. I scored quite a number of goals for Ngee Ann Polytechnic, enjoyed that period of time and was honoured to be Captain for Ngee Ann Poly in a match against Temasek Poly. That match ended 1-1.

We didnt do well in the Inter-Varsity Polytechnic Competition. We lost to NTU, NUS, SP and drew with TP and ITE-combined. S-league players werent around during training sessions and always play 1st XI during the tournaments. I felt sorry for the other school players who attended training sessions and bonded with the squad, got benched for almost all the games and some only getting 15 mintues of play in the whole tournament. Taufiq (Samadi) was the captain of the Tanjong Pagar Prime and we re-united during my 2nd year playing for NP.

My 1st major injury….

During national service, i was a Section Commander in 1Guards 10th Mono-intake Battalion. My physique condition was at its best and then came a freak accident. While playing for West End Fusion (2nd name of Shadow West SC), managed by Abang during that time, i twisted my left ankle badly. I was running with nobody near me, then my left ankle got stuck on the turf and ‘CRACK!’. I could hear that cracking in every inch of my body and i crawled off the field. It was so bad, after 4 months, my left ankle is still swollen almost twice the size of my right ankle. Thankfully, after that, i went for an operation to tighten my ankle ligaments. The ligaments didnt snapped but was stretched way beyond its limit.

Path to recovery and full fitness…

After my NS, it didnt take long before i started playing soccer again. I played mostly with ‘Warriors’ as most of my soccer buddies are there. But at this moment, it was the ‘beginning of the end’  of my love affair with my secondary school buddies.

But i soon realised that i lost lots of speed and started to change my style of play. Soon, i joined Sunrise FC in the Island-wide League. We finished 2nd and i played full-back for the whole season. But i still managed 2 goals while playing as a defender! The following season, Sunrise FC were in the NFL Division 3. I was still considered mainly as a fullback, but i managed to challenge for a striker’s spot. I scored 5 goals in the 2nd season but i left before the season concluded as i disliked the politics being played around during that period. On a good note, i managed to play with and befriended Shariff Alapitchay. He is the best sweeper i have ever played with, he has a very bright personality with a huge sense of humour.

Stints with some Chinese Social Teams…

After falling out with ”Warriors”, i played with Ben’s team. Wasnt the prettiest of footie, but got to know some good people like Abang Jalil, Ben, SK Eddie and Jiun.

SK Eddie got me to play another social tournament, AFL, was in a pretty strong team with me starting to relish the central midfield role. We had some Africans playing for us but somehow we pulled out of the league due to some circumstances. After more than a year playing for Ben’s team, i wasnt feeling happy. To make matters worse, i had twisted my left knee in 2006. I was officially deprived of my strength: Pace.

Knee injury- ACL tears affects my game even more..

Since my knee injury, i lost all confidence to be a striker. Even when i get to play striker today, i have to acknowledge the fact that my strongest asset is non-existent now: My speed. My passion for soccer was being put to a test: Will i continue loving soccer when i am unable to play to the best i can?

Reading online regarding how to slowly aid my knee in healing helps to educate me on do(s) and don’t(s). On the field, i began to evolve as a different player. I got more interested to learn other aspects of football to improve my game. Being still able to score goals made me realised that speed is not the only asset one needs to score. So, despite lacking speed, i focus my efforts on passing, shooting, positioning, timing of runs and even how to jump and land without injuring myself again.I realise that injuries are reminders for me to look at other aspects of football that i wasnt paying attention to the last few years.

Redbacks who?

In late 2007, Raizal gave me a call and asked me to join a social team called Redbacks. I was quite skeptical about joining another Malay team, but i agreed to go for that game at Yio Chu Kang Secondary.

After just over a year playing with Redbacks, i decided that it was time to move on again, this time to have our own team. It was really difficult for a person like me to change teams as i always give 101% commitment to whichever team i am playing for. For Redbacks, i contributed match pictures every week, made a picture gallery of the players, not missing a single game since i stopped working. However, i learnt the hard way that even if you have so much to give, even in terms of goals and assists, it all counted for nothing if you go against the ‘controllers’ of the team. It occured to me that even playing for them for over a year, my statistics of 29 goals and 20 assists doesnt give me the right to share my opinions of trying to improve the team. In the end, i left Redbacks and become determined to build a team that shares the same passion that i have for football. I hate it when i feel unappreciated, because all i want was to be accepted as a Redback member. Somehow, i couldnt feel that way and was told to work on my on-field abilities insteading of trying to prolong unhappiness. No hard feelings though, maybe they were waiting for me to leave all along.

JAWS S.C.

With some assistance from family and friends, we formed a new team of our own! Hopefully, we will build a strong and happy team that really appreciate one another every sunday! Go to www.jawsc.wordpress.com to check out the new team!