Sun tanning during the AFC 'C' License Course

(back row)
Jamal, Saleeh, Lek, Syed, Fook, Jamal, Neil, Faisal, Fhirhad, Fei, Nick, Syed, Jinsen, Robert
(front row)
Kenneth, 'Burn', Gabriel, Liong, Elan, Justin, Sing, Marren, Imran, Akbar, Philippe

I attended the recent AFC ‘C’ license coaching course conducted @ FAS by our own local coaches Robert (someone called him Richard I heard) and Jamal. Robert's ability to crack a joke a minute must have been borne from his years of dealing with jokers. It was such a splash at times!

It was a tough few days initially considering that I haven’t been exercising in any form for at least 2 months cos of a few niggling strains and injuries from my regular Sunday soccer and a terribily sprained wrist @ The Cage. The twice daily training under the unrelenting hot sun at Jln Besar took its toil on me. And I had my regualr 'appointments' with the sport trainer

What made it even worse was that on a few occasions during the practical sessions, I had no idea what the coaches wanted us to do, especially during sessions involving 2V2 or more . There were so many stoppages, stop and starts… but after a few days, I started to understand why we were constantly stopping, coaches will know.

But what made it fun was that I wasn't going to work but was already kicking a football when half of Singapore has not even reached their offices at 8am. At least my mom or sister havn’t. I was on the train in soccer gear going for soccer coaching course rather than going to work. Who wouldn't envy that?

There are a few people that in just that 14 days I got to know:-
Ashraf – the sports trainer, who dutifully attended to almost every single one of us, for our niggling injuries to muscle aches and for some, just for his very powerful massages.
Kiah Fook – my mrt kaki
Justin, Nick, Gabriel – all whom I usually had lunch with and had great lunch time conversations with
Liong – no one can compete with him when it comes to soccer stats and history
Lek – Horse trainer at turf club and no-nonsense tackler, hear he has quite a few pairs of boots
Marren – Glad to train with a former lion. I remember when I was a wide eyed young boy supporting the singapore team during the malaysia cup days.
Philippe – the playmaker. He was the one who could dictate where he wanted the ball to do or go. We just watched n admire.
Faisal – the jolly fellow who sat behind me and who is a wise crack with a face that makes you laugh even though you didn’t want to…. Who else will have an email address title ‘nomotive’?
Elangovan (or Elan) – another damn funny fellow! Just his facial and body expressions will make one laugh. Often peppered with funny lines, though I didn’t understand what he said most of the time but I gathered it was funny cos people laugh. I laugh even when I didn’t understand. Now that’s the mark of a real funny fellow.
Fhirhad – our very own Roy Keane look-alike

At the end of it all, I had a great time and it sure feels weird when the day after the end, I didn't get to do warming up or stretching @ 8am. Am sure from the reaction on the last day, my fellow aspiring coaches felt the same too!

Instructor Jamal giving pointers to Fhirhad on how to 'coach a team's defensive play' ... (Faisal as keeper, Lek and Syed as defenders while Saleehullah in bib wonders what he has to do to get past them)

Our instructors (Jamal and Robert) giving even more pointers...

Asraf (sports trainer in slacks) looking out for participants with aches strains and pains... appointments with him were always full! Marren (white shirt) getting ready for his 'coaching' practical.  

Fellow participants gathering after the last practical session.  

Rangasamy (Burn) and Chai Sing during one of the practical sessions. Note Chai Sing with the Tekka Davids eyewear! 

Syed, Imran, Liong, Philippe filling up their survey forms before the final theory test 

Marren, Lek, Justin, Syed, Fhirhad, Jarmal, Faizal filling up their survey forms prior to the theory paper

This was my class of aspiring referees. Batch of Aug '06. Our very own World Cup referee is on the extreme left. You will be able to spot my bandaged hand.  

This was the pic taken at my prelim basic coach course back in March. I am heading for my 'C' licence next week. Soccer everyday for the next 2 weeks. Yipee!