“I dislocated my knee. It popped right out of the socket.” An interview with the St Andrew’s Junior College footballers (Part 3)

Interview by Les Tan

Earlier this year, the St. Andrew’s Junior College football team went unbeaten all the way to the semi-final of the A Division Football Championships before they lost to Meridian Junior College in a penalty shootout.

Remarkably, the SAJC team only had three players with B Division experience, yet they showed an ability to play intelligent, beautiful, passing football which warmed the heart of neutral fans.

In 2006, SAJC made it to the semi-finals and lost 0-2 to Victoria Junior College. In 2007, SAJC made it to the semi-finals again, this time meeting MJC. A 0-0 stalemate at the end of regulation time brought on the dreaded penalty kicks and MJC prevailed 4-3.

SAJC had their hearts broken again this year in 2008 when, after outplaying MJC to lead 2-0 in the semi-final, MJC came back to equalise and force extra-time. MJC’s equalising goal was a controversial penalty two minutes from the end of regulation time.

The game then went into penalty kicks with no further goals in extra-time and MJC prevailed 2-1 in penalties for a 4-3 overall win.

The SAJC squad is one of only two teams (the other being VJC) that went through the preliminary rounds unbeaten in the 2008 A Division Championship season. Their only loss over 90 minutes was a 0-1 defeat to Anglo-Chinese Junior College in the 3rd/4th placing game through a freak own goal.

The SAJC team shows that Singapore does have football talent but most of them don’t go on to play for Singapore in age-group or the full national team. This team has shown a brand of football that would stir hearts and ignite passion, such is their raw but obvious talents. If they played for Singapore, there would be long lines for tickets to watch them.

Red Sports caught up with the players for an interview.

Cheng Guang Hao was the first-choice goalkeeper for the 2008 SAJC A Division football team. He tore his anterior cruciate ligament and dislocated his knee not once, but twice. Here is his story.

Part 3

By Cheng Guang Hao

I came into SAJC through Direct School Admission (DSA) using soccer. I started playing soccer since I was young and it has been my passion since then. So, I decided to play soccer in SAJC.

I ruptured my ACL on 9 February 2008 during a friendly match. I had a surgery done to clear the mess in my knee but the ligament was not reconstructed. I was told by my surgeon that my season was over.

There was no possibility that I would be able to come back playing in a month. And to play, I must go through a reconstruction surgery.

After hearing those words, the whole world came crashing down onto me.

I had trained so long and hard just to help the 2008 team live the dream that all the previous SAJC soccer teams would die for – that is to have another go at the holy grail.

At that point of time, I gave up. I gave up all hope of playing in the season. When the whole soccer team visited me at the hspital with my coach Mr Roland Lee, I looked into their eyes and saw regret. I saw them looking at the shadow of my past, longing for me to come back playing.

That is what gave me strength. Many text messages came pouring in saying “Don’t be sad, we will win it for you.” That was not what I believed in. I believed in TEAM. I wanted and needed the team to win it with me, not for me. That is what I believed in and that was the hope I clung on to and kept it deep in my heart.

A few days after the surgery, I started jogging laps on the track despite the physio warning me not to. I did rehabilitation exercises more than anyone could imagine. Sometimes I could not walk properly, not because of the knee, but because of the soreness in my leg muscles.

Finally the day came when I could finally start training. It was all fine until the day before the NYJC match. I was due to start for that match.

But unfortunately, in training for that match, I dislocated my knee. It popped right out of the socket. This was the reason why the doctor told me not to play.

The weeks following that was hell and back for me. I couldn’t walk properly for days and I had to pop painkillers to cope with the pain. Nevertheless, I still kept that hope burning in my heart that there was a chance to play in the season.

Even if there was a 0.00001% chance that I would be able to play, I was willing to pounce on it.

After two weeks of even more intense rehabilitation after the dislocation, I started playing again. The thought of losing my left leg and not being able to walk for the rest of my life was at the back of my head.

All I thought was to make myself an option for the team and nothing else really mattered.

Once again, I was due to play against JJC. Training before the match was fine but one wrong step into a hole in the field twisted my knee straight out of the socket and once again I was out.

And the whole cycle of hell and back repeated itself.

At that point in time, I lost all hope and even thought I was stupid thinking that I could come back with such a serious injury. And so I stopped all training, thinking that I was just a liability to the team.

I gave up on myself totally.

But one fateful day, I met Karen. She is the physio of SAV and was treating me at that time. She came to me and was shocked that I gave up on myself.

In the end, she talked me out of giving up on myself by saying a lot of stuff. She was the one who thought me how to pick myself up.

“In life, there are decisions that makes you regret for life, and there are some that makes you wanna tell your grandson about it,” she said.

“It’s not about how bad your injury is or even how much rehab you do. It’s about how much you really want it. Let your mind take it from here. Your body can no longer help.”

These are the few things that she said to me in the physio room. Words cannot explain how I felt then. I decided to pick myself up. What’s the third or even forth dislocation to me now that I had already experienced two? Fortune favours the brave.

Since then, I started the RJC match and even played in the semis and 3rd/4th placing match – without having a ligament in my knee.

This definitely has to be the highlight of my season as I learnt many important skills in life that cannot be taught in the classroom. Obstacles that seem impossible to climb seem easy to me now that I look back at the season.

I really hope people that read this can take something out of it and believe that nothing is impossible or hard to achieve. The only factor is to ask yourself how much do you really want it.

I really have to thank my coach Mr Roland Lee, Suppiah, and the whole team for their endless support and encouragement during the whole time I was nursing my injury.

I especially thank Mr Lee for not giving up on me even after I gave up on myself and giving me an opportunity to play not only the RJC match, but also the semis and the 3rd/4th placing match.

And also, I would like to thank especially Karen, the physio of SAV for waking me up when I gave up on myself. Without her words, I wouldn’t have featured in this year’s season at all.

Related stories:
Part 4: "…we were knocked out on penalties, of all things. It was cruel." – An interview with the St Andrew's Junior College footballers
Part 2: "The highlight was the 4-0 win over RJC." – An interview with the St Andrew's Junior College footballers
Part 1: "The loss to MJC was a total kick in the teeth." – An interview with the St Andrew's Junior College footballers