FLOORBALL

POL-ITE Floorball Championship 2007
Wednesday, 24 October 07 at Republic Polytechnic

Interview by Muhammad Hannan.

The Temasek Polytechnic Women's Floorball team claimed a bronze – their first-ever medal – with their 3-1 win over Combined ITE at this year's POL-ITE Floorball Championships.

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The Temasek Polytechnic Women’s Floorball team. Captain and goalkeeper, Priscilla Tan, is in green. © Muhammad Hannan

Three members of the team, Priscilla Tan (Goalkeeper and Captain), Jacintha Chua (Vice Captain) and Cherly Leong (Former Vice Captain and current Squad member) took some time out to share with us their thoughts.

Hannan: How did the team feel after winning their first ever medal?

Jacintha: It was the proudest moment for us as we went through a lot of ups and downs. Umm … more downs actually, and we felt that this was a good reward for all the hard work we've done throughout the year.

Cheryl: We're so elated to the point that I personally felt numb. We had to put a lot of our differences aside to compensate for one another. Personally, I felt that we had the spirit of Temasek Polytechnic, or better known as Team Temasek. The spirit of never giving up and converting all our downs to strength to push ourselves for today's win.

Hannan: With the round-robin format and a punishing fixture schedule, how did you feel about it?

Jacintha: We felt a little hard done by it. They placed last year's dominating team, Nanyang Polytechnic as our first game. However, despite placing us in a tough situation, It gave us a reason to play our best from the beginning right through the end of the tournament.

Hannan: I understand this game against ITE was a do-or-die game for your team. How did you girls go about preparing for it?

Jacintha: In simple words, I would just say, we've already had the mindset of achieving top 3. Knowing that today was the day that would decide if we do or not just placed us in the right frame of mind.

Cheryl: The team actually met earlier than usual today to prepare for the game. On top of that, we had a meeting with Uncle Sam (our Student Development Officer) and Mr Raymond (our Student Development and Alumni Director ). They both gave us inspiring speeches to motivate us to play out of our skin to achieve a medal finish.

Hannan: Jacintha, I understand this is only your second game and you scored a goal. How does that feel?

Jacintha: It was very rewarding. All I thought about the night before was winning the match and scoring a goal. It was my first ever goal in POL-ITE and I'm really happy about it. Especially after I injured myself during warm-up in the first game. However, I must thank Jessica Jane who assisted me. (smiling)

Hannan: Pris, being a goalkeeper and captain of the team, what was it like to lead the team from the back?

Pris: It was a rollercoaster feeling. But as the last "woman" in my half, you have to be the anchor for the team as well as the captain.

Hannan: How did you feel, being the first Captain to lead Temasek Polytechnic to their first ever medal finish in POL-ITE Women's Floorball?

Pris: Tremendously proud and honoured. It was really a team effort put in by all including our coach, Mr. Ngasti. Also, we have been training really hard for this and we were hungry and ready for a medal this year and we achieved it!

Hannan: What was going through your mind before, throughout and after the match with ITE (your last game that decided your table finish)?

Pris: To be honest, I only had one thing on my mind throughout the evening and it was to stay focused, even if we were trailing or leading. The will to win the decider game was overwhelming and I did not want to lose at all.

Hannan: What did you feel gave the team a better edge at this year's POL-ITE in comparison to last year's?

Pris: Well, we have a few club players in our team. But overall the edge we have this year is that our current squad has the most number of experienced players by far and we have been playing together as a team for almost two years.

Hannan: Thank you girls for your time.