Call me crazy but I took part in touch rugby, football and badminton for this year’s edition of the Law Fraternity Games. Call me competitive but I was genuinely there to win. I really wanted to. However, SUSS lost in all 3 sports. We are dead last out of the four organisations/ schools. The other 3 being Law Society (LSS), NUS and SMU. While it sounded like a really bad outing, I have to commend the students who participated.

How I got interested in the Law Fraternity Games was back in 2023. I joined the touch rugby team in 2023. How it all started was my classmate Zan,

ok this is Zan…

I think she was shouting “Merdeka!” for some reason. I am guessing to intimidate the other three teams.

Well back to my story. My classmate Zan asked me whether I was interested to join the touch rugby team in 2023. I believe that was just before my family law class. She, for some reason, associated my love for wearing track pants and Under Armour t-shirts with me being able to play touch rugby. Calculated guess it may be but she kind of got it right. I have never played touch rugby before but I did play rugby, not competitively, during physical education classes and inter class games in my secondary school. Yes, I came from a certain boy’s school located along Malcolm Road with our favourite hangout place being “Taka Square” or Far East Plaza.

I agreed and I took part in last year’s touch rugby competition. We had no training and just about the whole team did not know how to play the game. In fact, I had to clarify with the referee in the middle of one of the game about certain rules. While to the uninitiated, the rules of touch rugby would be extremely similar to that of the laws of rugby, in actual fact, they are very different.

As a result, we were massacred. We lost really badly. I really hated that feeling. I was not there just to participate. I really wanted to win.

Sharing my same desire to win was one of my best friends in law school, Lester. He was the captain of the SUSS touch rugby team and he too came from a certain boys’ school, albeit a different one from me, with a rich tradition in rugby. The defeat was horrible to take but the manner of the defeat left an extremely bitter taste which continued to linger for the months that passed. We did not put up a fight. It was a matter of how many the opponents could score against us and it seemed like they were playing their reserves against us and still running away with the match. It was a truly humbling experience. This was why Lester decided that we needed to recruit better players and we needed a good coach.

We got a good coach. His name is Terrence and he is a current national touch rugby player. He trained the team on a number of Sundays at Bishan Park. We recruited more players. We got those willing to put in the time and effort into picking up the game and putting on a good show.

Introducing the SUSS Touch Rugby Team!

Front row: Wei Ting, Jonathan, Dylan, Lester (captain), Apri, Greg, Andric
Back row: Adam, Daryl, Rosdee, Shida, Azizah, Zan

We looked way more intimidating in 2024! In fact, in our first match against the perennial champions LSS, we held them to a 1-1 score (Kudos to Adam for scoring a beautiful try against LSS!). We finally succumbed to them in the second half and lost (I think it was 3-1). We also lost the other two matches against NUS and SMU. Against SMU the score was a narrow 1-0 and play got held up because one of our players, Andric, pulled up with a calf injury. Andric was the most experienced player as he plays touch rugby regularly. We were ready to throw on the calvary but there was no stoppage time being added on and the match just ended with Andric’s injury.

While we are still rooted in 4th place, the manner of the defeat in 2024 was remarkably different as compared to the feeble attempt in 2023. My verdict is that we should continue to train and those who can still participate should participate in the 2025 edition. We are very close to a victory that will haul us out of last spot.

Here are some more pictures of the team in action.

This year we have the Hulk. His name is Jonathan.

Andric with his game face on.

 

Zan showing everyone how to “gelek”

 

Captain going through some last minute drills with a few of the guys.

 

Adam trying to put on a suave pose for Greg’s camera.

 

Apri actually showing Adam how it is done…

 

Rosdee had the best hips in the competition.

 

Captain giving us a team talk before the match.

 

Combined photo. It seemed like half the people in the shot were not prepared for the shot.

Once again, the 2024 SUSS Touch Rugby team.

 

Next up was football. Our match, after a few attempts at rescheduling, was finally fixed on the evening of the 3rd of February. After the touch rugby game I went home to take a nap and woke up just in time to play the match. The match was held at 845pm at Arena which is located at Woodleigh. Captain Adam had ordered us to reach earlier at around 730pm. Five of us, Adam, Lester, Apri, Dylan and myself played the touch rugby matches earlier in the day. We still made it for the match.

This is the team!

Front row: Vignesh, Nic, Adam (Captain), Nabil, Sheikh, Daryl
Back row: Shukri, Leonard, Mr Melvin Loh, Erfendi, Salihin, Apri, Dylan, Lester, Hakim

The team comprised of mainly players from the CJ Cup competition which we took part in 2023. While we played 5 or 6 a side matches together previously, we had never played in an 11-a-side match together. This our first experience in an 11-a-side match. We lost heavily to LSS but I believe all of us ran our hearts out.

The team tried but we were faced with a well oiled team in LSS who have been playing together regularly. We knew that that was perhaps where we fell horribly short and immediately after the match, games were being arranged for us to get better prepared for the 2025 edition.

The team before the match. Adam (Captain) giving us instructions. He has been rallying and leading the team for over a year. Extremely dedicated captain. Could not have asked for more from him.

 

A shot during the match.

 

Joint photo with the team from LSS.

 

We will be back. I see very green shoots blossoming. A team has to emanate from somewhere. The SUSS School of Law football team is in its infancy. To my fellow schoolmates and to those in the football team. Let us try to work on this together.

 

Finally, after an exhausting Saturday. On Sunday morning was badminton.

I was feeling slightly unwell. No it was not covid. I tested negative. I still made it down to the NUS multi-purpose hall. Might I just add at this juncture that I graduated about 20 years ago and the sports facilities, namely the track and the toilets are exactly as they were back in the early 2000s. I think multi-purpose sports hall 5 was the venue for some of my examinations two decades ago. On this particular Sunday, it was the venue where I would once again participate in a badminton competition.

I had not played badminton competitively for 30 years. I did play competitively in my time in primary school. About half a year ago, I decided that I would attempt picking up the sport again. I bought a racket and played with a few classmates on a few occasions. This tournament was a bit too soon but heck… the team was short of players and it came calling. Who was I to reject a call from my beloved law school?

Here is the team. Save for Apri, I was meeting the rest for the very first time. Oh yes. Apri is perhaps the other crazy person besides me who participated in all three sports.

Front row: Nichole, Kanthes, Sopnah
Back row: Rui Chian (Captain), Daryl, Joshua, Rui Jun, Apri

We won a few sets but still placed 4th. Badminton came a bit too soon for me. I would like to commend Rui Chian for putting a team together for the tournament. I heard from Joshua (correct me if I heard incorrectly. This is hearsay by the way. For those doing evidence law.) that only three participated in the 2023 games. I have never played doubles before and my doubles partners put up pretty decent showings. I think we need to work on our shots and learn to play together as all the matches are doubles. There were no singles matches. I had procrastinated about wanting to rekindle my interest in badminton. I had been wanting to sign up for the badminton section at the NUSS Graduate Club since I am a member and had access to join the section. I will do so and I hope to do much better in 2024.

Speaking of the NUSS Graduate Club, we had lunch with LSS and the other two law schools at Cafe on the Ridge at the NUS Guild House. Got to know some nice people from LSS, NUS and SMU.

 

 

Here is a joint photo. I was late and hence I am not in the shot! Ok that was my bad.

 

I view sporting excellence as something that is imperative to any good school. Grades should not be the sole determinant of a person’s capabilities. It takes a lot of discipline to do well in sports. It takes months of training just to shave off half a second from a sprint. It takes years of discipline and dedication to commit to a sport. I have always prioritised health and fitness. I watch every meal that I eat and I track my progress in the gym, my runs and my cycling rides. I have been in successful sports teams all throughout my primary, secondary, JC and university life. The winning team has never been the most talented. It is about putting in the time and effort into a game or discipline. When a gap appears, the play which we have been practicing begins and we score a try. When we win back the ball in the middle of the field, everyone steams forward in unison to score a goal. When one player returns an opponent’s smash, his doubles partner covers the space left open in anticipation for a return shot by the opponent. It all takes time and effort which can only be done through hard work and dedication.

Oh and age is not a factor. I remember the replies I got when I asked some of my classmates whether they would like to join the tough rugby or football team. Their reply to my request was something like “bro you know how old I am already or not?”.

That did not actually answer the question…

Oh and if age is an issue.

This guy is 47 years old.

I think Dylan thought that it was Mambo night or something. Do they even sell shirts like that these days or did he get that for free when he purchased Bananarama’s album back in the 1980s?

By the way, that was the closing ceremony for the Law Fraternity Games 2024.

We will be back in 2025. Won’t we?

 

Yours sincerely,

Daryl