Law school is not all about studying. In fact, I remember all the games I played more than what was taught during the tutorials. Those who are close to me will attest that I am a person who will do what needs to be done but I am not obsessed with grades. In fact, if there was one particular obsession, it was to win the CJ’s Cup.

For context, this is the CJ’s Cup.

The CJ’s Cup is a charity football tournament that raises funds for the Yellow Ribbon Fund – SAL STAR Bursary (Skills Training Assistance to Restart) and the Singapore After-Care Association’s Volunteer After-Care Programme.

Now why is this competition so important to the SUSS School of Law football team? I believe there are two reasons.

  1. I do think many of my team mates like this competition because of what it is for. Being possible future criminal lawyers, there is always a soft spot for those who have made mistakes in life. I think many of my school mates do believe that in many cases, those who have made mistakes deserve a second chance in life. Not everyone comes from a fortunate background. That is just how life is.
  2. The second reasons is school pride. We are the youngest law school. We want to win the CJ’s Cup for the SUSS School of Law. We want this to be our football team’s tournament.

Obsession is only unhealthy if it remains an obsession without meaningful positive action. In this case, the team’s collective obsession resulted in months of preparation. I remember the first CJ’s Cup I played in. We literally had to piece together a 9-man team. Most probably because it was so close to the examinations. This time round, we had more than 9 players available. In fact, we have a WhatsApp chat with about 20 players ready to represent the school. This DESPITE the fact that examination happen the week after the tournament. However, captain Apri could only select 9. He did so not based on skill and talent alone but his selection was done with careful consideration of having at least one player from each level. Hence, there were players from 1L, 2L, 3L, 4L and those who recently graduated. I represented SUSS School of Law as a player from the batch that recently graduated.

Here is the team!

Oh yes, as we are family friendly, we of course also have family friendly versions of our team photos. In fact, these are better representations of who we are as a team!

Since there were only 5 players on the pitch, there were many SUSS School of Law supporters standing outside of the pitch cheering the team on. I heard someone make the remark, “wah the team from SUSS very fierce ah!”

If you do not know how serious (or fierce) we were, we had many training sessions. Many of us kept ourselves fit and worked on our stamina. I personally was very strict with my nutrition to ensure that I did not put on any excess weight. One of my team mates, Sheikh, our star player who dons the number 10 jersey, came to my office to borrow the size 4 ball so that he could practice his long range shooting during his spare time.

This is Sheikh. That number 10 looks good on his back. Now who else with a magical left foot dons the number 10?…

Obsession turned into dedication. During ramadan, we had trainings at 11pm till 1am. Friendlies were arranged. We had games against other teams. There was a running Friday 9pm game that we consistently participated in despite all of us having to work and many had assignments. Might I also add that it was not only the 9 who participated in trainings. Everyone in that approximately 20 member WhatsApp football team chat showed up at various training events and played their part in drilling and working to keep themselves fit.

So today, the 12th of April 2025 was the day of reckoning. It was a chance to win the CJ’s Cup again. We failed in our previous two tries.

Here is our Captain Apri giving his pre-tournament team talk.

We were placed in Group D. Coincidentally, we were in the same group as Wong Partnership LLP (Wong P), again! Only the top team in a group would advance to the semi-finals and in the last two years, Wong P topped the group.

You know what? Third time’s a charm. We managed to make it out of the group as group winners. We had to beat Wong P in the final group game and we did it!

Every player ran their socks off. We hounded all our opponents relentlessly. At times it was chaotic. Even more chaotic than the stock markets reacting to Donald Trump’s tariff policies. I must say that having sideline support is so crucial. The persistent screaming, I mean encouragement on the sidelines helped keep every player from our team on their toes. It also, at times, helped to unsettle the opponents. Not that we intended to do that, I think….

Here is the final group standing.

This meant that for the very first time, The SUSS School of Law made it out of the group stage of the CJ’s Cup!

We played SMU School of Law in the semis and we beat them to advance to the finals. In the finals the score was deadlocked at 2-2 after normal time and we lost on penalties.

Hence the silver medal and no CJ’s Cup to bring back to the SUSS School of Law…

Here is the team going up on stage to collect their silver medals.

There is something which I must commend the team. When we were done collecting our medals and had our photo taken, we went to congratulate the champions. We lined up in two rows to give them a guard of honour. No one had to instruct the team to do so. It was instinctive that everyone just did that. It felt to me like this team was filled with leaders who knew how to compete but were also gracious in defeat. The SUSS School of Law football team is competitive and tenacious when it is time to be. We wanted to win this tournament very badly. However, despite not winning it, we acknowledge that when everything is over, the right thing to do is to acknowledge that our learned friends were just that little bit better on the day.

I was actually very disappointed. Way more than I would be if I had a poor grade for my assignment. I never came into law school thinking that I needed to top any assignment or any module. However, I came into the SUSS School of Law football team thinking that I needed to do my best to win the CJ’s Cup for the school. Trust me when I tell you that doing things with a team is way more important than winning alone. When I was schooling in my younger years, I did sports where I was training to beat my personal best. When you are in a team, you will always be trying to work as a team to go one better. You know what? That is so much more fun.

To anyone who is thinking of joining the SUSS School of Law football team to bring home the CJ’s Cup in 2026, let me introduce the team to you.

 

Apri, the current captain. Sorry we could not bring back the trophy. Amazing captain. Steady as a rock in defence. Leads by example. Excellent to work with him as always.

Adam, our previous and first captain. Now turned manager. Forever there for the team. Was the one who started the ball rolling. Without captain Genesis we might not have been this close. Upgraded to team manager. Wants to follow in Klopp’s footsteps. Selfie IC.

Azizah. Our fox in the box female striker. Ever present at trainings. Always with a smile on her face. Selfie 2IC

Daniel. Mr “cannot play football because of bad knees but actually more than decent”.

Danish. The future. Phil Foden minus the regression.

Delvinder. Our soft spoken midfielder with a decent pass. Currently injured. Awaiting his return. Did I make it sound too dramatic?

Dylan. Takes forever to get ready to leave the house. I know this has nothing to do with football but I just find it fun to disturb him.

Erfendi. Our second rock in defence. Always ready to support the team in terms of tactics. Very cultured defender. Plays like Rio Ferdinand during his prime.

Joel. Winner of best goal celebration. Does not hide the fact that his goal celebration was inspired by some disco outing. Best left back signing since Andy Robertson.

Khai. Yah you cannot play football…. yeah right…

Leonard. Our utility striker. Dependable. Very good at shielding the ball.

Lester. One of my best friends in law school. Still thinks Arsenal can win the league. Says it is mathematically possible still. It was also mathematically possible for me to get first class for a large part of my law school journey. Lester is a dreamer.

Nabil. Do not leave him alone on the sidelines. Will get agitated when opponents dive to win free kicks. Currently injured. Injured during CJ’s Cup 2025. Can see him limping to get his medal. Get well soon Nabil…

Nicholas. Our star striker. Still thinks Ronaldo is better than Messi. Another dreamer. Perhaps hallucinating… Don’t know why he likes to pull up his shorts. May have been skipping leg day…

Salihin. Calmest person on the pitch usually. Our key midfielder. Scored with his first touch in one of the matches. That is how you make an impact.

Seyed. This guy was our best player for the CJ’s Cup. Yet he only appeared in the team when he entered his 4th year in law school. WHERE WERE YOU WHEN WE NEEDED PLAYERS? Plays like prime Cantona minus the kung fu kick.

Sheikh. Finally we have a player deserving of the number 10 jersey (see above). Super committed to the cause. Able to shoot and pass with both feet.

Shukri. Without him we would not have made it past the group stages this year. He made so many fantastic saves. At times it feels like he applied glue to his gloves. Onana should learn from this guy.

Stefano. The future as well. Wayne Rooney in his prime. (Not the fat version please…)

Vignesh. Able to turn defenders well. Nicholas’ best buddy. Works in a law firm that is in the same building as my company. He left office early on Friday I think. Saw him crossing the road.

Last but not least. Mr Melvin Loh. Faculty member. He taught me mediation. Always there for the team when we play. Chose lontong over nasi lemak at the recent Hari Raya gathering.

 

To anyone who is interested to join the football team, do reach out to anyone who is currently in the team.

Yes we are in law school to primarily get a law degree. We are being reminded constantly that we have to maintain a certain grade to qualify to sit for the Part B Bar Exams. However, despite what the faculty constantly reminds all students, I personally do think that it is important to do something outside of just studying. Join a sports team and work towards a competition. If you are not into sports, there are mooting competitions. Try working with people. That is what the world out there is like. You can be the student with the best grades but if you cannot work with other people then you are going to have an issue because workplaces are filled with other people.

For me, I chose not to let law school be just about studying. That is perhaps the best decision I could have taken.

If your excuse is that you do not have time, trust me, I do not have time too. I make time for things that matters and the things that do not. Trust me, if you delete social media apps from your mobile phone you will free up minutes if not hours every day.

So what are the things that matter and that I will make time for? Sports teams like the SUSS School of Law football team.

Oh man… I love the SUSS School of Law football team…

Everyone, we did well. Yes we are all disappointed. Let us go one better next year.

 

Yours sincerely,

Daryl

 

p.s. did anyone consider where to put the cup if we actually won it? I think we just leave it on Mr Melvin Loh’s table…

p.p.s. This is my last CJ’s Cup as I graduated. I will be back as a supporter of the team next year!

p.p.p.s. If you would like to know what happened in 2024, you can read about it in my other blog post: https://www.justfollowlaw.com/the-cjs-cup-2024-the-suss-school-of-law-football-teams-journey/