Victory is sweetest when you've known defeat.

Despite the brilliant sun at about 2pm, it once again threatened to rain at about 330pm when it was time for our first mixed game. Dark clouds looming and lightning that was sighted a distance from our position looked intimidating. But there was no cause for worry as the clouds started to disperse again almost miraculously just as the first match ended. The cloudy weather was just perfect for us as we usually train in the night.

Ever since I joined the team approximately one month ago, yesterday’s Saturday was the first time I heard our coach praise the team for being, I quote, “Very entertaining to watch”. Her rare praise singing spoke volumes of our performance that afternoon. We played two matches and on both occasions, we managed to convincingly beat both teams by a comfortable margin; befitting of a championship team. Nevertheless, our task is not over and to be complacent now is synonymous to dropping a baton when you’re about to finish first in a race. Mathematically, we through but much is to be done as we will be playing against our archrivals in the finals; every match before that should be a form of training and a betterment towards achieving our goal. Although this is the first year SRC girls have merged with a bunch of boys to form a mixed team, we have seen how austere discipline and sublime teamwork can do wonders in barely a month. I guess all that AFTB (Alcohol Fueled Team Bonding) did pay off after all. (No, I’m joking.)

Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about my men’s touch rugby team (Red Jesters) which started playing under the scorching sun about 2pm. We lost by one point and will inevitably miss out on the approaching finals. Being the only local team in the league, I am disappointed that we were not able to prove to the expatriates how playing on “home ground” can be an advantage. Nonetheless, during the post match talk I said, “For a team that trains once a month I thought we did pretty well. Let’s just take it from here and get better.” I think we’ll send in another team for the next tournament.

“Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.”
F Scott Fitzgerald