There is nothing left to loose!

Me and my sifu Tn Hj Shahrir

"Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is a mystery but today is a gift, that is why it is called a present" The words of master Oogway in the movie kung fu panda. I find these words are inspiring. I can never alter the past, I know not what challenges lies ahead however, if I could do something now I'll be more prepared in the future. It's been ten years since I got involved with MSSM rugby plus those old skool days. I've met a lot of people and learn new experience. I always admire the charisma of my sifu as a coach and a teacher, he never give up hope on his students. Even though our school team back then was not as good as the MCKK's but we trained hard and we fought bravely. I think in my capacity now I can do more.

This year's line up for SBP tens remain a secret. Since the under 15 team is made up of form three students I need to give them some room to focus on PMR. As an alternative to that I will have to take some form four students to be in the line up. I'm still looking for form one students to play for the under 15 team. Some of them who had attended the trainings earlier on withdrew form the team due to parents' restriction. I was quite dissapointed a little bit because parents are still skeptical about the rugby. From my experience, I have seen a lot of potential in the students being develop through this game. One is developing students physical strength and ability. Two is developing high capacity of thinking and intelligence. When these two combined, you'll have a fully develop individual. Maybe the nature of this game is rough and aggressive but it make a real gentlemen out of hooligans. I remembered my former school mate Saiful Bahari, he was quite a 'gangster' in school. When he joined the school's rugby team he changed totally to a better person and most suprisingly he was selected to play for the national team in 1993. He is now a medical assistant in Hospital Grik.



My sifu has done a great job for making me who I am now and I thanked him for that. It is my time now for my school. Hope is the thing with feathers, if you believe in it you can fly!

It's time to relax and reflect!

This year's rugby events started earlier than I expected. MSSKTU, MSST and Liga terengganu were conducted simultaneously. Not having enough time to train the students I had to resort to my under 15 team since they played U15 game last year. Even though we lost all the games, I hoped that the boys gained experience and it helped to built their confidence in the game. Being a referee myself, I referee more than I did coaching. MSSM 2009 took place in Malacca and it had taken all my holiday. Pity my wife and kids because they didn't get to enjoy the holiday with me. Anyway, that's life as a referee. Now that all the tournament started to slow down a little bit, it's time for me to catch up with them.

Mus, Pak Din, Me and Jefidin on our last assignment
game Perak Vs Negri Sembilan

Pak Din is one of the senior referees that I've met. I still remember him because he refereed some of the games I played during schooling days. I enjoyed being part of the MSSM Rugby referees panel, even though I only get to referee only for one game. It was a valuable experience that I gained. The last game did not turn as good as I expected. I anticipated this game so much because Perak is playing. As a Perakian myself, I was very dissapointed with the attitude that was shown by the Perak bench. As coaches and teachers, I think they should respect the referee on the field and also assistant referee. Perak may have good players but they were spoilt by the bad attitude shown by the coaches and officials. In years to come I hope none of this will ever happen again. Jef handled the game well that day and he even gave the Perak coach a red card.

The "not so" young referees

******

The IRB Level One and Cobra coaching course 2008

I wanted to write about this post last year. The reason why I could do so was because these photos were with Tun and I've lost contact after the course was over. However, last week my wife happened to meet him at T-Confra meeting and he gave me these 'valuable' photos. Thanks Tun! It's the only testimony of my achievement as the best IRB-Cobra Course Participant. For me it's a knowledge gain and a moral booster. Thanks to MSST and also Cobra.

Me and Robo!
Best IRB-Cobra Course Participant
with my present "England Jersey"

Bro Lan, Tun and Me

2008 IRB-Cobra Course Participant

Cobra House, Petaling Jaya, Selangor

To the Lightning Brains, I shall give my full commitment to the training and the development of the team. As a referee, there is a lot of things to improve in refereeing. I may not be the best yet but I am willing to go the distance.

New year with a heart full of fire!

Happy New Year to all, its been awhile since I get to update this blog. December was full of events and I was kept occupied the whole month. I was so overwhelmed when a huge delivery arrived at the school. I did not expect so much but it really suprisesdme when I read the list of items being delivered. I personally thanked Cikgu Man (Pengetua SMTWT) for his recommendation and his effort to equip my school with rugby facilities. As you can see these are some of the items that we get for rugby development.

The tackling bags! for fearsome and bone-crunching-tackle

This is perhaps the most precious and most anticipated! The Scrum Machine
I don't think the school can afford it if we were to buy it!

Trident scrum machine one of the most high quality equipment in the market

Body armour for beginners in contact sports

Wedge contact shield for cushioning the high impact during ruck and maul

A whole lot of balls from training to high quality match balls

Well, these are only half of what we got, the rest are training equipment and Ihope to make full use of them during the training. To all the junior players of Lightning Brains, you guys are lucky because we get to put all these into play. With the best facilities in training I would hope for a whole new field to be prepared.

I was never so overwhelmed and so motivated as a coach, referee and manager like this year. All I need now is a bunch of strong hearted players with the nerves of steel to take on the challenges and I shall make them passionate rugby players with creative and intelligent mind. Rugby will never be the same again for Lightning Brains! Because today my heart is so full of fire!

Fire it up! Keep on going!

As a coach, I've been coaching rugby for quite sometime. Of all those years, I can say that this year the feeling is different. I've started to feel that I get more support than ever before from my friends, family and the school's administrative. I really feel moved by the call made by the state's MSSM Rugby Coordinator this morning telling me that MSSM will provide my school with more equipment for rugby. It is a moral boost for me and I promised myself that I'll work harder next year. To Mr. Asaari of SESMA, Mr. Izaimi of MRSMKT, Mr. Fadzli of SMK Lembah Bidong, Zul Stopa of SMTWT and not forgetting Mr. Aminuddin of SMK Sultan Ismail, Thanks for all your support! You guys gave me strength and courage to take this game to a higher level. To all you BRaInS Lightning Ruggers, lets work harder! We shall Strike! We shall conquer the game!

Naim The Cool Captain and Aidil The Fast Running Backline

Hakau (new version of haka!)

Getting ready for the showdown!

Just can't wait to get into the field

They may look small , they are more than meets the eyes

"We shall tear down their defences into pieces and make that try!"

To all the Lightning BRaInS! Thank you for your hardwork, We will never stop improving our team because We are always hunger to be better!

Well Done boys! It's an achievement!