Super Sunday

Our eyes met.

I trooped up onto the court and took up position as Goal Keeper. The player I had to mark, playing as Goal Shooter, was a towering man, who stood eye-to-eye with me. I smiled and shook hands with him.

We were both similar in physical stature: equally tall, lean, and certainly quick off the foot.

I knew I would be playing a tough game.

I had been warned, five minutes earlier, that this player I'm up against is a current national netball player.

I shrugged it off. It doesn't matter. He is tall, yes. He is the tallest player I have played against in netball all year. But size doesn't count for anything. It's the competitive spirit that matters.

It's our second training session at Netball Singapore. It's a sticky and warm evening. I'm already drenched through and through after some warm-up passing and movement drills and we had already played against some teams as part of our training earlier. Our team captain then approached this team, who was resting on the sidelines, if they would be keen on playing with us.

My team consists of a core group of ladies who have played netball extensively and are good friends with each other. Then they decided to participate in the Pesta Sukan Netball Mixed Carnival where we had to send in a team of 12 (7 females and 5 males).

So naturally these ladies (which included my lovely wife) roped in their husbands/ boyfriends.

For some strange reason, the lads in our team all share a common inclination for sports. Of the 5 men in the team, 3 are PE teachers (including myself), 1 is an ex-long distance runner, and the other is an army officer.

The umpire blew the whistle, signalling the start of the friendly game.

Against my lanky opponent, my strategy is simple: do not let him get the ball.

I stuck close to him, keeping an eye on his movements and the ball at the same time.

Inevitably, some passes reached his hands. Pivoting on his foot, he turned to face the net, and shot the ball into the basket effortlessly.

There were a couple of times where he surged forward to catch hold of a pass. Sensing his movement, I sprinted with him, seeking to at least intercept the pass. But he got the ball nonetheless, and I clattered into him, such was the force of my momentum.

But there were times I succeeded in forcing the opposing players to pass impossibly lofty balls to him, where the ball whizzed past his grasping hands and out of play, as I restricted him time and space to get to those passes.

The umpire blew again, signalling the end of the ten-minute friendly. Our team went down 7-8, a close score by any standards.

I shook hands with the fellow giant, and wished him all the best.


Tomorrow (Sunday) will be a huge day on my calendar. I have the New Balance REAL Run in the morning. The 10 km race kicks off at 7.45am at Sentosa Gateway carpark and roads, off-road tracks and the sandy beaches make up the running route.

Once this race is over, I will have to make my way immediately to Kallang Netball Centre, and join my teammates and do battle with other mixed teams in the Pesta Sukan Netball Mixed Carnival under the scorching sun.

I expect to be pushed to the very limits physically and mentally.

Running a 10 km race, and playing consecutive netball matches after that, is no mean feat.

But physically, I am feeling fine. This 10 km REAL Run is but a precursor to a bigger race: next Sunday's Army Half-Marathon.

The distance of this race?

21km.

The Half-Marathon race starts at 5.30am at Esplanade Bridge.

But even this race is not the biggest in my running calender this year. There's the Standard Chartered Singapore International Marathon, happening on the first Sunday of December 2006.

And I've signed up for this one. It will be my 4th marathon, having taken part in this race in the past 3 years. It's 42 km of sheer physical punishment. Yep. That's right. I'm no longer talking about the domain of physical stamina. It goes beyond the physical. It's simply the triumph of the indefatigable mind over the finite body, if you finish the race.

But that's months ahead.

Come tomorrow, I shall relish the experience of completing the REAL Run and performing up to expectations in the Netball carnival.

And yes, I certainly expect to play against the tall and lean opponent again.

I shall be ready for his challenge.