CHIJ Secondary (Toa Payoh) continued their school netball dominance on Thursday, sweeping both the B and C Division titles for the second consecutive year.
In the B Division final at the OCBC Arena, CHIJ defeated Dunman Secondary School 36-23 to complete their third double since 2013, when they also won both B and C Division titles.
CHIJ captain Alena Ong said that the key to their continued success was keeping calm during the matches.
“Never, ever look at the score,” she said.
“Because if you’re behind, then you’ll start feeling down. We just focused on our own game.”
Alena knew repeating last year’s success would not be easy.
“We were nervous before the match, and there was pressure to live up to our seniors,” she said.
“This match was crucial to set a high standard not just for ourselves, but also for future batches.”
CHIJ’s netball teacher-in-charge Ms Maimunah Ithnin said their coach Ms Kok Mun Wai played a big part in their success.
“She has been with us for 20 years, so there is a strong tradition of commitment within our team,” said Ms Ithnin.
“We would not be able to do it without support from the school leaders, teachers and parents. The girls work hard and know that they should not be overconfident or complacent.”
For runners-up Dunman Secondary, it was a disappointing loss. Despite a gutsy display, they were unable to stop CHIJ from racing to a 17-9 lead by half-time.
Even a fourth-quarter injury could not stop their captain Arina Tan from trying her best for her team. “My coach always says that when we fall, we get back up,” said Arina. “I didn’t want to leave the court with any regrets.”
In the C Division final, CHIJ defeated Singapore Sports School 39-19.
Said its C Division captain Eda Yasmin: “We worked hard for six months for this day.
“Even though we had some bad days where we didn’t play well, we tried to encourage one another to try hard for the next game, and even harder for subsequent years.
This article was first published on April 22, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
