(By Danny Chua - 31 Aug 2006)
We are an extremely exciting and excited bunch of kids. Well, everyone of us loves, if not likes, basketball. To say that basketball is our passion is an understatement - we live and breathe basketball and almost at times consider it to be of greater value than our GPAs and PhDs.
To us, basketball is more than just a CCA. Simply put, it’s a brilliant experience since we started off as a troop of excited year 1s not knowing who that tall guy was, not knowing where that fellow baller learnt his moves. With ups and downs, difficulties, new members joining in here and there mid-way through our 4-year Raffles career, we laughed and joked around, toiled in the rain and sun together and formed a team that each of us “would rather lose with than to win with another”.
“Dream.Team.Fight.Win” - it wasn’t just a motto or a mission/vision so cliche it’d make us look like fools. Honestly, we put great emphasis on each of the four words, eveything on and off the court, we take into consideration these four words.
What we want to achieve goes past our tangible dream of claiming 3 National Titles in a row, what we want to leave behind after our 4 years is a legacy. In the end, we aim to bring out an exemplary RAFFLES SPIRIT, not just in terms of fighting spirit on the court that we want our juniors to inherit; we intend to be a model for other sports CCA in RI; we want the basketball world to see that RAFFLES BASKETBALL is more than a name you love or hate, RAFFLES BASKETBALL is what we fight for, a special team. What will you think of us then?
Appointment Holders
Captain: Chng Anzhen
Vice-Captain: Danny Chua
Quartermaster: Simon Ong Jun Wei
Secretary: Dillon
Team Members
Kevin Boo
Wang Fang Tong
Chey Zheng Feng
Jonathan Lim Kim Fei
Stanley Seow
Charles Oei
Feng Yi Fei
Tan Kee Yao
An Zhen
An Zhen is the best man for the job of a captain. To be straight forward, he is responsible and pushes the team to go far and go hard when we are down and out or lazy. A good leader is one that relates to his comrades, and one that recognizes his shortcomings especially toward his mates right? He communicates well with our coach and through our honest team-talk sessions among ourselves, he never fails to take the initiative to open up on senstitive issues, and though can be harsh with his words at times, acknowledges and seeks our understanding (Quote anonymous: Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind). You can ignore whatever is written about him before this sentence because to put it simply, he is a good captain (trust us) and leader, a steady and experienced player on the court. As coach says it best,
“If I have to choose the captain all over again a thousand times, I would still have chosen you. You hold the team together with a combination of discipline and friendship. Its really something that I find very rare boys your age - even adults can’t do it.“
Charles
Charles is one of our other jokers off the court. He brings life to the team and his cheery self is a motivation to us; his presence brings about a really relaxed and happy atmosphere that you almost feel life has more hope, really. Charles is an important person to the team just like everyone is, just because he is who he is. A person that rarely gets angry, he always puts on his widest smile to motivate us and make everything seem easy. When games are tough, he is the first to encourage and fight, be it on or off the court. When we are down, he’s always there to be a listening ear, and offer his help - a listening aid. Charles never looked like basketball material when he first joined the team, but he worked hard and his shooting is something you have to defend!
Danny
Danny is the livewire of the team. He is an excited kid off the court and usually makes something out of nothing - noise. He is rather optimistic about things e.g. games/seasons and always gets fired up. As our vice-captain, he tries to make up for whatever the captain fails to do and bring the team together sometimes. Trying to motivate his teammates at times, he recognizes his role as the point guard - a leader on court. As coach says it best again,
“When he came he was talking non-stop, crazy jokes. But I like the lightness of heart that brought to the team. It did not take away from his training seriousness. So I think Danny does a lot for team-dynamics just by being who he is.“
Dillon
This is our real big man, standing tall at over 1.8m, he was always a bright prospect to dominate the paint area when he joined us. Dillon on the surface may seem quite quiet and a thinker at many times, however, when he brings out his funny side, he brings joy to the team. When he laughs, something we do not see very, very often, he brightens our atmosphere. Dillon works VERY hard off the court, at times, he goes to the gym by himself without telling us.
“You are also one of those i can trust most to train on your own. Once I gave a menu, I was quite certain that you would do it on your own, whithout me checking on you. In terms of work ethic, you are as good as any other guy I’ve ever coached.”
On the court, though not a fearless warrior, Dillon puts in his effort. Even though he lets himself down at times because of his inexperience, he never fails to bounce back - its just like the rebounds that he fight for, if he’s missed a shot he’ll go for it and get a second chance at sinking it. Dillon is a very intelligent boy off the court, having a passion for knowing lots of information about everything you can talk about: Basketball the NBA, Soccer, History etc.. We make fun of him for his talent, but his interesting facts at times can be a light in our darkness!
Fang Tong
This is one kind of a fighter. Fang Tong lives for basketball, he watches the NBA, he loves Michael, he adopted the name “Michael”, best of all he does what he does best on the court and fights for loose balls, rebounds and plays hard, like the person that he is off the court. Particularly concerned for his studies all the time, Fang Tong always makes an effort to complete his work in the most spectacular way, also, working hard without fail, for tests. To be frank, he really is one of the more serious players on the court. However, when he is off the court, he is actually a cheery and joyful person who does not mind making a fool of himself for everyone to have a good laugh.
Johnny
” Johnny shocked me when I first saw him in Sec 1. He did a between the legs dribble and drove past the guy on the baseline and finished with a bank shot.”
Yes, Johnny is an exceptional player, a rare player to come by nowadays with unusual physical strength and amazing natural abilities. Johnny is a quiet person though we wouldn’t say an introvert. Johnny wants the best for the team ALWAYS, we know deep inside, there’s this hidden fire in him, burning brighter than ours, and sometimes he tries so hard he tries too hard. Johnny though being quiet by nature, put in effort and tried his best to communicate with us, he’s always discovering more about himself. Johnny brings to the team, a solid foundation and a base of confidence. With him at the games, we have faith and worry not about our boards. With him around, we look forward to spectacular steals and his uncanny ability to be able to kill huge stumbling centres with his three point shot. Johnny sacrifices for the team, even though he’s a doormat for us to step on, the bridge for us to attain our dreams, he’ll be glad to know that the team is attached to him exceptionally.
Kee Yao
Kee Yao dumped us for Sailing in Secondary 1! That was the past, now this fellow teammate of ours have joined us in our trainings and team gatherings. There’s gotta be nothing about him that we do not like. Kee Yao though not the most confident person on the court, shows his willingness and fighting spirit when he exceeds expectations and defends his defensive boards well. Kee Yao is good kid with a big heart, shown by his desire to help the needy when he joined RI’s interact club to do community service on a consistent basis. Here I am, in the middle of day and night writing about Kee Yao and it brings a smile to my face because Kee Yao is dearest to our hearts in the way he makes us laugh and joke about many things.
Kevin
Kevin is a team player, evident also in the way he plays on the court where he always looks to create opportunities for others. Sometimes he overdoes it but we know his intentions and we recognize and respect them.
Coach says, “Look at it this way, for a guy who is shorter than the starters by more than 10cm, and who has never played basketball in primary school, you’ve over-achieved. It’s not easy to get into the RI team, even if it is the C Division. On this count alone, I am so proud of you.”
Sure, Kevin is a special one to all of us, especially when he fought hard and perservered to make the junior team in ‘05. It’s just different for us when Kevin is not there, be it at a game, at a team outing etc. In our Sophomore year, he proved his value and his importance to us when on the bench most of the time, he cheered us on continually. We know he always wants us to win, as much as we want to, or maybe even more. He never voices out alot in terms of basketball but we know he is trying, and although trying your best is not enough, there’s something about Kevin that wins our hearts - he never gives up!
Simon
Simon is our post-player. Awesome dribbling skills, smooth moves, good outside shot, killer baseline crossover.
“I think Simon contributes most with his steadfastness and hardwork. I don’t see him missing training or slacking ever, except the one time when he woke up late after staying over at granny’s place. Indeed, he is a model of consistency and diligence.“
Simon is very patient with the team and always makes an effort to correct us when we are wrong. He only scolds us or urges us on whenever we play badly, showing his desire for us to really do well! Simon is a funny charecter off the court and always participates in our jokes. Simon is very hardworking and akways tries to help us, the weaker ones in our studies.
Stanley
Stanley is a hardworking kid on and off the court. He is the interact club chairman is really kind at heart. Off the court, Stanley is busy most of the time due to his committments. However, we always believe thats his passion remains with basketball. He is a rather ‘just do it’ kind of player and has no second thoughts about taking his shots or driving the lane. Stanley is also one of the more serious players on court together with Fang Tong, like the way that he is, he always puts in utmost effort and desire to do something that he really wants to do. This is a very devoted guy, we always encourage him for his willingness to try and his desire to improve. We love Stanley actually.
Yi Fei
Yi Fei joined us at the beginning of our third year in RI. He snubbed us in Secondary 1 (just like Kee Yao!) for rugby! But he’s a part of us now! Yi Fei is a very quiet person off the court, at least when he is with us. He’s still in his initial months of basketball training, and even though he may not be able to totally match up to the playing style of the rest of the team, he is trying and training hard to be up there with us. He isn’t the most confident of players as his finishing lets himself down at times, but we are all trying to be patient with him.
Zheng Feng
A very very special player.
“I think the only way to put into perspective how you’ve progressed is to think back to the days when I saw you in P6. I saw a superstar walking around during a match when he was not playing (2Q), looked quite detached from the team (and obviously team spirit was not a high priority on that team). Incredible individual player, but I was really not sure whether I could even rein him in and harness his incredible potential to fit into a team.“
Zheng Feng has proved himself to be an importanat asset to us. He’s the heart of our team, like what Zinedine Zidane is to France. He’s the fire for our victories, he’s the desire for our comebacks. Zheng Feng is an amazing player, I don’t think I will come across another one like him in my life. Off the court, Zheng Feng is into gaming!
