Busy April

April (in fact since early March) is hell for us especially those coaching the teams in koleq.

A glimpse of what has been going on:

10 - 11 March 2007: Launching of Mighty Ducks and intensive training @ MCKK

24 - 25 March 2007: MC-RMC Weekend 2007 (both debating teams won but hockey lost to RMC 0-1)

(Canoe called from Sungei Siput where MSSD game is currently on, koleq scored 1 against Methodist Sg Siput 5 minutes into the game)

31 March - 3rd April 2007: PPM North Zone (both debating teams won, Aslam and Ed won the best speaker awards)

7 - 8 April 2007: 2nd intensive training for Mighty Ducks in preparation for MSSD game, friendly with Perak Veteran (koleq drew 2-2 although was leading all along)

10 - 12 April 2007: MSSD tournament at Methodist Sg Siput and Sin Chung; Canoe & KNO took leave to manage and coach the team throughout (koleq still leading at this point)

14 April 2007: Hockey team against PFS in Annual MCKK-PFS Carnival for Yang diPertuan Agong Cup

12 - 17 April 2007: UIA National Debating Championship, koleq is sending 2 BM teams and 1 English team. High expectation to see whether koleq can go to final 5 times in a row and finally finish off the unfinished business

20 - 22 April 2007: HELP Univeristy National Debating Championship, 2 teams are representing koleq. We came out 2nd runners up last year, so again high expectation to repeat or win this year

5 - 8 May 2007 (tentative): North Zone Inter-SBP National Hockey Competition @ Sekolah Sains Sultan Muhamad Jiwa, Sungai Petani for U-16.

To cut things short:

1) Some of us have been spending all the weekends in March and April so far away from KL and work; either to coach, manage or becoming supir! We now refer to those jobs as permanent job and office job as part time job.

2) The amount of "membeli jiwa" that many have to do with their respective spouses and children has shot up beyond belief, lest the Home Ministers will not grant the AP for this kind of activities.

3) You can guess how many times people find good excuses to schedule meetings closer to tournament venues (read: KNO) or just completely disappear from work, or delay starting a new job (read: Canoe)

4) K/C-noe^2 (read: K/Canoe kuasa dua) are now in Sungei Siput coaching the team for MSSD tournament. Koleq is still leading.

Anyone wants to swap places?

REFLECTION

It is tiring and mind boggling that we want to do this at this age, when we are just starting families etc. But the satisfaction of seeing young people coming up to take the challenge thrown to them and seeing how they gradually change over time - is priceless. In them we see ourselves back then and how we wished they were people who held our hands and guided us, so that we did not fall the way we did many times before.

The fact that most of us can't stop talking about the kids (to the chagrin of the spouses!) after each training is a reflection of how much it all means to many of us.