Dear Parents,

It has been a great start to Season 12! We've started off with 3 rounds of registration exercises. We've also had the Coaching Clinic, the Referees Clinic, the Team Managers and Parents briefing, and the children's assessment, which were all well attended. I'm sure that you've all enjoyed the opening ceremony as much as the children did.

For me, the best moment was when the Negaraku was played. Looking at all the children and parents standing and singing our National anthem was a moment that I will treasure forever. At that point in time, I came to appreciate more of our league's core values of Discipline, Unity, Teamwork, Service, Family and Sportsmanship.

I emphasized the word 'our', because this league is run by all of us. Every single one of us is needed to make this league work. The camaraderie between us in this community has resuLeadership Teamed in the league being around for 12 years!

That brings me to the next topic:-

Volunteers

The Leadership Team this year has been expanded to include more portfolios. Perhaps, it would be convenient for me to set out the members and portfolio of the Leadership Team:-

League Coordinator	Zaini Mazlan
Technical Team	Scott Carter Patrick Loo Rizal Ariffin
Special Service Projects	Yasmin Gan Abdullah
Treasurer	Stephen Samuel
Field HQ Coordinator	Davethu Jacob
Cabin Administrator	Yasmin Gan Abdullah
Communications	Richard Tan
Medical Team	Dato' Zakaria Zahari
Advisors	Farouk Hashim Dr. Mohd Nazir Abu Bakar Davethu Jacob

Division Heads

Juniors	Mohd Lesa Morshidi Kesevan Krishnan (Assistant)
Majors	Stephen Samuel
Seniors	Benjamin Quah Dominic Tan (Assistant)
Premiers	Dick Ang Faizal Othman (Assistant)

As I've mentioned during the parents briefing, the Leadership Team does not get any privilege. We in the Leadership Team strive to run this season's League to the best of our ability.

We go by the maxim "Running the social league professionally". We always strive to have continuous improvement in the League, and hope we have achieved it so far.

We are however prone to making errors as it is not easy juggling work, family and running the League.

That being said, the Leadership Team is not an elite club. We are just like you, a parent, or in Ben's case, an uncle. We will be delighted if you could help us or join us in any capacity.

As of now, we could do with volunteers for the following positions:-

1. Website management,
2. Assistant to the Head of the Major Division,
3. Cabin/Field HQ administrator.

 

Referees & Linesmen

Perhaps one of the toughest and thankless job in the world is that of the referee. In the Junior Division, referees will be the parents of the team playing.

For the Major and Senior Division, we will be providing independent referees. These are volunteers who do not have children playing in the Division concerned. We are even fortunate to have some of them, whose children, even though are no longer involved in the League, volunteering to become referees for the games.

We do, however, need more volunteer referees from our current parents. We will ensure that the matches you referee will not clash with your son's game.

For the Premier Division, we are providing professional referees, as the children in this age group will need to be prepared to move up to a higher level.

Children emulate their parents. We will therefore need to lead by example. In the game of football, the referee's decision is final, even if it is wrong!

 

Photographers & Writers

Every year, we have thousands of brilliant photographs taken during matches and training sessions. Unfortunately, the vast majority of them are not shared. We would be grateful, if you could upload the photographs that you have taken, into the respective Division's yahoo group, so that they may be enjoyed by the other parents as well.

From here, the communications team will select the best pictures, and share them on our website (http://www.sjcyfl.com), and Facebook page. We will ensure that the photographer is credited accordingly. You can see some of the pictures already on our Facebook page at:-

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Subang-Jaya-Community-Youth-Football-League-SJCYFL/132308150173156

Oh by the way, when you visit our Facebook, do click the "like" button. This will please our Communications Team.

We also need volunteer writers to write articles for our website. I think it would be great to also see some articles from some of our own children describing their experiences in the league. All you need to do is share them in your own Yahoo Groups, and the Communications Team will do the rest.

 

The Medical Team

This year, we have formed a Medical Team comprising of 7 Doctors led by Dato' Dr. Zakaria Zahari. We are very grateful and fortunate to have these busy and experienced Doctors volunteering their services during match days.

The Medical Team has drawn up a duty roster for every match day. We will have 1 Doctor on duty for every match, bringing to a total of 3 Doctors on duty during match days. The Doctor on call will be wearing a vest with the word "MEDIC" emblazoned at the back.

However, we hope you understand that these Doctors can only do so much on the field. It is best that your child be taken to the hospital to undergo further check-ups should there be a cause for concern. We would also advise you to take up insurance coverage for the children, as medical expenses can be quite daunting.

 

The Douglas Ladner Community Shield

As you all know, the League will for the first time award the Douglas Ladner Community Shield. This is the coveted prize, as it will be awarded to the Team that best demonstrated the core values of the League, which are Discipline, Unity, Teamwork, Service, Family and Sportsmanship.

Let me give you some examples. Last year for example, a Team in the Junior Division gave out roses to the moms of their opponent before their match, which happened to fall a day before Valentine. This Team had also in one of its practice session, conducted its training session with the parents training on the field together with the children.

Being a Community Shield, it is only right that the winner be chosen by all of us in the League. Before the season ends, we will ask each team to nominate the team that you feel should win this Shield. Each team will need to tell us why the team that they nominated should be the winner. We will then assess them and decide the winner.

 

Encouraging Your Child

Do encourage your child to excel and win, but please also teach them that it's not winning that matters most, and that there are other matters that are equally, if not more important, such as sportsmanship.

Sometimes we tend to forget that this League of ours is not just about football. Winning games and being declared a champion should not be your total objective. Our league is about building community through football.

Some kids may not even have gone beyond kicking the ball past their house gates prior to this. As such, they are now exposed to a whole new experience of playing football, playing as a team, taking instructions and so on. Please be very-very supportive of them. By the time this league ends, these kids will be physically and mentally stronger, and would have developed good interacting skills. Some of us parents never got to experience what these kids are going through.

Let the children treasure this experience, and they'll thank you for this in the future, if not now. Like you, they will in turn ensure that their children get the same benefit and attention that you have given them. One good deed begets another.

We need to tell the children that for every team that wins, there is another team that lost. The children need to be taught to accept a win graciously, and a defeat positively.

It's nice to celebrate when your son's team won. What would you do when he lost and is down? Do you reprimand him, or do you encourage him?

I can do no better than to cite the example of Derek Redmond, who was a favourite to win the 200 meters in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Something happened to him about 100 meters from the finishing line. What happened then?

Watch the video to find out:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=kZlXWp6vFdE

That is all for now folks. I hope and pray that we will have a good season.

On behalf of the Leadership Team, we would like to thank you for your support, and wish everyone all the best!

This our Community! This is our League!

Zaini Mazlan
SJCYFL 2012 Coordinator

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