Written by: Daryl Chin Edited by: Choa Zhao Xiang and Leung Lok Heng Photos by: EusoffWorks and SMC Publicity
Handball, a physically demanding and mentally tiring sport, is played with two teams of seven players each, with each team comprising of one goalkeeper and six court players. With the aim of putting the ball into the opponent’s net, each player can dribble or take a maximum of three steps (without dribbling) when in possession of the ball. The rules of this sport may seem simple but it requires a lot of teamwork and synergy to win the game.
Leading this year’s IHG teams, we have Kenson as the male captain and Jessmine as the female captain.
First up, we have our male captain Kenson! Kenson only picked up handball in Year 1 during one the fun sessions organized during the summer break. He has since developed a liking for the sport and has continued ever since. When asked what made him want to take on the captaincy role for the team, he said that he enjoyed the camaraderie of the team and also because the ex-captain asked him to take on the role.
Lightning-quick on his feet, Kenson is ready to bring his team to victory.
Each training session consists of a few components, namely dynamic warmups (maybe playing some warmup games), shooting and defence drills and then finishing off with playing half court sets. With a team of driven and motivated players, Kenson has an arsenal of experienced seniors and freshies playing under him this year. His goals for his team are very straightforward: gain some brothers and win IHG together.
Ending off, Kenson had these words of encouragement to say to his team: “When the days are dark and friends are few, take a ball and throw a few.” Wow, what an inspirational captain indeed!
Moving on, we have Jessmine, this year’s female captain! Like Kenson, Jess started playing in Year 1 and because of the team spirit of the team, it made her want to stay and become captain. When asked about her team, Jess said that there are a lot of freshies in the team and most do not have prior handball experience. With this in mind, Jess alters each training session to the needs of the team, helping players develop their basics first before moving to more advanced gameplay. Each training starts off with a game of captain’s ball, before moving on to passing, shooting and wave drills. Leading up to this year’s IHG, Jess hopes that every member of her team really enjoys the process and the sport. She believes that everyone in her team is valuable and that winning is just a bonus.
Jess is all primed to make her mark as captain for her team.
The camaraderie between the girls and guys team is strong. When asked about one good thing about the guys’ team, Jess describes them to be committed and driven. Ending off, Jess had these words of encouragement for her own team: “No more ‘RESTARTTTT’ please, let’s keep moving forward.”
Make sure to catch these two exciting teams battle it out during IHG! We wish them the very best in their pursuit for IHG glory.
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