The best and only the best

Dear all,

At SIM Soccer club, we believe our players are the best and deserves only the best.

Thanks to SLS, profit from Futsal Fives and our player's contribution of funds. We have managed to purchase top-grade soccer balls which would be utilized by both the Men's and Women's team during training.

• 5 x Teamgeist (Official Ball for World Cup 2006)
• 4 x Mikasa (Official Ball for S-League)

The guideline and policy with regards to ALL of our soccer balls are stipulated as follow:

1) Usage:

• Only SIM Soccer club players are allowed to use the Mikasa/Teamgeist soccer balls.
• Ensure ALL soccer balls are accounted for before & after training.
• No member is allowed to lend/loan the Mikasa/Teamgeist ball(s) to others without approval from the Club President.
• We strongly advice that ONLY Mikasa soccer balls are brought to match venues.
• To preserve the lifespan of the Teamgeist, we strongly advice against using the ball in the futsal court.

2) Loss/Damage Recourse Policy:

• $109 fine for Teamgeist World Cup ball OR identical replacement.
• $80 fine for Mikasa soccer ball OR identical replacement.
• For other range of soccer balls, the fine imposed will be determined by the price paid during purchase OR identical replacement.

We do hope you understand that the above mentioned guideline and policy are designed to ensure due diligence, impose individual and collective responsibility as well as to protect our club's interest.

We sincerely hope you enjoy this incentive and privilege.

For this 2010/2011 season, as starters, let's bring home SUNig 2010!

Cheers,

SIM Soccer Club

Recovering from games

Follow the five guidelines below for ideas on how to speed recovery in tournament and regular scheduled game situations.

1. Food and Hydration-

a. One source said that the ideal time for replenishing your carbohydrate stores is 30-60 minutes after your game or practice. This is especially important for soccer teams that sometimes have multiple competitions in a day. When replenishing fluids, drink about 20 ounces per pound of body weight lost during the match. Next be sure to replenish carbohydrate stores with a carbohydrate-protein mix. One study showed that a carbohydrate-protein mix is more effective than a traditional 6% carbohydrate only sports drink. (1)

b. A research study compared a team that ate a carbohydrate rich meal to a team that ate a normal meal. The team that ate the carbohydrate rich meal covered 25% more distance. This shows that having enough of the right fuels in the body for competition play a big part in how the game is played.

2. Stretching-

a. Always stretch after training or games. This will decrease the soreness that sometimes appears after training. Perform nice easy static stretching focusing primarily on the lower extremities.

3. Self Massage-

a. Massage is widely known as an effective tool for recovery. The problem is many teams don’t have the budget for a massage therapist. To overcome this, use a foam roller or a slightly flat soccer ball. Roll specific muscles over the foam roller or soccer ball for effectiveness. Your focus should be on the lower extremities. Self Massage is used to increase blood flow, relax the nerves and loosen muscle. Important Note: Self massage can be uncomfortable but even a professional massage has uncomfortable moments.

4. Hot Cold contrast baths-

a. The hot-cold contrast baths can also advance recovery. To perform Hot-cold contrast baths simply sit in hot water for about 2 minutes 30 seconds then about 45 seconds in the cold water. Repeat this a few times for maximum benefits.

5. Sleep-

a. Athletes must sleep to recover. If they don’t get enough sleep their physical performance will be impaired.

4-4-2 Box Midfield

This is fundamental to keeping possession of e ball & effective for building up attack play. 

You'll find that this is a familar system used against us by NTU, TP, NYP, NUS.

SIM Soccer Club - Class of 2008: Most Outstanding Sports Clubs for the year

SIM sporting fraternity celebrated their achievements at the Sports Awards Night on 26 November. The Bowling Club, Floorball (Women) Club and Soccer Club were named the 3 Most Outstanding Sports Clubs for the year. Students with outstanding sports achievements were also recognised. The event too paid tribute to the coaches, who played a great part in guiding the students towards their success.

One of the highlights of the event was the sending-off ceremony for 18 SIM athletes who have been selected by the Singapore University Sports Council to represent Singapore at the ASEAN University Games (AUG) held at Kuala Lumpur in December 2008.

Joe Leong (right), President of SIM Soccer Club, receiving the Flames of Excellence Award from Mr Lee Kwok Cheong, CEO, SIM.

Implementation of Club Fund Contribution

Dear All,

We'll be implementing a $5.00 pooling fee from all players during the FIRST training session of the month. This collection of fee will be done on a Monthly Basis starting from 2nd Dec 08 for Men's and 3rd Dec 08 for Women's team. The money pooled will be used soley for the interest of our players.

For example, with ready cash available, we'll be able to fund the purchase of sport specific items such as Cold Spray and Sport tapes which you'll use during training/games. Other miscellanous costs such as Bus transport for games can also be subsidised from this pool of money.

Let's work with a nominal amount of $5.00 per person. Do note that the amount will be evaluated and see if the pool is enough for our players needs and requirements.

In addition, as a measure of control and fairness for players who contributed on time, we'll impose a charge of an additional $5 for players who fail to contribute by the end of each month.

As a start, the current ICs designated to collect the money will be:

Men's Team - Joe/Rex
Women's Team - Kammy

Thanks.

Jersey for IVP 2009 and onwards

Guys, we are looking to purchase RED (home) and BLUE (away) jerseys for IVP. 

Do look out for Nice jerseys within e budget of $1,200 for both Home and Away. Snap a pic and show it to us. We are looking to get the jerseys by 3rd week December. Meaning to say, we'll need to start window shopping now and placing orders soonest.

1. The club will be keeping the Jerseys and assign it to selected players for tournaments i.e. SUNig and IVP. We'll continue to wear our current Red trg kit for training and friendly games.

2. Apart from the training kits, Individuals will no longer be keeping the tournament jerseys as it presents a problem every year of getting new ones e.g. when students graduate and new players. Hence, this effectively eliminates the hassle of printing new jerseys every year.

3. To support this proposal, assuming that $1,200 is given to purchase jerseys each yaer, we can save on jersey cost and use it for purchasing training equipments instead, which would be a better option. Fyi, no money was given to us to purchase equipments this year even though it was proposed.

Principle of 4-4-2 defending

Jerome, Zhong Lun, Joshua, Watson and Melvin watch this video.

Principle of Offside holding the line to catch the player offside highlighted in commentary 0:28 to 0:45

Goal Kicking

Goalkeepers, here's a video posting tips on goalkicks, there's a part where he highlights which part of the foot to use. Its not how hard to strike the ball, its important to strike the ball with perfect technique.

The latter video features a full goal kick, watch the follow through after the kick.

Mental barriers to performing your best

August 15, 2008

By Poh Yu Khing, Sport & Performance Psychologist

There are two major psychological barriers that prevent us from performing at our full potential more frequently - self-limiting beliefs and the fear of failure.

The diagram below shows a ‘performance barometer’. As we try to strive for maximum performance, we could be either be held down by fear of failure, or prevented from going higher by self-limiting beliefs.



Self-Limiting Beliefs
Many of us hold on to self-limiting beliefs without even realising it. If I am a swimmer and think that because I feel tired and therefore will not be able to swim my best, then that will cause me to not swim my best already.

There will, of course, be days where we do not feel 100% fine. We are all humans after all. However, if we need everything to be 100% perfect before we believe that it is possible for a good performance, than we will never perform to our potential. If we are looking for reasons not to feel good, we will almost always find them. There are very few absolutely perfect days in sports, and waiting for one is pointless. Feeling good is not something that we wait to happen to us. Feeling good is something we decide to do regardless.

Rather than looking for reasons why we might not do well, the mindset we should take is, “Even though I do not feel 100% today, it’s ok, I am still going give it my all and see what happens.” Instead of placing a mental ceiling on our performance, we should have open expectations about performance - “I’ll put in my best effort and who knows what could turn out”.

Fear of Failure
The second area is fear of failure. Michael Jordan says, “I can accept failure, everybody fails at something, but I cannot accept not trying”. Champion athletes have a unique way of thinking. They seek out challenges. They hate losing but are not afraid to lose. Champion athletes dare to lose in order to win. They do not fear failure.

Some of us are motivated by fear of failure. We try very hard not to lose. We focus on the not losing instead of winning. The harder we try, the worse our performance becomes, and this creates even more stress, pressure and fear. Do we live our lives out of fear – fear of failure, fear somebody not being happy, fear of what others may think of us?

The main cause of the ‘fear of failure’ is from the fear of falling short of other people’s expectations. Failing in the eyes of others is one of the worst experiences of all, and this has impeded the performance and progress of many an athlete.

Some of us then unconsciously equate failure at a skill or activity with our own failure as a person. But this is absolute rubbish. If I’m not good at a certain skill, it does not make me a useless person overall.

So take on a “dare to try” and “dare to fail” attitude. Champions are those who hate failing, but are not afraid to fail. Start to think like a champion today. Strive to succeed by putting in 100% commitment and effort into our training and improving our skills. On competition day, whatever the outcome, remind yourself that the most important thing is to stand up to the challenge and to have tested yourself and stretched your capabilities. If we do not succeed at first, that serves as the best form of feedback for us to train harder, and to train smarter. Be not afraid to try and fail, be only afraid of failing to try.

Realise that our parents, coaches, friends etc will still love and respect us for who we are regardless of whether we won or lost the competition. They will respect us if they see that we are fully committed to training and improving your skills. They will respect us for the passion and the desire. They will love and respect us for the person that we are regardless of what we manage to achieve.

So go ahead…DARE TO TRY!

Poh Yu Khing was formerly the Head of Sport Psychology at the Singapore Sports Council as well as a national badminton player. In his spare time outside of his day job, he enjoys consulting with athletes and performers as a freelance sports & performance psychologist. He was also the author of a regular “Golfing Mind” column in the local GOLF magazine.