PMC Soccer Fellowship Updates!

Hi everyone, trust that all of you are looking forward to the coming long weekend. Soccer Fellowship has come quite a way since we kick-off this fellowship about a year ago. Over the last couple of weeks, the Committee has been in conversation about how to move on from here and make this fellowship meaningful for everyone. We'd like to update you on some of the things we've decided on.

PMC Soccer Fellowship Sessions
These will continue to take place twice a month and will essentially be SOCIAL in nature. That means, no over zealous competitiveness, referees and 'winning at all costs'. However, there is still a need to have some rules and structure for safety and playability, hence the need to limit sides to 11 players. There will also be emphasis on sharing God's Word through devotions/prayer and building sportsmanship.

PMC Soccer Team
The Soccer Team is essentially COMPETITIVE in nature. This group has grown over the last year and has taken part in friendlies and a tournament. Coming up soon will be a league between 4 Methodist Churches. To ensure a certain level of commitment to improve physically and technically, regular training sessions will commence in the near future (apart from Soccer Fellowship sessions). Players who are keen to join the Team will have to attend the training sessions first. Gleen See Toh is the Captain of the team and will be involved in player selection and tactics during matches.

Other Activities
There will be other activites organised during the course of the year like PMC Church Cup 2007 and going to watch S-League matches when the season starts.

We appreciate your support over the last year and look forward to having you join us regularly, whether it be for Soccer Fellowship sessions or a friendly match against another team.

Have a blessed Chinese New Year!

Soccer Fellowship Report [10th February]

The session started off with opening prayer and devotion led by John Chia. He and Bangshi proceeded to captain the 2 teams for the day and picked their players 'old skool' style, one after another. This gave both teams a good balance.

The match started off under hot and dry conditions and it took 3/4 of the 1st half before the scoring was opened by Marcus Fa of the Reds. Before half-time Damien Chua equalised for the Blues and everyone expected the teams to go into the break level on score. However, just before the half-time whistle blew, Kris Chen scored for the Reds which allowed them to go into the break up by one goal.

The Blues started off the 2nd half fiercely by scoring two successive goals within the first 10 minutes to level the scores, then take the lead. The goals were scored by Damien Chua and Choon Heng. The game was played under fiercely hot weather conditions and no goals were forthcoming until somewhere near the end, when Glenn See Toh scored to bring the score to 4-2 in favour of the Blues. Before the final whistle, a consolation goal was scored by Reds captain John Chia. Final score-

Blues 4

[Scorers- Damien Chua (2), Choon Heng, Glenn See Toh]

Reds 3

[Scorers- Marcus Fa, Kris Chen, John Chia]

Soccer Fellowship [10th February]

Soccer Fellowship is ON this Saturday, 10th February at Springfield Secondary School.

The session will be from 3 - 5 pm. Everyone had a great time at the last session with the new 'rules' that we implemented. We seek your cooperation to give the new Committee your support by being punctual, to abide by the 11-a-side rule and to follow the schedule as detailed in the previous post.

Please pray for good weather!

For team identification this week, please bring / wear a BLUE or RED jersey. Try to bring both if you can, just in case we need to balance out the teams.

Soccer Fellowship Report [3rd February]

The 2nd Soccer Fellowhship session of the year began with a short devotion by Maurice on having a 'gameplan' for our spiritual lives. He encouraged us to think about moving on to spiritual maturity and planning for that to happen, just like how we plan for our studies and career.

Kevin then opened with prayer and gave a short briefing on the rationale for having 11-a-side games rather than a free-for-all session at every Soccer Fellowship. Kevin also introduced a 'working' committee that will give input on Soccer Fellowship and help to captain the teams at every Soccer Fellowship session. They are- John Chia, Sheldon Liew, Ong Bangshi, Glenn See Toh, Maurice Lim and Kevin Ang. To round-up every Soccer Fellowship session with some sportsmanship, players are encouraged to gather at the centre circle to shake hands, thank each other for the game and close in prayer. In brief, every Soccer Fellowship session should flow like this-

1500 hrs - Devotions & opening prayer

1515 hrs - Organisation of teams by captains

1520 hrs - 1st half kickoff!

1605 hrs - Halftime!

1610 hrs - 2nd half kickoff!

1655 hrs - Match ends with hand-shakes and closing prayer

1700 hrs - Go home!

Saturday's match kicked off with some good passing and the Whites showcasing their greater mobility, speed and fitness. It took awhile before some good passes were strung, leading to the opening goal by Choo Jingzhong. The Reds tried in vain to breach the Whites defence, led ably by David Teong. The closest the Reds got in the 1st half was a direct free-kick from Glenn See Toh, which the Whites' keeper, Choon Heng, saved.

The 2nd half started with the Reds chasing the game, trying to find an equaliser to quite an even contest. However, their inability to move the ball smoothly into the attacking third led to incessant pressure from the Whites. This finally paid off when a good through ball found its way to Marcus Fa, who calmly fired a stiff shot pass the Reds' keeper, Marcus Tan. The game was all for the Reds to chase and after a fortuitous mix-up in the box, John Chia was on hand to prod the ball into the Whites' net. It could have been 2-2 in the dying minutes but a 'bootless' Sheldon Liew was unable to sweep the ball home from 2 yards out. Final Score-

Whites 2

[Scorers- Choo Jingzhong, Marcus Fa]

Reds 1

[Scorer- John Chia]

Soccer Fellowship [3rd February]

Soccer Fellowship is ON this Saturday, 3rd February at Springfield Secondary School.

The session will be from 3 - 5 pm. Everyone had a great time at the last session despite the showers and I'm sure all of you will be back for more this Saturday!

Please pray for good weather!

For team identification this week, please bring / wear a WHITE or RED jersey. Try to bring both if you can just in case we need to balance out the teams.

Also from this week, we are trying to increase the safety and playability element by making sure that matches are played out in 45-minute halves by teams with 11 players on the field at any given time. More details about this initiative will be given at Soccer Fellowship on Saturday.

See you there!

Calendar of Events [February 2007]

3 February- Soccer Fellowship @ Springfield Secondary, 3 - 5 pm

10 February- Soccer Fellowship @ Springfield Secondary, 3 - 5 pm

17 February- Chinese New Year Eve [No Soccer Fellowship]

24 February- Activity to be confirmed...

*Do take note of the timing for Soccer Fellowship this month. We are trying out a new time slot to see if people prefer an earlier start time so that those who have dinner appointments/small group/worship practice don't have to rush so much after the game. Thanks for your understanding.

Soccer Fellowship Report [20th January]

The 1st Soccer Fellowhship session of the year started off with all of us desperate to get on the field for a kick! Why? Because even the heavy downpour and the soggy pitch could not deter us from having a wonderful game. The sky was dark and it was really pouring, but at least 25 'desperate' soccer players turned up for a solid game.

The Blues started the match very much in control and used the slippery pitch by troubling the Reds goalkeeper with their shooting. It wasn't long before they put the ball in the net, with Jingzhong latching on to a saved shot. The Blues continued to press and were rewarded for the effort with a few more goals! It was only after a while that the Reds managed to find their feet and pulled a goal back through John Chia, who fired a stiff shot from the right edge of the box. After a while he scored another through the same move.

The 2nd half was more keenly contested with the Reds re-organising and placing more emphasis on keeping the ball. It took about 20 mins to pay dividends, with a slick move that saw Daniel Low firing the ball pass the keeper. With the sky darkening, the match was settled with the last goal by the Blues, a defensive mix-up leading to Damien putting the ball into the net. Final Score-

Blues 5

[Scorers- Choo Jingzhong (4), Damien Chua]

Reds 3

[Scorers- John Chia (2), Daniel Low]

Soccer Fellowship [20th January]

Soccer Fellowship is ON this Saturday, 20th January at Springfield Secondary School [our home ground!].

The session will be from 5 - 7 pm. I know most of us have been looking forward to the start of Soccer Fellowship 2007 and it'll be great to see everyone again this Saturday.

Please pray for good weather!

For team identification this week, please bring / wear a BLUE or RED jersey.

Welcome to Soccer Fellowship 2007

Happy New Year Everyone!

2006 has been a good year for our Soccer Fellowship. God has blessed us with new friends, good fellowship and serious-injury-free soccer. With God's guidance, we are looking forward to serving and playing with you in the year ahead. Soccer Fellowship officially starts Saturday, 20th January 2007 at Springfield Secondary, 5pm - 7pm. We hope to see as many of you as possible.

In addition to playing Soccer regularly and taking part in the occasional tournament, here are some matters that we'd like you to consider-

1) We'd like to set up a committee who will look into the overall vision, objectives and programs of the ministry, as well as administrative stuff. This committee will not be 'bao-ka-liao' because we hope the responsibilities of execution can also be shared with everyone. If you feel you would like to contribute in this way, please send an email to pmcsoccer@gmail.com

2) For those who have participated in our competitive games as part of our PMC Soccer Team, we're also looking to set up a mini-league of sorts with a few other Methodist churches; I guess this will encourage greater focus/motivation in our training sessions. Do send an email to pmcsoccer@gmail.com should you feel that you're ready for competitive soccer in 2007.

3) Finally, we'd like to start off every session with a short devotion from the Bible (5 mins). We hope this will spur us on in our own spiritual walk even as we exercise our physical bodies. If you feel you would like to contribute in this way, please drop a note to pmcsoccer@gmail.com

We are also updating our email address list so drop us an email at pmcsoccer@gmail.com to let us know that your email address is current and you want to continue receiving updates on the Soccer Ministry. Otherwise, do check back this blog ever so often for updates.

Looking forward to see everyone on Saturday 20th January @ Springfield.

God Bless,
Maurice & Kevin

Soccer Fellowship 'on break' till 2007

Thank you to everyone for being part of this newly formed ministry in 2006. I hope everyone had a good time and will be part of Soccer Fellowship in 2007. We will now take a well-deserved break during December so that we can go on our vacations and also participate in all the Christmas activities organised by the church.

Towards the end of the month, there will be an invitation to participate in an online survey. This will give us an idea of how to improve what we've started this year and to gather your honest views on the Soccer Fellowship.

Thank you once again & God Bless...