Finally sometime to fill in this miserable blog which i have left empty for almost a month! Reservist took a little wind out of me and i'm still gasping for air! Alot of stuff happened since the last time i blogged!
I've become a B badged umpire! A pleasant surprise! Umpires first become a cadet after passing their theory and a 20 min practical test. Then after gaining some experience umpiring school tournaments and carnivals, they write in to be badge for C. More than a year later, they will be allowed to badge for B, same time later for A as well. But it never usually happens that quickly though!
Was tested during the first game of NSL! Thank goodness i was umpiring with Jing Qing! Always feel at ease when your co-umpire is as strong and experienced as someone like her! So i am one step away from the A badge, but as all grading systems, it gets harder as you go higher!
Umpired the Nationals Finals between Sports school and IJ TPY on monday too. Had to miss AMK's final school challenge league game against Bedok View, but good thing they won by a nice little margin. It was great to umpire with Hairan, another very experienced umpire. I thoroughly enjoyed myself umpiring this match! It was exciting, very good level of play and most importantly, the players were really disciplined. Very enjoyable match to umpire, both teams truly deserved to be playing in this final!
After "wasting" 3 weeks in reservist, i was desperately trying to catch with school work. Had to rush right till 5am of the presentation day itself! Luckily the standard of my work was not too far away from the rest of the class... Now i have an exam on thurs which i have to burn midnight oil again for, another presentation and 2 more reports due next week! Thank goodness NSL is taking a weekend off! Phew! I wouldn't be umpiring on sundays due to classes as well! To be honest, i'm quite disappointed to miss out on that!
School trainings will end this week. Its feels like i've never been back with them for too long really. Probably because i've missed 3 weeks of training due to reservist. In a blink of an eye, the AMK seniors will be stepping down for their O levels. I guess its been a roller-coaster ride for them with tough zonals and injuries but i'm glad they never gave up despite everything. Study hard, have fun and will always be welcomed to come for training if you guys need a dose of netball!
Evergreen sec is always taking a small step back after the tournaments. We have bettered our performance last year by having both divisions in the 2nd round, this despite the irregular training frequency! But this year we only have 8 sec 1s, compared to last year's nice big group to choose from! Although the B div next year will have not much of a problem in terms of training discipline, the main worry would be the C div. It really gets me thinking whether it is worth to continue putting in so much effort for this school. Teachers have been very supportive and the some of the girls have put in remarkable effort into trainings....
In this time both Pam and i have converted! No, not to another religion or race, but we've become Korean drama converts! Never used to like korean dramas because they are either too weepy and draggy (think winter sonata), or endings that make you go "huh??" (Princess Hours). But this little drama is short, heartwarming and funny all at the same time! Think you could already guess from the songs that are playing right now! Yes its Get Karl! Oh Soo Jung!
Pam's already suffering from withdrawal symptoms, randomly fluttering her eyelids like Soo Jung, chewing off corners of the sofa pillows when Karl smiles ever-so-boyishly, and singing Sarang Han Da Myeon hundreds of times a day, everytime only the words "..Sarang han da myeon..."!! I am still trying to learn how to smile with my eyes becoming a straight line and dimples on both side of my face!
