Blacks Touch Rugby

Touch World Cup 2011 Scotland, Edinburgh

2011-08-03T11:17:00.002+08:00

Channel News Asia - World Cup Coverage

Patwant Singh: Channel News Asia August 2nd 2011

SINGAPORE: The sport might not be so big in Singapore but that did not stop the women's Touch team from scoring on the world stage.
The team finished third at the recent Touch World Cup in Scotland.
The lack of size was not an obstacle as the women used their speed and agility to win honours for Singapore.
Touch is a modified version of League Rugby with minimal contact.
The World Cup in Scotland held in June, saw 26 countries competing. And 12 months of hard work paid off for the Singapore Team, as they beat bigger teams like England 5-4 for the bronze medal.
Singapore's Women Touch Team captain, Alvinia Yong, said: "It is quite a great achievement because most of us are self-funded, so we spent lots of time and money on this trip, so to be able to come away with a bronze medal is quite a great satisfaction."
Yu Chien Chih, one of the expatriate players on the team, said: "Our single mindedness is what helped us win and off course the coaches and the player’s effort as well."
The girls are hoping that the win could garner more support for the sport, which can be enjoyed by people of all sexes and ages.
Anne Goh, a member of the team, said: "Recognition is always good and the schools would start to understand that this is a very serious sport and now that we are on the world map, a lot more respect in the world scene will definitely be a good opening for us to increase number of teams, number of players and interest in our country.
The sport has a large following in the tertiary institutions, and 50 teams play in the Singapore League.
Touch Football Singapore, which is not a National Sports Association, currently runs the sport in Singapore.
Touch Football Singapore estimates there are about 4,000 players in the local community and the sport is gaining popularity among men.
And for the very first time, a men's team from Singapore was fielded in the Open Category at the recent Touch World Cup in Scotland.

See the TV footage at the CNA link: http://www.channelnewsasia.com – click the SPORTS tab.

Representatives from Blacks RFC Touch:
Xu Xueting, Jazreel Tan, Caleb Ong, Khairullah, Tee Liang Sheng, Derrick Ng, Yen Chia Hsien

2010-12-02T22:45:00.003+08:00

Taken from Touch Football Singapore Website:

Singapore Barbarians took on Scotland in the International friendly fixture earlier in the day with a clear sky overhead.

The action was fast and the skill level very high - it was a very entertaining match-up and the spectator crowd were genuinely enjoying this high standard of play.

Scotland had the upper hand early by scoring in quick succession however, the Barbarians certainly proved to have their measure and bounced back with couple of their own.

The sky opened up and the flood waters came and sadly, spoilt a really good game.

The players continued on regardless – but with the rain was so heavy it was tough to see the sub-box on the opposite side of the field.

The Scotland team were up to their ankles......the side line disappeared under 6 inches of water and the corner cones started to float away. Welcome to Turf City dam.....this was some serious precipitation.

The contest continued regardless and although in obviously tough conditions – the referee’s (Marli, Anne and Mark) maintained a constant game flow and the touch downs kept coming.

The final score Scotland 7 – Barbarian’s 4

Well done Barbarians – consisting of our more experienced players from a range of clubs. They would have appreciated a dry track and wanted another crack at the touring team – however will have to wait for another day.

Thank you also to the teams that enjoyed the social games between the Barbarian’s and Test Match – the conditions underfoot after the rain were not ideal – however, most seemed to relish the ‘mud’?

The test match proceeded after some photography and a simple ceremony where both captains exchanged commemorative plaques; anthems were played – a Scottish Piper delivering the Flower of Scotland.

The field had drained well by this time and so although the surface was far from ideal – the sun was shining and both teams went at it – a tight contest for the first 5 – 7 minutes or so as they both tested their opponents.

Played at a fast pace (even in the wet conditions) – Scotland took the lead, however Singapore lads came back and the half time break saw Scotland ahead 3 – 1.

The second half saw some handling mistakes come into the Singapore game and the visitors were making significant territory – and too easily, as they drove down the field and had Singapore on their heels.

Singapore held on and only one TD was scored in the first 10 minutes. Great effort! Singapore had many a charge at the Scottish line – but just could not score. Close – but no cigar.

The last 10 minutes was tough going for the locals as gaps opened on their line and fitness started to tell.

Singapore was playing a well drilled, experienced team that had recently won the European Championships – they sniffed an opportunity and took it.

Singapore conceded four TD’s in the last ten minutes to go down 8-1.

With Scotland targeting a medal at their home town World Cup in June 2011 – the Singapore lads played well, and will gain significant knowledge and experience from this match.

The last ten minutes was difficult – however with this the biggest game these individuals had ever played and their first run as a team – will allow for genuine progress to be made over the coming months in their bid to travel to Scotland to take on the world!

Well done lads!

The officials for the test match were Chris Meade and Darren Blakeley – with Chris Knott FIT Asia Director of Referee’s the 3rd referee.

They controlled the match well and these guys must be thanked and recognised for their commitment to Singapore and Asian referee development.

Chris M and K are off to Australia this weekend to referee at the largest and most competitive tournament in the world – The NSW State Cup. Go get ‘em men!

Touch ...’What a Game!’

Singapore Open Men

Gideon Luo Shunheng

Joshua Yap En Jian

Sandran s/o Jogalu

Tee Liang Sheng

Khairullah Abdul Razak (Captain)

David Teo

Akira Lim Chun Ju

Shao Guo Yong

Lee Fook Loy

Dexter Ian Ng

Asyraff Khan Baharudin

Muhammad Hakim Jailani

Blacks Fun Touch 2010

2010-08-09T16:54:00.015+08:00

The Annual Blacks Fun Touch concluded on the 1st of August 2009.This year, we had a grand total of 64 participating teams competing for the championships under the categories for under 18 Girls, Women's Open as well as Open's Category! Although the weather was pouring at the start, every team came on time awaiting for the gloomy weather to fade. But luckily, the weather tamed down. Soon, all the teams were out on their feet, playing hard, cheering on for their team mates and vying for the championships! We hope everyone had a great day and Congratulations to the winning teams!

Open's Category: iTouch
Runner up: Spartans

Women's Open: Tweety & friends
Runner up: Pinky & the brain

Girls under 18s: SAJC
Runner up: NYJC

See you guys next year! :)
Photos credited to Andrew Chua and Akio Lim!

Blacks Women's VS LFS

2010-03-31T10:08:00.002+08:00

The Energiser Bunnies!

With memories of the last game against Monsoon Toas still fresh in their minds, the Blacks women’s touch wing gathered at Turf City on 25 March, Saturday, to face the LFS team.

Though of tender age and diminutive built (generally), the LFS players’ intimidatory attacks and speedy legs gave the older, erm, more mature players in Blacks a good run for their money. Their sharp dumps and hard runs, very hard runs, are a couple of things that the Blacks team should emulate.

The LFS team scored the 1st touchdown of the game. Unfortunate but if there’s one thing the Blacks women’s team has learned from the previous game, that is to never give up. The game ain’t over till it’s over.

Off a good drive to the touchdown zone, Xueting scored the 1st touchdown for Blacks off a blitz and a dive. You can always count on her to put her body on the line!

Winger Weili Neo scored her maiden touchdown by supporting June off a dummy-break. Upon breaking the defence, June cleverly swerved to the left where Weili, who had already slid into the touchdown zone, awaited with open arms, caught the ball, paused for a nanosecond (I don’t know why), then scored the touchdown.

The score was 4: 3 to LFS. The remaining 5 minutes were crucial. Seven meters from Blacks’ touchdown zone, the offensive LFS players committed a penalty. That was it. Ever ready and with a good sense of urgency, Jazreel tapped the ball and sped past the defenders to score the crucial equaliser (And if you remember, she scored the equaliser for the Monsoon Toa’s game too.) With her lightning speed, Jazreel had also made a couple of sharp covers for her team mates during the game.

The player who drew everyone’s attention, with her bandanna, left arm shield guard, right arm shield guard, left knee shield guard and (wait minute, let me catch my breath) right knee shield guard-Lee Lin- has been dormant in touch rugby for the past 4 years. It was good to have her on the team. (Increase your work rate Lee Lin!) Her name has so forth been mentioned because she played a role in the last touchdown.

Oblivious to the calls of her team mates ( I’m not sure if that’s a good thing), Lee Lin did not move forward, instead she deliberated in front of the defender, stepped past her, hit the gap, drew and passed the ball to Eunice Lim who supported her on the next gap. Having beaten her link defender, Eunice Lim faced the lone wing defender, with Brigette supporting her on the outside, and with her sleight of ball skills, she successfully faked the pass and scored the wining touchdown.

At the previous week, the team fought hard against the seasoned players in Monsoon Toas and put up a commendable score-line. Last week, the team won the Energiser Bunnies with its vast experiences, ball skills, good judgements and perseverance. This team has the ingredients to whip up a kick-ass feast on the field. Now, it’s just a matter of tweaking the recipe.

Next game - Pirates.
Game on.

Penned By: Mephine

Monsoon Toas VS Blacks Women's

2010-03-24T00:07:00.014+08:00

A Rainbow on Our Side

On the cold, wet afternoon of 20 March 2010, the Blacks women’s team gathered at Turf City, Field 1, to meet, perhaps, the most feared women’s team in the entire Summer Touch League (STL) – Monsoon Toas.

With a shout of a cheer that some players claimed didn’t make sense, Captain Rachel and her starting 5 walked onto the field and took their positions, ready to face their opponents, the defending champion of the STL series.

And the whistle went off.

Monsoon Toas fielded their young and less experienced players to launch their first offence. As expected, their speed, level of intensity and movements were fast and lethal. The Blacks women’s team rose to the challenge and defended all the touches with great precision and ferocity. The wet weather conditions were a stumbling block for Monsoon Toas as they made far too many drops. Under the cat and dog weather, both teams defended and attacked relentlessly with every possession they had.

Alas, after more than 10 minutes, Alvinia supported an inside pass from Karen and dove onto the touchdown line to score the first touchdown of the game.

Unfortunate. But it didn’t matter.

Not wasting a single moment wallowing in self-pity and frustration, the Blacks women’s team summoned all their strength and courage to attack the opposition’s defence. A solid drive, which by the way should take place consistently in a game, brought the team to the 5m mark from their touchdown zone.

It was the perfect set-up. No room for hesitations. No room for bad hands.

No room for mistakes.

And then it happened.

Xueting, who recently returned from the NTL in Australia, received a pass from Wan, ran to the right, dragged her defender along, did her signature side-step to the left, hit the gap, drew the link defender, effectively creating a 3 v 2 situation, and passed the ball to Rachel who pounced onto the touchdown line, scoring the first crucial touchdown for the Blacks women’s team.

A sea of hands rose and waved at the substitution box. YEAH!

Monsoon Toas was swift to recover and scored their 2nd touchdown a couple of minutes later.

Half –time. The score was 2-1 to Monsoon Toas.

The rain had abated. Team confidence escalated in the team. A quick half-time brief to tighten the team’s defence and sharpen the attack.

Time to head back to the field.

The Blacks women’s team took on the seasoned players who replaced the younger players as the starting 6.

Eunice Chu, one of the players with the higher work rate in the team was, unfortunately, sent off to sin-bin for 2 minutes and the team’s defence was put under duress. With 5 defenders warding off 6 ravenous Monsoon players who prowled on every gap and weak link in their sight, the scene was not for the weak-hearted. A brief lapse of concentration and communication in the defence led to a touchdown by Karen.

Drats. Hard luck.

The score was 3 – 1 to Monsoon Toas. The Blacks team did not give up and continued the uphill battle of breaking the opposition’s defence.

On a dummy break off a clean dump, Jazreel blazed past the defenders, swerved to the left and off a 2 v 1 situation, made a flat pass to winger, mighty Helena, who came in from a good depth, caught the ball, stormed down the field along the sideline, flew (she really flew) into the touchdown zone, plant the ball in the zone before sliding past the end zone, displacing a cone in the process.

It was such a momentous touchdown. I don’t suppose neither the team nor Helena would ever forget that touchdown. Good job, Jazreel and Helena.

The score was 3 -2. Spurred on by the inspirational touchdown by Helena, the team worked even harder.

At about the 33rd minute, 10 meters away from our touchdown line, on offence, Jazreel deftly stepped past a defender and once again, whizzed past other defenders to score the equaliser.

The score was 3 -3.Cheers erupted at the substitution box and the same thought flashed across everyone’s mind.

“Please blow the whistle and let it be full –time.”

No such luck.

Perhaps due to fatigue and diminished focus, the team’s drives slackened considerably and on numerous occasions, it was not able to bring the ball into the opponent’s half. That proved to be a deadly mistake as the team had to defend Monsoon’s aggressive onslaught in the red zone.

A blunder at the substitution box caused another player, Eunice Lim, to be sent to sin bin. And once again, the team was caught in a precarious situation of warding off 6 attackers with 5 defenders on the touchdown line.

A slow drift on defence resulted in a dive touchdown from Alvinia off a tap.

The score was 4 -3 to Monsoon Toas.
The whistle went off and that signalled full-time.

Nevertheless, it was a good display of touch, tenacity and determination from Blacks. Though the weather was wet, dull and dreary, over at our substitution box, all of us had a ‘rainbow’ over our heads (we really did have a rainbow above our heads if you remember the humungous umbrella, courtesy of Wan.)

I don’t suppose it was the cheer that didn’t make sense to some players or the gigantic rainbow brolly that made the game experience and outcome so sweet and gratifying. It was the team’s never-say-die attitude and indomitable spirit and let’s hope the team brings those with them for every game in the league.

Penned by: Mephine

New Zealand 20's Mixed vs Australia 20's Mixed

2010-03-19T01:40:00.000+08:00

Courtesy of Eunice Chu! (Our dear Ah Chu)

"Can our Team play like them??"

STL UPDATES

2010-03-10T13:50:00.001+08:00

Fixtures for 13 March 2010

Hi Everyone, here's the fixtures for this coming saturday.

Men's

Blacks VS Tp Blue Thunder 12:00PM

  Women's 

Blacks VS Monsoon 12:50PM

Mixed (Superheros)

Superheros VS Bucks Hopbacks 2:30PM

Drinks lot of water, C you all :D

SUPERHEROS & ANNOUNCEMENT!

2010-03-04T01:43:00.008+08:00

HEY BLACKS!

Some pictures of Team Superheros on the field. It was definitely a good fight against Team Monsoon. Apologies for the lack of professional photography. We'll just have to make do with this until someone offers their power pack camera ;)

Fixtures for 6 March '10

Women's

Blacks vs Bucks 12:50PM

Men's

No Match!

Mixed (Superheros)

No Match too!

However, if you're free do come down and support the girls still! :) Thank you in advance!

Ok GIRLS, the team list will be announced by Eunice pretty soon. Do watch over your mails. Let's get ready our sunblocks, bottles & umbrellas. And of course(super important), bring your jerseys, enthusiasm and your high-powered energy too! Rest and stretch well, see you all on Saturday!

Time for me to hit the sack!
Till then, M

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAZREEL!

2010-03-03T15:14:00.001+08:00

Have a blast! Have a fun-filled birthday, JAZREEL! :)
xoxo, blacks

The Day We Came to Play!

2009-12-28T12:07:00.013+08:00

With dogs on a leash...

And bells on our feet...

It's hard to miss, the smile on our face..

This is the day...

This is a day...

We all came to play...

Ready...Set...

2009-09-15T00:26:00.010+08:00

Blacks Fun Touch 2009

2009-06-10T09:49:00.031+08:00

The Annual Blacks Fun Touch concluded on the 31^st of May 2009. We had a total of 45 participating teams this year vying for the champions for our U21 boys, U21 girls,Men's Open and Women's Open categories.

Blacks Fun touch promises fun and excitement amidst competition. It is a platform for participating teams to have fun playing touch football in a more casual 3v2 setting. Players have the chance of mingling and sparring against their peers, pitting their skills against one another, all in the name of fun!

Congratulations to our 4 champion teams!

U21 boys – Burn Burn Burn

U21 girls – Bambi

Men Open – The Blacks team

Women Open – Blackberries

Not to forget the 4 MVPs that were acknowledged and selected for their outstanding skills and play.

U21 boys – Brendon

U21 girls – Suria

Men Open – Joshua Yap

Women Open – Haseena Allapitchay

Check out also our newly crowned Blacks Fun touch 2009
Astrobabe and Astrohunk!

They are Ms Karen Tham and Mohd Syahrein respectively.

Astrobabe - Ms Karen Tham

Astrohunk - Mohd Syahrein

Till then J

A big thank you to all the participating teams, committee members, volunteers and TFS, for making Blacks Fun touch 2009 yet another big success. We hope that all of you had fun. See you all at Blacks Fun touch 2010!!

Till then J

STL Grand Final & Play-Off

2009-06-08T21:46:00.004+08:00

Grand Final

Mens A/B: Monsoon Dragons 4-3 Blacks

Mixed A: Monsoon 11-4 Blacks

Play-Off For 3rd & 4th

Womens B: Blacks2 10-2 Pirates

Master: Monsoon Avengers vs Blacks (Blacks win by walkover)

Play-Off

Womens B: Bedok 0-8 Blacks1

STL Semi-Final & Play-Off

2009-05-31T01:10:00.004+08:00

Semi-Final

Mens A/B: Bucks Golden 5-6 Blacks

Womens B: NUS 5-4 Blacks2 (Sudden Death)

Mixed A: Bro Town 4-5 Blacks (Sudden Death)

Master: Bedok 9-7 Blacks

Play-Off

Womens B: Pollypocket 7-2 Blacks1

Rescheduled Games 2

2009-05-25T14:41:00.002+08:00

Womens B: UWC 4-7 Blacks1

Master: Blacks vs Monsoon Avengers (Blacks lost by walkover)

Master: Bro Town vs Blacks (Blacks lost by walkover)

Rescheduled Games 1

2009-05-18T10:58:00.007+08:00

Womens B: Blacks1 0-5 LFS

Master: Blacks vs Marina Bay Sands (Blacks lost by walkover)

STL Fixture 10 - Results

2009-05-10T00:23:00.004+08:00

Mens A/B: Monsoon Demons 4-8 Blacks

Womens B: Blacks1 (Bye Game)

Womens B: Pirates 2-3 Blacks2

Mixed A: Blacks 2-10 Bro Town

Master: Blacks P-P Monsoon Avengers

STL Fixture 9 - Results

2009-05-04T00:25:00.002+08:00

Mens A/B: UWC 4-6 Blacks

Womens B: Bedok vs Blacks1 (Blacks1 win by walkover)

Womens B: Bucks Margaritas 5-5 Blacks2

Mixed A: Pirates 5-5 Blacks

Master: Bye Game

STL Fixture 8 - Results

2009-04-19T10:32:00.004+08:00

Mens A/B: Monsoon Dragons 3-6 Blacks

Womens B: UWC P-P Blacks1

Womens B: Pollypocket 3-3 Blacks2

Mixed A: Blacks 5-11 Monsoon

Master: Marina Bay Sands 0-12 Blacks

STL Fixture 7 - Results

2009-04-05T22:10:00.003+08:00

Mens A/B: Blacks (Bye Game)

Womens B: Blacks1 1-11 NUS

Womens B: LFS 4-1 Blacks2

Mixed A: Bro Town 9-3 Blacks

Master: Blacks 5-6 Bro Town

STL Fixture 6 - Results

2009-03-30T12:23:00.003+08:00

Mens A/B: Blacks 7-4 Bucks Pilseners

Womens B: Blacks1 2-2 Pirates

Womens B: NUS 5-1 Blacks2

Mixed A: Pirates 4-10 Blacks

Master: Bedok 7-3 Blacks

Vroom..vroom..poot..poot..poot..

2009-03-19T22:26:00.004+08:00

Let me introduce to you my friend!

His name is TUK TUK!

He was born in 1997. Though its been only 3 weeks, I felt like we've known each other for eternity.
He never fails to stall when I attempt to wake him up in the morning.
He grows facial hair in the shape of spiderwebs everywhere.
He tries his best to climb bumpy hills, treacherous mountains and impossible slopes sometimes at 20km/h.
He goes TUK TUK TUK when he's happy and he throws tantrums when i rev him up on the freeway.
He doesn't like tailgaters, he'll intentionally go 80km/h on a 100km/h freeway if others do tailgate.
He doesn't eat but he drinks a yellowish concoction every week, it cost me AUD$23 to quench his thirst.(He gets discounts from supermarket receipts)

Ahhh..TUK TUK, my friend, my old old friend.

Have you got a friend like mine?

STL Fixture 5 - Results

2009-03-16T11:38:00.008+08:00

Mens A/B: Blacks 14-8 Kongsberg

Womens B: Blacks1 3-8 Bucks Margaritas

Womens B: Blacks 2 (Bye Game)

Mixed A: Blacks 3-8 Monsoon

Master: Monsoon Avengers 2-4 Blacks

STL Fixture 4 - Results

2009-03-09T11:03:00.002+08:00

Mens A: Blacks 3-5 Bucks Golden

Womens B: Blacks1 1-3 Pollypocket

Womens B: Blacks2 8-0 Bedok

Mixed A: Blacks 3-6 Bro Town

Master: Bye Game

STL Fixture 3 - Results

2009-03-02T00:01:00.009+08:00

Mens A: Monsoon Marauders 2-9 Blacks

Womens B: Blacks 1 P-P LFS

Womens B: Blacks2 7-4 UWC

Mixed A: Pirates 3-5 Blacks

Master: Blacks P-P Marina Bay Sands

A good week for Blacks Touch Wing! Keep it up! Come on Blacks!

STL Fixture 2 - Results

2009-02-22T22:41:00.006+08:00

Mens A: Blacks 4-7 Monsoon Dragons

Womens B: Blacks2 3-2 Blacks1

Mixed A: Blacks 1-8 Monsoon

Master: Bro Town P-P Blacks

STL Fixture 1 - Results

2009-02-15T23:28:00.009+08:00

Mens A: Bucks Golden 6-5 Blacks

Womens B: Pirates 6-2 Blacks 2

Mixed A: Blacks 6-6 Bro Town

Master: Blacks 8-6 Bedok

Do not be disappointed! Let us work hard together! Come on BLACKS!

Touch Rugby - What a Game!

2009-02-10T23:47:00.003+08:00

As requested by Derrick, here it is ! Enjoy the video!

Blacks Touch Jersey - STL 2009

2009-02-09T11:41:00.003+08:00

Cheers to our jersey for the upcoming season!

Blacks Laptop Rucksack

2009-02-06T14:44:00.005+08:00

testing

2009-02-04T14:12:00.001+08:00

This is the first post for the Blacks Touch Rugby Site