I'll dedicate this post specially to my CCA teacher in charge formally known in this blog as Mr Boon, Sir Boon, The Boon and of course What a Boon as a sincere sign of respect. You see, Mr Boon is a very strange man. The first that I have known of his existence was when I was in secondary 1. I was attending the annual Pilot Pen Individual Championships and there he was. What A Boon! himself. His sense of fashion over the past 5 going 6 years has not altered abit. He stills sports the same side putting, the same 20 trillion year old Marine Parade CC T-shirt, the same notebook, and the same camera then and now. Obviously, my first impression was..what a lame reporter. Staring at the stupid fixtures when as a reporter, he could have just requested it from the numberous ACS(I) officials who would be more than happy to provide him with a copy. But to my surprise, I learnt that he is the teacher in charge of a Junior College that most of my seniors go to. Even I, since my secondary 1 days have aspired to go to that junior college and nothing, not even a lame teacher can stop me. After the tournamanet, I have never seen him anywhere else. Not in Singapore Badminton Association, not in Singapore Asian Satellite, not in our local tournaments and not in the then extremely hot Konica Cup (renamed to Singapore Open). It proved to me that he wasn't an avid fan of badminton. In the years that followed, I would only see him whenever his Junior College played and thats that. In the blink of an eye, mine especially, I was taking my O levels hoping to secure a place for myself in that Junior College. Alas, my O level results of 16 points couldn't get me into the Junior College and I had to appeal in using my CCA and the only person who could help me was...Sir Boon. Yeap. But Wonderful Boon was no easy pushover. He refuses to be stucked up to (rigghhhhht) outwardly..or at leats thats what he said. He doesn't entertain phone calls and insist that the applicant who wishes to serve The Great Boon see him in person and suck up to him. Yeap. Dear Boon is contradicting himself. Anyway, through sheer luck and because of my spirit during training and recommendation from various seniors (I know what you did. You don't have to deny or keep quiet about it. You guys got me in. Thanks alot!!! Someday, your kindness will be returned to you), Super Boon got me in. You know, my family has some general principles that my grandmother inplanted into me when I was young. That is when someone offers you a helping hand when you need it most, be appreciative and you'll technically be indebted to him for the rest of your live. Thats why I hate people who break scholarship bonds. Its not about the money!! Its about the help you received when you needed it so reciprocrate by finishing the contract. If you don't need the scholarship, please give it to someone like me!! Haha. Ok back to Boon the man. Now, I know that I shouldn't be saying this because I should be respecting Superman Boon for getting me into the Junior College of my dreams. However, Great one Boon has been alittle too much. See, One and only Boon wants absolute power in his team. He runs the team like a dictatorship but tells the world he is running a democracy where everyone in the team has a say. Sort of like the Iraqi regime under Saddam Hussein. See, we have always wanted to employ a coach and ever prosed that we pay for it ourselves if the school budget doesn't allow for it. However, we suspect that Heroic Boon is afraid that he would lose his absolute grip on the team and rejected it (He is actually thinking about it for a few damn months). Godlike Boon also wants everyone to be present at trainings without fail unless of course we have valid excuses and even if we are injured, we still have to attend training and sit in the corner cheering our teammates. Training last year was one nightmare after another. The team spirit and bonding that was forged in the battle during last years competition was literally disintegrated and burned right before my very eyes. Training was so boring and objectiveless I really saw no point going at all and even wanted to quit the team. But I remembered I was an appeal student and I had a contract with the school that if ever I leave the team either volunteerily or I was sacked, I would have to find myself anotehr Junior College. At about the same time, Boon the One has been appointing ICs (In-Charges) to see who will be the next appointment holder. Of course, given the natural competiveness in most humans, many of my teammates were trying to fake enthusiasm and spirit during training. It really disgusts me to see people like that. Whats worse is there are alot of girls (no names of course..but gosh will I remember you people. You literally forced me to dislike you!) who kept trying to impress Mr Boon by targeting slackers like me (especially ME) and say words like "Ian!!! Don't slack", "Faster Ian!!", "Show somemore enthusiasm leh!!" and "Don't keep sitting down there leh.....". Man...this is really forcing me to dislike you people. I mean, why should I show fake some enthusiam when obviously training is a bore, is meaningless and all there is in training is a bunch of people who try to get into Mr Boon's good books. Things did not improve over time. I flunked my June Common Test and was extremely worried about my Promotional Exams. Coupled with the fact that the drifts between me and some of my teammates are growing, I started to really dread going training. And at the same time, my lack of enthusiam was rubbing off on my teammates and the whole training thing became really hellish. Of course, truth be told, it isn't that I'm an influencial person or what. Its just that when one member of the team becomes disillusioned, the rest will also get affected. A way of life I suppose. Of course, Expert Eagle Eye Boon realised this and his last straw came in December when 8 members were late for training (me included). He disbanded the team and said that he will be forming a new team (whats the difference? it has all the same old people inside) but the members will be decided only after an interview with the self proclaimed God himself..Booooon. See, the funny thing is what I think Boon wants to do is to cut me out of the team and select everyone else. This is only a thesis and I have no proof for it unless I ask God Boon but I won't insult nor shoot myself in the head for something so stupid. Well, Boon interviewed every single one of my slacker friends except me. I don't know what his game is but thats what he did. And according to all the people he interviewed, he always asked them the same qquestion. What do you think about Ian? I mean. I never expected any of the people to say this but they did. All of them voiced their support for me and it really astonished Boon. But, the person whose words really touched me the most were those of my vice-captain. I heard alot of raised voices in the room and I really thought that my vice-captain would really piss Supposedly Calm and Demure Boon. But heres what my vice-captain said. "So what if Ian complains during training? The thing is he still does it right? And he does it better than anyone of us. And who can say that when Ian is actually training he isn't serious. If a player isn't serious and can still produce those kind of shots then I also want to learn how he does it." Of course, Boon voiced his disapporval that my fitness sucks..to which my vice-captain countered "Yes. Ian's fitness is lousy. But on court he still fights even if he is tired right? So who can fault him for that?". You know. I have never actually felt so touched in my entire life when he spoke up for me like that. I mean. Who in the world will want to risk their CCA career in Junior College just for one player? But the fact was he did and I'm sure he would have done it for anyone of his teammates and I really respect him after that. for his courage, his loyalty to his friends and his spirit. At the end of the interview, Boon asked him "what if Ian isn't selected in the new team?". My vice captain's answer was short yet sweet. Quoted directly from an sms he just sent me "I told him that if anyone leaves..I not staying." Of course, in the end, thanks to all the support of my friends, I actually made it back into the new team. We have come a long way with the inclusion of the year ones. But Hotshot Boon has not changed abit. He feels that our team still lacks urgency in our actions (god we are not in the army!! give me a break man) and of course, he is displeased that most of us only carries 1 racket into the court. This has earned 2 of our star players a one match ban which has seriously infuriated other team members including yours truely. We also had strict orders not to play contact sports (as the name suggests it is sports that involve contact with other players) so as to aviod unnecessary injuries. One of our teammates stood beside a basketball courtw atching his friend play and Expert Eagle Eye Boon happened to see it and reprimanded him and asked him to go for basketball training on Tuesday (it has since been revoked). I guess my vice captain words still rings true. "He can do anything he wants. Let us not antangonise him and create problems for ourselves at this crucial stage of the competitions. We want to be perfect. Lets not give him anything to shoot us with!" Jackson. I'll always salute you man:)