Majulah sukan untuk Negara

Right... so.., literally translated, the title would mean... "Let's advance Sports for our Country"... Would it mean that?? Haha... I don't know!

Anyway... you would know that Noel went for Tennis introductory session 2 Saturdays ago. For something different, last Saturday, I dragged myself out of bed to take him to the pool instead. My Uncle (Mom's brother) is an instructor at the local club (Waterpark a.k.a. Stampark) at BDC and he has been asking me to let Noel take swimming classes since 4 years old. Of course I'm all out to let Noel learn how to swim, but, but, BUT his classes are at 8am on Saturdays! Come on... Saturday is the ONLY day I can wake up a wee bit late and BDC from Matang is like... 45 minutes away! Can't blame me for delaying, right? RIGHT?? Hehe.. Excuses, excuses :)

Kung Kung had 8 kids for 1st class and 2 kids for 2nd class.

OK, so, knowing that it's the best for Noel, we went down to the pool on Saturday morning and he started his class. Since it's his own Kung Kung (grandpa), the usual 1 hour per session class went on for 2 hours instead.

Here's Noel taking the leap of faith - jumping into the water unaided

Kung Kung was really happy with Noel that day. He said Noel was a good student - very attentive, not afraid, up for the challenge and loves to compete. Noel absolutely loved the water and is now counting days for Saturday. He's a brave little one. His Kung Kung even took him diving to 8 feets down and he did it without batting an eyelash! But now, poor Mummy is stuck with getting up at 7am every Saturday!

Looks very pro here eh?

Here's the sad side of the story. It was fairly overcast on Saturday, that I took for granted no sun block is needed. Mr. Sun being his typical unpredictable self decided to come out to play at about 9.20. So, I have Mr. Blackie for another week. Yeah, yeah, I know... terrible Mommy! :)

See the lines on his hand?

When we came back home that afternoon, Noel's uncle (my bro) unexpectedly asked Noel if he wanted to go watch hockey. Something like the old team is getting together to play against juniors in a friendly. Of course Noel said yes. Since I had other stuff to do, I said OK for the rare-almost-never babysitting offer. So Noel had a sporty Saturday. No photos since Mommy was not around :)
Sunday came and when we got back from church, Noel saw his uncle taking out his hockey stick. Oh, I think I failed to mention that my brother used to play for the State team. I'm not sure how long it has been though. 10, 15 yrs? So it's this team that's coming back together for some games. Dad was not only playing, he was the State coach for so many years! Now... where does that put me? Hmmm... no comment! Hahaha.
Noel, obviously tired from the day before, actually needed to rest on Sunday. But he still asked if he could please, please, PLEASE go. Since these games don't really happen often, I said OK. And I went with him, since his uncle might be down on the turf playing.
And this will happen on the way to the Stadium when one gets too big hearted but is actually very tired....

We had fun watching the game. The seniors were.... well.... VERY good. That's the exact reason they were State players no? And though I've not met them for more than 10 yrs, they all still remember me :) The seniors were REALLY good and they basically thrashed the junior team from Unimas - till the juniors don't even want to play no more! Some of the seniors have put on weight, most have families and were tugging kids along but on the field, they were one. They played the exact same position, with the exact same graceful fluidity in which they played 10 yrs ago. One thing that struck me was they really helped the Unimas team while they were playing. Some had cramps, the goalkeeper leg pads fastened incorrectly, some went down for a save only to realise they need help to get up, one had bloody ears after a collision - they all were helped by the Seniors. I kept murmuring to myself - this is the exact reason they are called the State players.

We had a fun Sporty Weekend. Noel said he likes both tennis and hockey, but swimming is his fav. I'll be keeping a lookout on rugby games next!