IHG Season 2007
For the sports enthusiasts.
For those who are looking for oppurtunity to shred some weight.
For better health.
For the sake of hall glory.
December is the season.
Christmas ???
Nope.
Thanksgiving then ???
Nope.
What then ?
For those who have been staying in hostel in NTU, they should know. Now is the IHG Season.
What’s IHG ?
IHG = Inter-Hall Games. Different hall would come together to fight for the glory of becoming the champion for the IHG. It is an annual event held in the month of December. Gathering all the cream of hall in Sports to play for the glory of thy hall. No necessary cream of hall, actually. I’m pretty sure the sports secretaries of each hall are willing to accept players from all faculties with an Super Open Arm as long as they are willing to commit to the trainings and the competition itself.
I remembered when I was back in year 1 in 2005, it was an exciting time.
Seniors and juniors would come together for training, rain or shine, without fail. Competitions were stiff and hall residents would go down to support the match even when they were not involved in the game, just to give morale support and to cheer the players on.
If you wish to know who played the hardest? Look at their skin colour. One can turned dark or even as black as the tar-road in just one month. Kudos to QL, our dedicated all-rounded all time star player.
Isotonic drinks were prepared, ice-cubes were extremely important for injury-prone game like hockey and soccer, bread & bananas for early game at 8.30am. Umbreallas for the supporters. Green bottles with stones in it for some hall to create their sound effects. Dressing in code colour of their respective hall.
Different halls behave differently. Some were ultra friendly and helpful. Some were snobbish which i would not mention here. When we didn’t have enough gloves for softball, hall 13 came to our rescue. This time round, hall 5 male softball IVP gave us emergency tuition on rules of softball and we crashed course last evening.
We were worried. The newbies didn’t have boots. The field was muddy. It was slippery. They helped us to the extent of lending us their ladies’ boots.
All these shall remained as the memories of the IH Season.
I still remember when Hall 8 Softball Females got into the finals of IHG, our captain and three seniors cried. Xiao Bin, Xiao Min, Max and Jobeth. Over-joyed! Efforts finally being paid off. It was all worth while. It was a Saturday evening match and the final was scheduled on the next day, Sunday, 8.30am. Nuts? No rest for us. Remembering that i had to sms my church leader for an emergency absent for my duty on Sunday for the match. I wouldn’t want to miss it. It might be my only chance, my only time in IHG final.
None can deny that it was fun. Exciting. Anticipating for winning the game. Disappointment when losing the game. We cheered and we panicked. We laughed and we cried. We had no regrets. We did our best. There were still some differences from the amateurs team and the seasoned players.
We trained from newbie. We learnt the game through trainings, real play and mini games. Throwing, catching and fielding were new to all of us except Xiao Bin (Captain), Xiao Min, Jobeth & Max. None of us knew the game, at all.
Slow pitch was played in IH, for the amateur. We were willing to train. We were bonded through the training. Xiao Bin kept reminding us softball is a team game. We needed to trust our teammates, that they would be able to catch the ball we throw. As teammate, your responsibility was to make sure you give a good throw that your teammate could catch. No wild throw. Training was needed. Trust was built. Friendship was fostered through days and nights of training. It was tough work but it was fun. An pure enjoyment of the game than the competition itself.
Bravos to Hall 8 Softball Female 2006… You did great!
I am being nolstalgia…
2007, Hall Life has become a different story for me.
Priority in my NTU life has took a turn. Looking back for the past two years, i’ve lose a lot and i’ve gained much. Good friends in hall 8 was one of the best rewards.
But trading my holidays in December for IH wasn’t my priority anymore.
I needed a break before i am off from NTU for two years.
My brain had enough of figures and such (not referring to IH).
My purse felt cheated when it got thinner.
Bank account protested.
Holidays is all I wanted. Anyone is buying me a trip? *hint hint*
Time freedom is my desire.
IH came last in the competition of self-interest.
I’m sorry.
I tried to commit. Squeezing in every bit of my time left for softball. I was only able to present in 2 trainings.
All prepared for today’s game against hall 9. I was running late for the game.
I was hosting games for my office’s X’mas Luncheon. I couldn’t get away. Responsibility.
And there I was, running from Nanyang Audi to SRC, drenched in the rain, like a crazy woman. My heart was with the team but my new found responsibility in my job didn’t allow me to.
Just in time to see my team taking picture. We won, 5-4. Nothing to be proud of, good game nonetheless. Mud-covered team. They played in the rain.
Good job girls! Though I wasn’t able to play, it was a good start. Long way to go girls…All the best!
