VANILLA STARS!!!

THEY WEAR PINK!!!!!!

Top ( L-R ) : Thomas , Nicholas, Guilliame, Ferdinand, Gonzague

Bottom ( L-R ) : pyh, Remi, Romain, Ferdinand

The latest team to join the National Handball League. The Vanilla Stars are a team made up of ex-pats who want to play handball in Malaysia with a local face added in for extra spice. Team members come from different parts of the world i.e. Sweden, Germany, France, Argentina and… Malaysia.

Blogger’s comments :

The only people I met from team Kinta were Kamilee and Chan Seng. Didn’t get the chance to meet up with my old friends. Team Kinta played the first match of the day while we played the final match. Hope all of you are doing well. Looking forward to playing against you guys later in the League. Would be a good game don’t you think? =)

P.S.

It is a rare opportunity that we get a team consisting of players who come from traditional handball playing countries. France, Germany, Sweden etc are traditional handball powerhouses that feature prominently in international tournaments e.g. Olympic Games, World Championships, European Championships. Most of the players from Vanilla Stars have played at a level higher than our Malaysian National League. All the players from Vanilla Stars have been exposed to a level of handball higher than the Malaysian National League. They (except for the local ) come from countries where our national players would not even make their youth teams.

One thing I have to point out about the Malaysians is that we do not have enough exposure. It is sad but true. There is not much point in watching World Championship games when we do not even know the basics of proper defense. Players in the World Championships are so good that the referees are there just to supervise the technicalities. World level players very, very seldom commit the fouls we see in our local scene. Thus, watching the World Championships wouldn’t give us a realistic glimpse of what to expect.

In our local scene, we still see players being hacked from behind. Shooting arms are pulled, fastbreaks are being chased down with opponents deliberately being tugged from behind etc. all these normally result in a 7 meter shot and punishment handed to the culprit. Not in Malaysia. Referees hesitate to blow the whistle!! Some claim that here in Malaysia, we play by Malaysian rules!!!! Huh???!!! And we are expected to deliver medals in international tournaments?!

What good is it if someone becomes the top scorer in the Malaysian League, yet 50% of the goals come from taking 4 steps or more? If the referee doesn’t spot it, the player won’t realize it. When we meet teams or referees that are more observant ( as in international matches ), our goal tally drops by half! Then we face a tougher defense than we are used to, the goal tally drops even further. What is left?

We now have the chance to observe a team like Vanilla Stars play. Wouldn’t it make sense to observe and learn as much as possible?

Don’t concentrate solely on beating the team of ‘foreigners’. We take what we know is correct, apply it to ourselves, and go out guns-ablazing. Wouldn’t that be true “ Malaysia Boleh” ?