Less is more in restart

Aqilah Andin, vice-captain of the national netball team, has spent the bulk of her career keeping goal for both club and country.

But from next month, the 24-year-old defender will get a chance to test out her skills as an attacking player with the launch of the 3v3 league by Netball Singapore (NS).

The competition will run from Feb 23 to May 21, ahead of the Netball Super League (NSL), the annual seven-a-side club competition which has been postponed till May 15.

NS is one of several national sports associations who have begun pivoting to small-sided formats with team sports at a standstill because of the group-of-eight rule under the Covid-19 protocols.

The Singapore Hockey Federation launched its Under-19 3v3 leagues last Saturday, with an eye on also introducing leagues for men and women.

The same weekend, the Volleyball Association of Singapore (VAS) held a closed-door beach volleyball tournament - the Kickstart The Game two-man competition was its first event since the coronavirus pandemic.

Other modified forms of competitions for both beach and indoor volleyball are also in the works, said VAS vice-president (high performance), Chee Kok Leong.

He explained: "The whole fraternity has been eager to get into the groove of competition... The level of play has been healthy and everything went smoothly, so we are already in discussions to stage more tournaments in the next few months."

With Covid-19 safety measures yet to ease in the sport sector in Phase 3 of Singapore's reopening, administrators have decided that serving up a different format is better than doing nothing.

NS chief executive Cyrus Medora noted that "the players still can't train as a full team" as he explained the switch.

Kenneth Ho, president of the Singapore Floorball Association which plans to roll out a 4v4 Back2Floorball tournament by Feb 27, said the modified competition "is a way of having some resumption for the community" which would give clubs "something they can look forward to".

The 4v4 game will be played in a hybrid format with a total of three periods. The first two periods consist of three outfield players and one goalkeeper from each team. For the last period, four outfield players from each team will be on court, and a mini goal post will be used instead.

Players cannot be substituted in for more than one period.

The 3v3 format is played on a half court, with a total of three players and one rolling substitute from each team. Each game consists of two 10-minute halves.

There will be a total of eight divisions. Divisions 1 and 2 for Netball Super League clubs will begin first, while Divisions 3 to 8 are slated to start in April.

While keeping to the rules and regulations of a traditional beach volleyball game, teams go through double elimination rounds (single set) before moving on to the final (best of three). Only one referee and one scorer are allowed for officiating.

The Volleyball Association of Singapore has yet to announce details of any modified indoor formats.

RUGBY Schools are trying out 4v4 rugby tag - a non-contact version - internally. Players wear a velcro belt with two pieces of tag. Once a player's tag is pulled off, he has to pass the ball. The pulling of the tag is to simulate tackling in normal games.

The Singapore Rugby Union is also planning a 4v4 contact rugby for junior clubs, and is in talks with senior clubs on an agreeable format.

The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) is also working to ensure that amateur players will be able to get back to playing competitively after taking into consideration feedback from the fraternity.

It is planning to hold modified small group activities such as 4v4 competitions after receiving the necessary regulatory approvals.

FAS general secretary Yazeen Buhari said: "With the pilot done last year with the Singapore Premier League resumption, we are confident to now put forth plans for the amateur competitions, including for the centres of excellence, women's and Singapore Football League teams in 2021."

Alas, for contact sports like rugby, there is "no simple solution", said Douglas Danapal, head of commercial, public relations and marketing of the Singapore Rugby Union (SRU).

He said: "As there is no modified 4v4 format on the international level, the lack of the usual seven-a-side rugby game being played at a competitive level hinders national team efforts for upcoming competitions such as the Asian Games in 2022."

The SRU has written to government stakeholders to request that the national rugby team be allowed to train in larger numbers.

The competitions will be a welcome outlet for many athletes who have spent the last few months training without the chance of competing.

Melvin Goh, who partnered Kingsley Tay to win the men's beach volleyball competition, relished his time at the Yio Chu Kang Swimming Complex courts last weekend. The event attracted 32 teams.

He said: "With no competition, you can lose your motivation to train and it has been tough on all of us. So to be finally back playing in a competitive setting was great."

Aqilah, who turns out for NSL club Swifts Barracudas, is keen to see how she will fare in the 3v3 netball league.

"It's going to be more tiring than usual because it's going to be a faster game, so it's interesting to see what will happen," she said.

With no fixed positions in the game, she felt adapting to the new format would bring its own set of challenges.

"You get to train your decision-making (skills) and it'll be about being smart with your plays," she added. "Now in club training, we're focusing on attacking down the court and doing a lot more tactical stuff.

"Because there are no positions, it's also about being versatile and flexible because you have to defend and attack."

However, some have also expressed concern about the introduction of the modified formats, with former national netball player Deborah Rowe, who plays for NSL club Llabten Narwhals, noting that playing out of position would mean "more exertion on players, which may result in injury".

Ben Ow, national women's floorball team manager, added: "They have not been playing competitively for some time, so we will have to see if they can get used to this format where they play non-stop without substitution.

"Even with training, court fitness is something that needs to be practised."

Still, for many athletes, the chance to get their adrenaline pumping again is one they will not readily pass up.

As Aqilah said: "I'm really thankful there's still a platform to play competitively and safely at the same time."