Dahya scores four as Marsiling’s B Div girls seal maiden National School Games floorball title

SINGAPORE – For three years, Marsiling Secondary School’s floorball girls have suffered at the National School Games (NSG). They lost the C Division final in 2023, both their C Division semi-final and third-place play-off by one goal in 2024, and then the B Division semi-final, again by a single goal, in 2025.

On April 20, they finally put those demons to rest as they stunned two-time defending champions Swiss Cottage Secondary School 5-2 in the B Division girls’ final at Our Tampines Hub, celebrating wildly at the final whistle.

Securing a maiden title by overcoming opponents who had denied them in 2023 and 2025 was an impressive feat, considering Marsiling had started their floorball programme only in 2019.

Marsiling captain Valentina Capucci told The Straits Times: “Since 2023, we have never stopped thinking about getting the gold medal... This time, we emerged stronger mentally.

“Our coach always tells us not to act like winners when we haven’t won anything yet. We need to always be switched on, to persevere, to give it our all and to have the willingness to win the fight.

“I remember when everyone didn’t believe in us and sometimes we didn’t believe in ourselves as well. But then we put in our blood, sweat and tears into our training, three hours each, three times a week, sometimes on Saturdays too.

“We ran until we couldn’t breathe any more and then we finally made it here, proving that even a school like Marsiling can emerge as champions and be the best. It really shows that nothing is impossible, as long as you want it badly enough.”

With such a mentality, Marsiling started the match the stronger of the two teams, even though their placard-carrying supporters were outnumbered in the stands.

While Swiss Cottage looked the part of defending champions with their Inter Miami-inspired black-and-pink jerseys, coordinated pink hair ribbons and stick blades, Marsiling were as disciplined and red-hot in their finishing as their neatly tucked-in kits.

Dahya Nasrul Muhaimin took just 16 seconds to open the scoring for the underdogs with a right hook into the bottom corner and they were 2-0 up after the first period, with Alivia Cheng also getting on the score sheet.

Dahya found the net again in the second period, before Swiss Cottage – who had struck the bar twice, including once from a penalty – pulled one back through Nheha Javiera Balasubaramani.

Dahya completed her hat-trick in the third period by manoeuvring the ball from behind the goal to score a delightful wrap-around and make it 4-1.

While Kayla Tan reduced the arrears, Dahya put the result beyond doubt with another goal that left some of her opponents playing in tears with four minutes left.

With the breakthrough triumph, four-goal heroine Dahya hopes the graduating batch of players are leaving behind a legacy for future generations to build on.

She added: “I didn’t expect myself to perform like this, and I’m grateful to have the best teammates in the world. They were the ones who assisted me for the goals and I couldn’t have scored without them. This batch is really special and they will always have a special place in my heart and this is a memory I’ll never forget.

“Winning gold feels really great because this is what we have been wanting ever since we lost in the final when we were in Sec 1. We didn’t have any experience in floorball at all when we joined Marsiling, so this win feels special because we don’t have any national players or club players.”

In the B Division boys’ final, Victoria School secured a fourth straight title with a thumping 8-1 win over Xinmin Secondary School.

In front of more than 300 students from each team who created a raucous atmosphere with their synchronised cheers, Victoria opened accounts through skipper Mika Rendyno after only 24 seconds.

They were 4-0 up through braces from Asy-Syahir Kadir Muhyideen and Mika before the skilful Raiker Chua pulled one back midway through the second period.

However, Jethro Ong, Eason Tang, Ammar Lutfi Shabarie and Aamir Alwani Ahamed Maideen added sheen to the scoreline. After the final whistle, they were mobbed on court by some of their schoolmates.

Commenting on this Victoria team, who have swept the C and B Division titles since 2023, Mika said: “It feels great because we have gone through thick and thin for four years, putting in blood, sweat and tears into our training. So winning the title four years in a row is something surreal and sentimental for us.

“As half of our team are on the O-level track and will not go on to Victoria Junior College, many of us will go our separate ways after this. But hopefully, there will be one day when we can reunite and play as one.”

Interestingly, 40-year-old Jatin Nair was the winning coach for both finals on the same day.

He said: “For Marsiling, we were not thinking about revenge for our previous losses. Instead, we wanted to show how we have grown and are different from the team that lost previously. Those scorelines don’t define us and today, the girls believed in themselves more.

“As for Victoria, we also wanted to show we are not going to lag behind as other teams are growing. Xinmin are an up-and-coming team who have been getting good results and we have a target on our backs, so we had to work harder than everyone else to earn this gold medal.”