St Hilda’s clinch first C Division girls’ floorball title, Victoria School crowned boys’ champions

SINGAPORE – With just 46 seconds left in the C Division girls’ floorball final on Sept 2, St Hilda’s Secondary School defender Nur Anniqa Irtysha Muhammad Rafie intercepted a pass and surged forward before unleashing a shot from distance to put her team 6-5 ahead against Tanjong Katong Secondary School (TKSS).

But even as the crowd at Our Tampines Hub reached fever pitch, the celebrations on court were short-lived as the players kept their focus, having just come back from a goal down in the last three minutes.

Only when the final whistle blew did St Hilda’s players erupt in jubilation, piling on top of one another as they rejoiced in clinching their maiden National School Games (NSG) C Division floorball title.

Reflecting on scoring the winning goal, vice-captain Anniqa said: “I was quite anxious after my shot, though I was certain that it was a winning shot.

“I was very relieved when it went in.

“I’ve been practising this since the start of C Division and I’m glad I was able to contribute to the team’s effort in achieving the championship.”

It was TKSS who struck first, with Arissa Abu Sufyan opening the scoring in the fifth minute.

St Hilda’s captain Jophelle Lim evened things up five minutes later from a penalty, but TKSS restored their lead almost immediately as Nur Sarah Irdina Mohamad Izwan fired in a superb shot from half court to end the first period 2-1 ahead.

The second period, which ended 3-3, was just as tight, with St Hilda’s finding the net through Melinda Soh and Anniqa, while Sarah added her second for TKSS.

That set the stage for the dramatic final 15 minutes as TKSS seized the lead through captain Amelia Sorfina Mohd Nizam’s effort from a tight angle in the 38th minute, only for Anniqa to equalise seconds later from long range.

Play had barely resumed when Arissa pounced on a poor clearance to restore TKSS’ lead.

Yet St Hilda’s refused to back down. With under three minutes left, Jophelle hit a backhand finish before Anniqa’s decisive effort sealed a historic victory.

Jophelle, who plays as a defender, said: “I feel very proud of my team because we kept pushing until the very end.

“Even when we were losing in the third period, we were still determined not to give up.”

The school’s journey to the title was a remarkable one, considering this was their first appearance in the final.

While St Hilda’s had won their first B Division floorball title in 2023, they had not made it to the knockout stages of the C Division competition in the past three editions.

Their vast improvement came from correcting their past mistakes, said Jophelle, 14.

One change they made was ensuring that centres and forwards also track back to help defenders.

Fellow 14-year-old Anniqa also noted that they entered this season with a more positive mentality.

She said: “Last year, we were more nervous because we were a new team, but this time round, everyone chipped in to help and motivated each other to really try our best.”

TKSS’ Amelia was heartened despite the close defeat, as they improved on their 11-7 defeat by St Hilda’s in the pool stage.

The 14-year-old said: “We all tried our best because even though St Hilda’s kept coming back, we also persevered and tried to get the point back. 

“Unfortunately we couldn’t (see it through), but overall we did our best as compared to the last time we went against them.”

In the boys’ final, Victoria School clinched their fourth straight title with an 8-6 victory over Xinmin Secondary School.

While there was pressure as defending champions, Victoria captain Ammar Lutfi Shabarie, who scored a hat-trick, said that also served as motivation for them to keep improving.

The Secondary 2 student, 14, said: “I feel very proud of the team and I feel all the hard work we put in paid off in the final.

“I’m glad we managed to win the title.

“It’s always been my dream since I was in Primary 3 to be on the score sheet of an NSG final, so I’m proud that I could make that dream come true.”

Xinmin coach Ysaac Mico Legaspi Gelangre was proud of his charges, noting that this was their first final since the floorball co-curricular activity was set up four years ago.

He said: “Definitely we hope this will not be the first and the last final and we will strive to do better than this.

“It’s actually a really great achievement for just being four years old and I’m sure they’re proud of themselves as well.”