It's been a while since I last posted anything here. Lately I have been to Taiping for some squash activities. Yes, you read it right, Taiping, that small and quiet town famous for it's Lake Gardens and Zoo. Been there the past 2 Sundays for some squash and meeting the New Club members. Prior to that, I conducted a coaching course there as well. The New Club is not new but was built in 1894. So it is the 1st club in Malaysia and they kept the name since then. It has 1 squash court and another one converted to a snooker room downstairs and gym above it. They have about 100 plus squash members and 1 court! During peak hours, members are allowed 20 mins per pair for squash and they have a timer that buzzes to indicate time is up. Don't think they would be able to finish a match in 20 minutes.

There is another place with 2 squash courts, the Rakan Muda Sports Complex in Bukit Jana. It was built as a community centre but the courts are under utilised. Nice set up and quite good workmanship as well. But the toilets are not in working order and no water cooler. So one need to bring along a large supply of water if they are going to play there. The complex has hostels, meeting rooms/lecture halls, wall climbing, skateboard area and many more things.

So in my 2 weekends there, I have been to the zoo which is quite big and not too bad in terms of animals. A lot of parts are under renovation but still open to people. No time for the Lake Gardens though. I also managed to have the famous curry mee in Sepetang, which is good. Also the mee kicap is delicious as well. My next trip there will be to Matang for seafood and visit the Lake Gardens.

That's all for now folks. I will be going to Ipoh for a referees course this weekend and Perlis on Monday for an evaluation.

I don't think I want to have a title for this entry. Had the Malaysian Open for men and women, Penang Open for women and the Sportexcel Grand Finals for the juniors. I was there for all the events and witnessed some good squash in the country, but I didn't feel any excitement at all. True that the Opens were world class events and the Penang one had a record number of people for the finals but I just wasn't excited. We also had the ST workshop in Penang for coaches and sdos at the same time as the tournament. We had to work out a 5 year plan for each state and I wasn't excited either. Nothing got me going so far this month. Think the routine and staleness getting to me more and more, day by day.

Been away to conduct coaching courses and will be away again soon for the same reason. But still not excited. Usually I am but not this time. Made a big boo-hoo at work today and screwed up the trust and friendship of very nice and dear friends. All for what? I don't know and have no answer. But it is something that I really am sorry and ashamed of. Wasn't any intention of causing any grief or hurt to anyone but it turned out otherwise. Very regrettable actions and I have to seriously take a step back and evaluate myself.

I watched Click the movie the other day and it makes me wonder why am I putting my life in what I do. Is this really worth it? What makes it worth it? Pays shit, no rest, no career advancements and so on. Worse of all, have to work with players who don't want to go the extra mile....Haizzz.

Have to face the reality of what I do and what I want to do in the next few months. May want to leave this profession totally or just move to somewhere else. Have no idea at the moment. Just gonna rough it out for the next 2 months tossing and turning to figure out what would be the best option for me. If I do leave, I'll leave with a heavy heart and that is for sure.

Till next time,

Cheers.

P.S.
Had a few comments by some readers and I thank you for it. Btw, it is just one guy and not a few.....Hahaha. Enjoy.

Pioneer and Dutch Junior Open '06
I had the pleasure of taking some of the Malaysian kids to the above tournaments recently, 4 boys and 3 girls. We were the last group of Malaysians to leave the country as there were 2 other groups who left earlier for a playing tour of the UK. We were supposed to meet up in Cologne for the Pioneer.

Arrived in Cologne and checked in the hotel. I think that we do a better job for accommodation here in Malaysia. Rooms were poor for the prices we paid and no air-con, it was summer as well. We were put in another building, next to the actual hotel. They said that it was their apartment type rooms. So my team were the only people there while the rest of the Malaysian team was in the main building.

The courts where most of the matches were played had 16 courts. The ACR sports centre is about 15 minutes from the hotel and was quite nice. That was still not enough and they had to use another 2 more centres to accommodate the whole tournament. All the centres are very nice, they are clubs that have paying members. Lunch and dinner was packaged into the entry fee as well. What a good idea! The food in Germany was so much better than the Dutch. Got fat there eating too much....hahaha.

The tournaments were basically screwed up before it even started due to the seedings. The European Squash Federation (ESF) used their points system to seed the players. This meant that those who have played in any of the European Junior Circuit would have collected some points. Thus, only the Malaysians who played in the British Juniors had some points but insufficient to get a good seeding. The Egyptians and Hongkies were in the same boat with us.

So in both tournaments, the good players played each other in the early rounds and the so called top 8 seeds were bundled out early if they met an Egyptian, Hongkie or Malaysian. There were some people saying that unless the ESF start doing something about the seedings, most of the foreigners will no longer support the events. That would be a big shame.

How did the Malaysians do? I would say quite well. Some of the players showed that we are at par or better than the Europeans and can match the Egyptians. As for my group, it was a learning trip for them. They did do well in their own way and hopefully build on what they have learned there.

My only grouse was that there was no interaction between the national coaches and my group of kids. Not only that, there was not much discussion between them and me as well. Felt like there was 2 Malaysian teams there. They don't realise that the group I took will eventually be in the national squad some day. So why aren't they spending a fraction of their time with the kids? I have no idea. I'll leave that for another time.

Till next time, happy reading and squashing.