BUCKS TOUCH

BUCKS TOUCH – END OF YEAR REPORT 2008

Ladies first they say and what better place to start the annual round up of Bucks Touch activities in 2008 than with the girls… THE LADIES -The ladies section (aka the “Margaritas”) has had a good year with a steady flow of new players into the club. Many thanks to Mireille “M” Couture for three plus years of stewardship and developing the ladies section from a modest but doughty few to the robust body that we have now. She deserves a well-earned rest from the rigors of captaincy and hopefully will continue to remain as a more than occasional player. We welcome the not so shy and retiring dream team comprising “Miss” Trina Putt and Claire Devine – Devine by name but not necessarily by nature. They have steered the team towards new interests: Pimms, Gin and Tonic and Mojitos to name but three. These cocktails are the ladies preferred drinks of choice as they relax on the sideline after a hard game. Clearly this new form of relaxation and team “spirit” is paying off, as the girls were contenders for STL B league winners but fell foul of some opposition “guest” players in the play offs. Whilst in the first half of the year the team’s form was patchy, in part due to the influx of raw recruits, it is those same people who have galvanized the team into the fearsome fighting force that it now is. Suffice to say that the sublimely talented Ming “The Mingsta” Cheah has even donned the Margaritas colours and has battled with our brave belles in the later half of the season. Enough said! Special mention should be made of Angela Cooney who despite a rather nasty broken arm, has battled back to fitness. Next year should be another good one for the Margaritas!

The Margaritas savour a win and another relaxing post match libation

THE MEN – The Mens section continues to flourish in terms of numbers, not too mention an ever-increasing average age. Steven (“The Waiter”) Fenwick is our eldest (his age is a bit of a secret - he is a man of few words) closely followed by Clive (“Vidal Sassoon” or “The Silver Surfer”) Thomas. Both we know have seen 50 come and go but still they plough on. No surrender gentlemen! A good few are at the wrong end of their 40’s so pace and agility is generally a rare commodity. However the abundance of experience has enabled the “Pilsners” to clinch the Masters NTL title this year and they were a consistently competitive team in the earlier STL competition. The “IPA’s” also fared well under the tutelage of Mark “Eddie” Edwards and we thank him for his hard work and support since joining the club. There is a need for a development squad to bring on new players and Mark has proven to be great leader, no doubt assisted by his very agreeable nature and one of the loudest voices on the pitch (when aroused). Thankfully we have a few not so old guys capable of challenging in the open competition – our “Goldens” side. Fortunately the teenage elite of United World College (UWC) ably supplements the relatively few “younger” (as in below 35) players that we have in Bucks Touch. Together they melded to form a competitive open side. Results were generally good through the year although occasional holidays and absentees meant that it was hard to be consistent. Thanks to Simon Beesley and Jin (The “Jinsta”) Tan for on field guidance. Thanks also to Tom “Sanchez” Keeble whose firm but quiet guidance has also assisted the less experienced players both in competition and during Saturday club runs. The grey nomads still also perform on occasion as the “Undertakers” and proudly wear the grim reaper mantle on their shirt. They were again on display earlier in the year at the Asian Club Championships in KL in June – full story below. THE MIXED TEAMS – We run three mixed teams. The “Academy” side combines the sage qualities of such luminaries as Shane Morris and Simon Beesley with the raw talent, not too mention the speed of the some of UWC’s finest. A good year but again occasional holidays/school functions again impacted at crucial times. The “Darksiders” and “Hopbacks” performed well in the second half of the season competing against each other in the B League final, which “Bucks” proudly won in a spirited contest. Thanks to the ladies for putting up with the grumpy old men throughout the year.

ASIAN CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS – we took two buses to KL for the 2008 Asian Club Championships. Brewerkz kindly sponsored the trip and we thus were able to extend the invite to a number of UWC players who formed the nucleus of the “Academy” mixed side. They performed superbly just losing to the eventual winners in the early rounds. The “Undertakers” were (again) losing finalists in the Master division and our social team performed admirably against stiff opposition. The Bucks teams comprised a sizeable section of the overall competition and the bespoke championships kit meant that we were definitely the highest profile.

Bucks and Buckettes at the Asian Club Championships in KL

The off field highlight was the Saturday night dinner attended by over 50 players and supporters, collectively representing 15 different nationalities. Fines, forfeits and a good deal of fun were had by all – Emma Neuprez especially, who paid the price well into the next day! SHANGHAI - Bucks brave few ventured to China in November to compete in the Shanghai International Touch Tournament. We fortunately enjoyed the support of one or two guest players from Bedok. The tournament is now a regular feature on the calendar for the club and great fun and well organised the event is too. It was a chilly but bright day and the pre-competition team “conference” the night before at the Bamboo Bar did not take too heavy a toll so it augured well. The team on duty battled through the qualifying rounds and came out deserved winners in the Masters competition.

Winners are grinners – Bucks take the Masters title in Shanghai

OFF FIELD ACTIVITIES: Much of what Bucks do is off the field and the club awards night was declared fancy dress and so brought out some eclectic fashion combinations. Emma Neuprez looked rather fetching in a glitzy silver creation and Rob Devine’s appendages were thankfully fake!

Left to Right – Trina , Maylene, Rob Emma and Claire

The award winners were : Female Player of the Year: Brittany Ellis Male Player of the Year: Paul Black Club “Person” of the Year: Jush Thorpe – stirring loyalty to all Bucks causes that continues unabated

Other “notables” in 2008 were:

• Roxie and Steve’s: engagement – marked by a good night of celebration • Jush and Mark shopping and running the marathon together. • Viv and JP- a son, Gabriel • Cam and Helen- a son, Owen • Roy and Min –James (a year old already!) • Kenton and Sharon – a son, Freddie • Tom and Jo: engagement

HONG KONG: A strong contingent ventured once again to Hong Kong for the Sevens. The fancy dress theme for the Saturday was “Where’s Wally”. The tour mascot was “Elmo” and the now compulsory glove puppet this year was “Barney”, the loveable dinosaur. Puppetry has been a standard feature for three years now. We need not dwell on the details here but fun all round.

Bucks Wallys in the South Stand at Hong Kong Stadium

There was another fine send off for one of our longest serving and most popular members, Frank de Jong. We lunched at Wine Garage and the party then moved on to Muddy Murphy’s and then to “The Towers” with Bucks ladies and various wives and girlfriends becoming pole dancers for the evening. Enough said (again)!

Frank’s final farewell at Wine Garage

FAREWELLS AND HONOURABLE MENTIONS:

• Frank DeJong – off to the ”Deep South” of America after over five years of loyal service. We will miss you and all that positive energy! Splendid leaving “week and a half” too.

• Andy Hawkins – Andy hung gamely on but eventually returned to “Blighty” after

the Asian Champs. No more long socks on a Saturday as modeled by the “Silver Fox”. In tribute, it was appropriate to mark his departure with “Silver Fox in Long Socks” Saturday run – see below. A true gentleman on and off the field. Good luck mate!

• Cam Mann and Steve Fenwick – for finally succumbing to peer pressure and wearing club shorts during the NTL. Steve is still a little forgetful – must be an age thing!

• Steve Black – for admin back up and his cunning pirouette move 5 metres out

from the line!

• Ken Muldoon – now living in Australia but somehow regularly available for most of the NTL season. He is a regular provider of touch boots and balls to the club. And in a good mood most of the time too!

• The Margaritas - ‘cos it means the guys get more game time and its great to have

the fairer sex around to support and be abused by!

• Matt (Birds Eye) Boesen – for officiating the club runs throughout the year without complaint

• Maylene Leonard – the happiest person on the pitch – by a mile. (Just not the

most punctual). Now a referee apparently! Will she ever be on time for the kick-off though?

• Simon Beesley – for being our point man at UWC and always with his relaxed air,

always accompanied by a shrug or a smile, plus the ever present “yeah”.

• Paul (Foghorn) Black – for being the loudest no matter what! A focal point of the club in many ways!

• Kenton “Stato” Jurgs - for embracing the administrative function that the writer

only dabbled with

• Adrian Barber – for running and finishing the desert marathon race in Africa – three marathons in three days or something similar (possibly longer). Completely “hat-stand” if you ask me

• Shane and Karen Morris – because they have had a big part in where we are

now. Another good year (I wrote the same comment last year) .Let us make sure they keep coming. SS December 08.