Football in the City

sunshine spent the entire morning at the Padang where the JSSL Singapore 7s are being held. The Padang is right in the heart of colonial Singapore, it is the shared field of the Singapore Cricket Club and the Singapore Recreation Club. It has seen countless national day parades and new year's eve countdown parties, the F1 cars of the Singapore Grand Prix race around it, and international rugby tournaments and international cricket tournaments are staged there. And now, a youth soccer tournament is also held there. The skyscapers of the city look down on the Padang. The old Supreme Court and City Hall builings, and St Andrew's Cathedral flank it on one side, and on the other side, the Esplanade and the Marina Bay. it is a spectacular setting, and the sun shone on the field today.

sunshine was originally in the second team of his age group, but last week he was moved into the top team. We have mixed feelings about this. In the second team he was one of the leading players, probably a shoo in for captain and would likely have played almost every minute of every game even though this team certainly will not progress as far as the first team. Now sunshine is in the first team, which has a great chance of winning the title tomorrow, but sunshine definitely won't play as many minutes, especially when the games are tight, because there are physically bigger, stronger and quicker (but not necessarily more skillful) players on this team.

So the question is : is it better to be a member of a winning team and play less, or be a member of a not so strong team but be a pivotal player in that team. It's a tough one.