Cougarised

Aita didn't have a superb football year in Standard 6.

Unlike Angah.

Angah had the time of his life while in standard 6, football wise. He had his best buddies in the same football club. They won some games. He played the attacking positions. He was a key player.

Aita had some bumps since the beginning of his standard 6 year. He got a new coach, who was more competitive. Who didn't know him well. And being Aita, he can be easily brushed aside if the coach didn't look hard enough. Supposed to be good for the team but not that great for Aita. He had to miss few sessions at the start. Making him unable to establish his presence well to the coach. And the sessions missed might have been due to us having been not around much for our holidays, or the brothers' matters. In other words, he paid the price for someone else's dues. It had costed him the selection for a league tournament. Coach decided to focus on the league game, hence asked the rest, not selected to join the junior team. Or separate training outside of the core team. Which didn't give a good training experience for him socially and did not help much to improve his game. It was a blessing in disguise to a certain extent. We didn't have to commit too much to the games so we could pay more attention to the other brothers in need. It allowed us to sign him up for PKSK tuition which happened every Saturday and Sunday not too long after. But that early, missed out opportunity has definitely snowballed to other missed opportunities and affected his footballing esteem quite significantly.

We had football in mind definitely for him in STAR. On the first day, we were glad to see the photo shared by ustaz in the STAR Cougar's U17 group. First step done. STAR Cougars membership established. Next up, how does he fare compared to others and would he be selected? And if he does, whether it's due to his own competence or it's due to other influence. 

First litmus test was Cougars F1 whatsapp group. No one has asked us to join. But people seemed to be having some football like conversation. A focused whatsapp group must have been created, which we were not invited. Then there were some friendlies. Aita didnt get to play. He said he was not well. So ok, it wasn't so much of his lack of competence. We were keeping track of his attendance to make sure that he wouldn't miss out like how he had the year before. Early presence was very important. Then right before his birthday and right before the weekend, he informed us that he was having a friendly game. We were thrilled since it would be his first game with the team. And we were planning to come to Ipoh anyway so it was a bonus indeed. Clearly he might have been a late addition. The F&B was clearly managed as if it was proper tournament indeed. Well, I might have not joined much friendlies hence it wasn't something that we thought need some taking care of. Bottom line, we were not in the notice group. He was in team B definitely but it was enough. He played a different that his normal righ back position. I was excited to see his game play, which was definitely different that his play before. A lot of proactive moves, instead of all defensive. Not long after, they made the lineup for Malaysia Youth League, the league that Angah been joining since form 3. There was a different kind of league when he was in Form 2. So, Aita was on to a good traction. Team B still, mixed with less superior Form 2. More superior Form 1 in Team A. More than enough. He had his good friends in the same team, so all was well. And good enough that he managed to be selected. There are some who weren't. But he had to miss his first game, to perform for Coral Speaking in school. Lucky it was just league game, hence he would have other opportunities to play. And lucky that he wasn't sidelined due to that. 

Then SBP Perak U13 on 16 Mei 2026 in Kuala Kangsar was up. We were so thrilled and excited about it. While still acknowledging that Aita's competence still lacks compared to others. True to what we thought, he wasn't the first eleven. His normal play time was after the 1st half break, when the team has scored enough and their position was secured. Nevertheless, he showed the exciting play that we never get to see before. STAR Cougars really brought out something that he has never produced before. We thought he did quite alright, he thought he didn't do enough. He had much better plays during training. Had to do a bit of convincing to him. He played in all games except 1 where they ended up with just a slim win in the knockout. The game was so intense, that he was more than relieved to be left out. They had a rather easy championship win. Clean sheet throughout. Training ground for them when they were already leading. And a very productive, 1st U13 game for the kids. Good confidence and team coordination build up. Good gauge for Aita's specifically; we knew that he mattered. No matter how small he thought his contribution was, he still counts. Again, we definitely enjoyed seeing him play in the middle, CDM and AM alternately. What’s more interesting though that Coach Black said that Aita was better than Angah when he first started, that he has faith in him. That caught us by a big surprise. Coming from him made him even more special. Already, he had a hidden promise. 

Subsequent games was the MYL. Which I had to miss 2 games. But got favourable feedback from le hubs. Another MYL game held in a different week. We thought it might be his final game this year, hence had struggle to come over, despite having been to Ipoh weeks in weeks out prior. He played ok, not too great not too bad. In in the first half, out in the 2nd half. Vice versa. We were rather thrilled with his play, but not sure if the feeling is mutual for the coaches. They nailed 3rd place I think in the league. With Team A only secured 2nd. Not too shabby for the second team. Overall feeling was still rather mild about the team's performance and Aita's security in the team. 

Then came the key friendly game, involving Anderson, SSN Gunung Rapat and VI. Despite being just a friendly, it was the toughest game that the boys had to face. Opponents are supposed to be the best in their respective area, save for Anderson, where it’s either STAR or them.We thought MYL was the last football tourney for Aita for the year, but little did we know that we were bound for others. He was the first lineup. Played rather sloppily. Substituted after 1st half. Aligns with our normal expectation of him. Then came the 2nd game, he played different. He was commanding, made key moves. covered his ground well. Izzul, the main CDM was injured. There was no Naim. Naim just joined STAR that time and had committed to a different game in Penang. Aita's opportunity to play at that position was more coincidental rather than by choice. The defense and mid was secure (nothing too great, but secure enough for the boys to have the clean sheet against all teams). The big bonus was, in the last game, they managed to nudge the one and only goal at the very last minute. Anderson was the organiser, but they ended with last team for the day. STAR secured 2nd based on number of goals. The clean sheet and the 2nd position was just icing on the cake. What was more important was his play. We thought he played well. But Ustaz and Coach Black also said the same. Ustaz said he played very well that day. Coach Black said he had the footballing brain. Alhamdulillah, it wasn’t just us. The coaches also said the same. He wasn’t in because we invited 2 bus load and fellow parents to our house for Raya the other day. 

Finally, we felt a bit more secure. But anything can still happen. Football progress doesn’t stay stagnant. Other people might grew by leaps and bounds, and you may soon be sidelined. 

Within this week, we were informed that the boys might be having few tourneys lined up. (1) MCKK 7s @ Elmina, (2) Piala Perpaduan U13 @ Teluk Intan and (3) HKSBP Zon Utara @ MCKK. Though Aita may be quote promising to play for the 11s game, his chance is quite doubtful for MCKK 7s. 

To our surprise, I was called in to the Whatsapp group for MCKK 7s. That was already a big relief. Alhamdulillah, Aita finally made his mark. He may not be the first 7, but he managed to get selected.

We got to know that he is now training in Team A, which he didn’t quite fancy because a lot of his good friends in Team B. They play with the U16 boys now, so training gets more serious.

We are 2 weeks away from Elmina 7s, and preparation will get full force soon. Looking forward to the 10 mins away from home game.